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Last updated at 18:15 BST, Thursday, 10 May 2012

Confusing words & expressions

Questions answered

  • Richard in China would like to know the differences between these similar-looking words
  • If she is acting as the Senior Manager, is she the Acting Senior Manager?
  • Amin in New Zealand gets confused about this
  • Faroush from Iran asks about the different uses of 'afraid'
  • Also

    Amy Lightfoot explains the use of 'also'
  • Hast or canst thou seest such words in ye olde dictionary? Learn about early English
  • Hasan Belut and Natali from Belgium and Ukraine ask about these words
  • When should you use a preposition with 'approve'?
  • Discover how to talk about your friends and enemies
  • What's the difference between the two?
  • Sian Harris explains that these words are very different in meaning
  • How many feet are there in a meter? Find out here...
  • A question from Suharno in Indonesia
  • Roger Woodham talks about telephoning and joking
  • Catherine Chapman explains the difference
  • Chance

    Trudi Faulkner-Petrova explains some of the meanings of the commonly used word 'chance'
  • 'Come with me' or 'Go with me'? Roger Woodham explains
  • Catherine Walter explains that it depends on where you are
  • Compliment and complement

    Amy Lightfoot answers a question from Norbert in Cameroon about the use of the words 'compliment' and 'complement'.
  • Explanation by Catherine Chapman
  • Compulsive and compulsory

    Gareth Rees answers a question from Lucy in China: and explains the difference between the words compulsive and compulsory
  • Eunice Cheung from Hong Kong is concerned about the use of 'concern'
  • Do you push your bicycle 'across' the underpass or 'through' it?
  • Jean Stocker from Germany asks about these
  • Find out how 'dedicated' is more flexible in usage than 'devoted'
  • Mark Shea explains the differences between these words
  • 'It's the done thing' to send your questions to ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Learning English
  • Tugba from Turkey finds out how to talk about clothes and hair
  • Economic and economical

    Amy Lightfoot answers a question from Anna Bui in Vietnam and explains the difference between the words 'economic' and 'economical'.
  • 'Neither of them is' or 'Neither of them are'? Find out with Roger Woodham
  • The difference is not only in the spelling...
  • Catherine Walter explains why native speakers find these words difficult
  • Is a car with an effective engine always an efficient car? Gareth Rees explains...
  • Roger Woodham explains how to use these two words
  • Betty Choy from Hong Kong asks about these words
  • Are there any other differences apart from the spelling?
  • Samarn Dokkularb finds out about these words
  • Find out about 'take for granted' and 'take as it comes'
  • Are these phrases acceptable? 'in his point of view...', 'according to his point of view...'
  • Helen from Russia asks if these words are interchangeable when talking about character...
  • Fee / fare

    Trudi Faulkner-Petrova explains the difference between the words 'fee' and 'fare'.
  • Why do we use this phrase in non-military contexts?
  • Are you 'five foot' or 'five feet' tall?
  • Is there a rule about when to use 'get' and 'become'?
  • Gut and guts

    How to use the words gut and guts
  • George Pickering explains the difference between these two words. Listen carefully!
  • Abdalla Salih asks which is correct: 'Let's go home' or 'It's high time we went home'?
  • Roger Woodham talks about these easily confused words
  • Jana from the Czech Republic isn't sure which one to use...
  • Homophone/homonym

    Gareth Rees answers a question about the difference between homophones and homonyms
  • Charlie Qin studying English in Canada asks about the difference between 'horrible' and 'horrific'
  • Alex Gooch explores the differences between these four adjectives
  • Vinh from Viet Nam asks about the origin of these words
  • What's the main difference between these two verbs?
  • One is a building, and the other is the place you belong to
  • Intent / intention

    A question from Babak in Iran about the difference between 'intent' and 'intention'.
  • Amos Paran explains the different connotations of these two words
  • What's the difference between an application letter and a cover letter?
  • This question was sent in by Suharno from Indonesia
  • Lisa from Taiwan asks Roger Woodham to explain a joke
  • Just / only

    Trudi Faulkner-Petrova explains the difference between the use of words 'just' and 'only' in certain contexts
  • Roger Woodham uses examples from the world of music to explain how these words are used
  • Is the sentence 'Many children are in lack of sleep' correct?
  • Which do we use more frequently, 'large' or 'big'?
  • Both of these words can be used to talk about time - but how are they different?
  • Anne McConnell in England asks, 'why aren't lazy and idle exact synonyms?'
  • Karen Adams says there isn't a difference between these two words
  • Yeon-Ju from South Korea asks: 'When should I use synonyms?'
  • Omar Weli from Somalia talks money with Roger Woodham
  • Martin parrot explains what this unusual word means and when we use it
  • Salman from Pakistan is 22 and has been learning English for 6 months...
  • What's the easiest way to remember the difference between 'lie' and 'lay'?
  • Karen Adams talks about different ways of using your eyes
  • Find out about these phrases with Roger Woodham
  • Loose or lose?

    Amy Lightfoot talks about the difference between 'loose' and 'lose'
  • Do words for meals relate to time, or to the type of food, or both?
  • Do you 'make an exam' or do you 'do an exam'?
  • Is 'reporter' different from 'journalist' or 'broadcaster'?
  • All of these verbs are related to ice - but what do they mean?
  • Bernadette from France has translation difficulties
  • How do we distinguish between these four nouns when we use them?
  • Why do we say 'mother tongue' and not 'mother language', and why 'honeymoon' and not 'honey month'?
  • E. Lamai asks: I know the word 'bomb'. What does the addition of 'nail' do to the meaning?
  • Never knew / have never known

    Trudi Faulkner-Petrova explains the difference between the use of 'know' in two different grammar tenses
  • What are the differences between these words?
  • Do we say 'no accidents' or 'no accident'?
  • Notwithstanding

    How and where the word ‘Notwithstanding’ be used?
  • Is there a difference between 'three times' and 'thrice'?
  • 'open'

    Trudi Faulkner-Petrova explains the use of the word 'open' in various contexts
  • pain / ache / ill / sick / hurt

    Amy Lightfoot answers a question from Sophal in Cambodia and explains the difference between the words pain, ache, ill, sick and hurt.
  • Mojca Belak from Slovenia asks: How old can a boyfriend/girlfriend be?
  • Practise vocabulary and pronuncation of body parts here
  • Yumi from Japan asks if there was a bird flu pandemic or epidemic?
  • 'persons' and 'peoples'

    Amy Lightfoot answers a question from Marlene in Brazil and explains when you can use the words 'persons' and 'peoples'.
  • The simple singular and plural distinction is complicated by the word 'persons'
  • A student from Cameroon has problems distinguishing between these words
  • Catherine Chapman explains how to use these two words
  • Francoise from France asks if 'quite' means partially or totally. It means both!
  • They have similar meanings, but Amos Paran explains the grammatical differences
  • Denis Baizeau from France doesn't feel comfortable using these words. Can Roger Woodham help?
  • Agustin from Spain thinks these verbs appear very similar...
  • Gareth Rees answers a question from Jun in China
  • Reward / award

    Amy Lightfoot answers a question from Phong in Vietnam and explains the difference between 'award' and 'reward'
  • Roger Woodham explores these verbs
  • Martin Parrott explains this way of learning, also known as learning 'parrot fashion'
  • George Pickering gives a satisfactory explanation to satisfy Ha from Vietnam
  • How are these verbs used?
  • Giti from Iran asks about these nouns
  • Sian Harris explains that these words do not always have the same meaning
  • Why do we say 'The Olympic Games'? Why not 'The Olympic Sports'?
  • Are there any significant structural or semantic differences between these words?
  • Krista Soenen from Belgium had a discussion about these words in her English class...
  • Soon and when

    The difference between the words ‘soon’, and ‘when'
  • 'Such as' introduces an example, but what about 'as such'?
  • The difference between these verbs is more complicated than it first appears
  • Sanmati Pragya from India says that in America, people use 'suppose' and 'supposed to' a lot in conversation...
  • Learn some everyday English expressions like 'cotton on' and 'I haven't the foggiest'
  • Roger Woodham explains the differences between slang, idiomatic expressions and euphemisms
  • Izmaelov from Denmark has been discussing these words with his friends...
  • Find out about these and other words connected with travel
  • Maria from Ukraine asks about verb + noun collocations with 'take'
  • Mann from Cambodia wants to know how to use these words
  • Catherine Walter tells Dmitrij from Latvia about these words
  • Sarah Bradshaw explains how this phrase reflects knowledge gained from experience
  • Samantha explains when to use these two prepositions
  • Catherine explains the difference
  • Supawadee from Thailand always confuses 'to be used to' and 'used to'...
  • What are the differences between 'pop into' and 'pop over'? And how about 'pop out'?
  • Morena Diego from Italy asks about the difference between 'wedding' and 'marriage'
  • Find out about the differences in grammar and formality between these words
  • Does the phase 'We are better off than you...' always refer to money?
  • Explanation by Catherine Chapman
  • Mohammad Atai from Iran wants to know the difference in the use of to worry and to be worried.
  • If you want to learn about these phrases, you'd better click on the link!
  • Agustin from Spain says: 'Their meanings are so close that I have difficulty differentiating them.'
  • Gut and guts

    From Sung, Korea
  • Bored and boring

    From Oum, Cambodia
  • pain / ache / ill / sick / hurt

    From Sophal, Cambodia
  • Youngsters and youths

    Gareth Rees answers a question from P.Vinayagam in India, and explains how to use the words 'youngsters' and 'youths'

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