Valanglia: CONFUSING WORDS

Showing posts with label CONFUSING WORDS. Show all posts

Saturday, 26 May 2018

REVISION: DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SEE/LOOK/WATCH AND SAY/TELL

SOURCE: www.vulingo.com

SOURCE: www.americanenglish.state.gov

Sunday, 11 March 2018

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN "FOR" AND "DURING" IN ENGLISH

Difference between for and during in English

The difference between for and during is pretty confusing for many learners of English. However, despite semantic similarity, they are used in a different way. The problem seems to be that in other languages, like in Spanish, these two words (for and during) are translated as a same word. In the case of Spanish for and during are translated as durante, which unfortunately for learners is pretty similar to during.

The use of for in English

The word for is a preposition which is usually followed by “a/an” or a number, plus a unit of time (seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years, etc.). This preposition is used to express the duration of something:

I have lived in Granada for 10 years.

We have known each other for a couple of months.

The film lasted for 2 hours.

If we pay close attention, the preposition for answers always the question “How long…?”:

How long have you lived in Granada? (For) 10 years.

How long have you known each other? (For) a couple of months.

How long did the film last for? It lasted for 2 hours.

In this way, it is relatively easy to identify when to use for.

The use of during in English

During is another English preposition which tells us when something happens in time. Besides, it is usually followed by a noun which is not necessarily a time unit.

Let’s see some examples:

We couldn’t get any cigarettes during the war.

He died during the night.

All the hotels are full during the summer season.

In the same way as for, during also answers a question, but not “How long…?”, but rather “When…?”:

When couldn’t you get any cigarettes? During the war.

When did he die? During the night.

When are all the hotels full? During the summer season.

In conclusion, according to the previous examples, the difference between for and during is that for tells us how long an action is, while during tells us when something happened. For this reason, if you ever need to know which one to use, you can ask yourself: Do I need to answer “How long…?” or “When…?”. It’s that simple!

SOURCE: keepsmilingenglish.com

Monday, 23 October 2017

DIFFERENT USES OF AUXILIARY OR HELPING VERBS: TO BE, TO DO, TO HAVE

GENERAL INTRODUCTION TO AUXILIARY VERBS (ALSO KNOWN AS "HELPING VERBS"):

SOURCE: www.youtube.com/englishgrammarspot

OTHER USES OF HELPING VERBS AS PRIMARY AUXILIARIES (TAKING VERB TO DO AS AN EXAMPLE):

Read the following conversation and pay attention to the auxiliary verb “did“:

John: (1)Did you watch last night’s game?

Adam: Yeah! I (2)did. I bet you liked Rooney’s goal, (3)didn’t you?

John: Oh, yes! It was great! But I actually preferred Van Persie’s goal.

Adam:(4)Did you? But overall he (5)didn’t play well, (6)did he?

John: No, not really. But he (7)did score a great goal, right?

Adam:Yeah, I guess so. But so (8)did Rooney, in my opinion.

Now, let’s see the uses of “did” in each case (1 – 8):

(1) Question form: to ask questions: Did you do…?

(2) Short answer: to avoid repeating the main verb: Yes, I did. / No, I didn’t.

(3) Question tag: asking for clarification or approval, at the end of a statement: didn’t you?

(4) Echo questions: expressing certain surprise at something said by someone else: did you?

(5) Negative form: to negate a verb: didn’t play well.

(6) Question tag: same as (3), but in positive form: did he?

(7) Emphasising auxiliary: to emphasise that something happened or was so: he did score a great goal.

(8) Agreement or similarity: to express agreement or similarity with a previous statement or idea: so did Rooney.

So these 7/8 points summarise the main uses of auxiliary verbs. These very same uses apply to other auxiliaries such as have, am/is/are, was/were, modal verbs, etc.

SOURCE: www.keepsmilingenglish.com

Thursday, 11 May 2017

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN VERBS "GROW", "GROW UP" AND "RAISE"

ENCONTRADO EN: www.ladieslearnenglish.com

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN WORDS "JOB" AND "WORK"

ENCONTRADO EN: www.ladieslearnenglish.com

Thursday, 31 March 2016

ADJECTIVES ENDING IN -ED AND -ING

Adjectives ending in ED and ING

There are many adjectives that we have in English that end in -ED or -ING.
Yes, that's correct, they are not only endings that we use for verbs!

An adjective that ends in -ING is used to describe: the characteristic of a person, a thing or a situation.

An adjective that ends in -ED is used to describe: a feeling (or how a person feels) or an emotion. It is used to describe a temporary thing. Since only people (and some animals) have feelings, -ed adjectives cannot be used to describe an object or situation.

Compare the difference:

My girlfriend is bored. - (My girlfriend feels bored)
My girlfriend is boring. - (My girlfriend is a boring person)

You can use these adjectives to describe people or situations but be careful that you are using the correct adjective. For example, there is a big difference in meaning between:

I am confused. - (I don't understand something)
I am confusing. - (I will cause you to be confused)

Note that the sentences below are to highlight the difference between the two types of adjectives. They are NOT common to do or say because they sound repetitive.

I was shocked by how shocking the accident was last night.
They were frightened by the frightening roller-coaster ride!
I am annoyed by how annoying that person in front of us is.
Sally was confused by the confusing street signs in the city.

Example sentences of adjectives ending in -ED and -ING

This grammar lesson is boring. I am bored reading all about these grammar rules.
I am tired right now. My flight was tiring (because it was a twelve-hour flight).
Public toilets are usually disgusting. I am disgusted by the smell in some of them.
Your speech was very inspiring. I am now inspired to do wonderful things with my life.

List of Adjectives ending in -ED and -ING

There is quite a long list of adjectives ending in -ED and -ING in English, and most of them are based on a verb that can be changed into an adjective by adding either -ED or -ING.

Some of the more common ones include: