Which preposition to use with “corner”? At, in, or on?

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

“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

“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