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Commonly Confused Words: Part
One |
From VOA Learning English, this is Everyday Grammar.
Ashley: Before we get started today, Adam, I wanted to
ask you about your weekend at home!
Adam: It was great, thanks! But the drive was a little
tiring. Chicago is a lot further away than I thought.
Ashley: Sorry, you mean...Chicago is a lot farther away
than you thought.
Adam: Yes, that is what I said.
Ashley: No, you said “further.” In American English,
“further” is usually used for non-physical or figurative
distances. “Farther” is the correct word when talking
about actual physical distance - or distance that you
can measure.
Adam: Non-physical distances? Can you give me an
example?
Ashley: Sure. If you cannot decide on which presidential
candidate to support, you might look further into their
positions on important issues. Here there is no actual,
measurable distance.
Adam: Okay, I guess that makes sense.
Farther and further are words that English learners -
and even native English speakers - often confuse. The
English language is full of commonly confused words.
These words may sound the same but mean different
things. Or maybe, they are spelled the same but mean
different things.
Let’s look at some of these commonly confused words.
Farther and Further
We will start with the two words we just mentioned:
farther and further. The word farther is usually used as
an adverb. In American English, we say farther when
talking about a physical, measurable distance. For
example, “We walked farther than we had planned.”
The word further has several meanings. It can be used as
an adverb, adjective, and even a verb. As an adverb,
further means “to a greater extent.” For example, “The
scientists are looking further into the new research.”
As an adjective, further means “more or additional.” For
example, “Further research is needed to reach a
conclusion.” Notice how there is no physical, measurable
distance in these examples.
Further can also be a verb. In its verb form, it means
“to help the progress of something.” For example, you
might hope to “further your career” by learning English.
In other words, you hope learning English will help you
advance your career. Again, there is no physical,
measurable distance.
Lose and Loose
Our second set of commonly confused words is lose and
loose. These are words that even native English speakers
confuse. Lose [L-O-S-E] is a verb. Lose has several
meanings. It can mean “to be unable to find.” You might
tell a forgetful friend, “Don’t lose your keys again!”
Lose can also mean “to fail to win something.” For
example, “People expected the team to lose the football
game.”
It can also mean “to have less and less of something
over time.” If someone is looking smaller than before,
you might ask, “Did you lose weight?”
The word loose, [L-O-O-S-E] is usually used as an
adjective. Notice that loose ends with a strong “s”
sound, while lose, the verb, ends with a “z” sound.
Loose has no relation to lose. Loose means “not tight,
secure, or attached.” For example, you can have a “loose
tooth”, “loose clothing,” or “loose pieces of paper.”
Loose can also mean “not exact.” For example, if you try
to very quickly translate something from your native
language to English, you might be writing a “loose
translation.”
Accept and Except
Another set of commonly confused words is accept and
except. Although they are spelled differently, many
American English speakers pronounce these words in
almost the same way. But, these two words are not
interchangeable.
Accept [A-C-C-E-P-T] is a verb. To accept means to
receive or take something that is offered. For example,
if a company offers you a new job, you will probably
accept their offer.
Except [E-X-C-E-P-T] can be used as a preposition,
conjunction or a verb. In general, it means “not
including.” For example, the post office is open every
day except Sunday.
Here’s an example of accept and except in the same
sentence.
“This machine accepts all coins except pennies.”
As a verb, except [E-X-C-E-P-T] means “left out.” It is
used in formal speech. You might say “Women were
excepted from the study.” As verbs, accept and except
have almost opposite meanings, making these two words
all the more confusing.
And that’s Everyday Grammar for this week. Join us again
next week as we take a look at more examples of commonly
confused words.
I’m Adam Brock.
And I’m Ashley Thompson.
Ashley Thompson wrote this story for VOA Learning
English. Adam Brock and Hai Do were the editors. |
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