In the Confusables series, we talk about English words and expressions that are easily confused with one another because of similarities in spelling, pronunciation, and/or meaning. This is a question I am commonly asked by my students. Even if there seems to be quite a bit of variation in usage, I think understanding the difference … Continue Reading
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“On the list” or “in the list”?
In a comment, Azadeh said: Today I have been sluggish which is strange for the middle day of the week and alongside all the things in my to-do list. Which was shortly followed by this comment from Hassan: Shouldn’t it be “on my to-do list”? To which I answered: What can I say… what can I … Continue Reading
Borrow or lend?
I quite often see my students confuse “borrow” with “lend”, but they really shouldn’t! As you will see, the difference between “borrow” and “lend” is simple and clear. Let’s look at a simple scenario: You have bought a new TV and now you don’t have enough money to pay your rent. So you ask your … Continue Reading
Confusables 11: The Importance of Punctuation
In the Confusables series, we talk about English words and expressions that are easily confused with one another because of similarities in spelling, pronunciation, and/or meaning. Punctuation marks may be more important than you think…
Confusables 10: contractions
What is the difference between these sentences? …
“Maybe” versus “may be”
In the Confusables series, we talk about English words and expressions that are easily confused with one another because of similarities in spelling, pronunciation, and/or meaning. This is a source of confusion but it shouldn’t be, because the difference is clear-cut! As usual, I am not going to provide a grammatical analysis. Instead, we’re just … Continue Reading
Confusables 9: “because” vs “because of”
In the Confusables series, we talk about English words and expressions that are easily confused with one another because of similarities in spelling, pronunciation, and/or meaning. What is the difference between because and because of? To answer the question, we must talk a little about conjunctions and prepositions first. A conjunction /kənˈdʒʌŋkʃn/ is a word … Continue Reading
Indoor or indoors?
The difference between indoor and indoors (or outdoor and outdoors) is very simple. Without getting into grammatical analysis, here are a few examples to help you get a better “feel” for the words:
Hope or wish: the ultimate usage-based guide
Learners of English quite often get confused between the words “hope” and “wish”. Here is a usage-based guide with lots of examples to help you learn how to use them correctly and naturally. But before we start, a word of caution! Don’t try to find a general golden rule to solve your problem once and … Continue Reading