Language/English/Vocabulary/Tricky-words
ALTHOUGH ENGLISH IS A FUN LANGUAGE TO LEARN, SOME WORDS AND PHRASES MAY TRIP YOU UP! HERE IS A LIST OF SOME OF THE MOST COMMONLY WORDS AND PHRASES WITH DEFINITIONS:
ACCEPT/EXCEPT
ACCEPT IS A VERB MEANING “RECEIVE.” EXCEPT IS A PREPOSITION OR CONJUNCTION MEANING “OTHER THAN.”
ALLUSION/ILLUSION
ALLUSION IS “A REFERENCE TO SOMETHING.” AN ILLUSION IS “A DECEPTIVE APPEARENCE.”
ALL TOGETHER/ALTOGETHER
ALL TOGETHER MEANS “IN UNISON OR IN ONE PLACE.” ALTOGETHER MEANS “ENTIRELY.”
AFFECT/ EFFECT
AFFECT IS A VERB MEANING “TO INFLUENCE.” EFFECT IS A NOUN MEANING “A RESULT.”
BESIDE/BESIDES
BESIDE IS A PREPOSITION MEANING “NEXT TO.” BESIDES IS A PREPOSITION MEANING “EXCEPT.”
CAN/MAY
CAN INDICATES “ABILITY.” MAY INDICATES “PERMISSION.”
DISINTERESTED/UNINTERESTED
DISINTERESTED MEANS “IMPARTIAL.” UNINTERESTED MEANS “HAVING NO INTEREST.”
ESPECIALLY/SPECIALLY
ESPECIALLY MEANS “PARTICULARLY.” SPECIALLY MEANS “FOR A SPECIFIC REASON.”
FARTHER/FURTHER
FARTHER MEANS “ADDITIONAL DISTANCE.” FURTHER MEANS “ADDITIONAL TIME OR AMOUNT.”
GOOD/WELL
GOOD IS AN ADJECTIVE. “A GOOD SPORTSMAN.” WELL IS AN ADVERB. “WE SING WELL TOGETHER.”
SHALL/WILL
SHALL IS USED IN THE FIRST PERSON. “SHALL I GO SHOPPING.” WILL IS USED IN THE SECOND AND THIRD PERSON. “YOU WILL SIT.” “THEY WILL SIT.”
SHOULD/WOULD
SHOULD IS USED IN FIRST, SECOND AND THIRD PERSON. IT EXPRESSES SOME KIND OF “OBLIGATION.”
WOULD IS ALSO USED IN ALL THREE PERSONS. IT EXPRESSES A “WISH OR DESIRE.”
THESE ARE JUST SOME OF THOSE TRICKY WORDS IN ENGLISH THAT MAY CAUSE CONFUSION. THERE ARE MANY MORE BUT THESE ARE AMONG THE MOST COMMON.