There is a difference between connect to and connect with.
CONNECT TO
Use connect to when you talk about a physical link between one object and another.
Make sure the printer is connected to your computer. My Wi-Fi works but I’m not connected to the internet.
CONNECT WITH
Use connect with when you talk about a relationship, a non-physical link.
These are typical symptoms connected with appendicitis. He immediately connected with his therapist. She is extremely good at connecting with her audience.
This, of course, also applies to the noun connection.
A man is being heard by the police in connection with a burglary last night.
The words in and within often cause confusion. Some writers use the word within in places where it is inappropriate or wrong. I once saw an advert from a university that was inviting applications for the position of Professor within Economics. If you know that within often can be replaced by inside, it is clear that the ad looked slightly ridiculous.
In my job as copyeditor of scientific texts, I see within more often than I would like. Perhaps those who write within may think the word makes a text more scholarly. As you can see from the example above, within may look ludicrous.
IN
In is used about place or time:
He was in the kitchen. My daughter lives in Italy. This happened in late September. See you in a minute. I haven’t felt this happy in years.
WITHIN
Within often means inside a certain area, according to particular limits or rules, or during a certain period of time:
An angry voice was heard from within. After she had left, I had a warm feeling withinme. Don’t place this medicine within the reach of children! Delivery is free of charge within a thirty-kilometre limit. From your hotel, the picturesque gardens are within easy reach. I am not sure we can do this within budget. Within minutes of arriving at the railway station, I heard a loud voice calling my name. They had had three burglaries within six months.
IN AN HOUR OR WITHIN AN HOUR?
I’ll be back in an hour means that I ’ll be back in about one hour, perhaps fifty, sixty, or seventy minutes from now.
I’ll be back within an hour means that I’ll be back at any time before an hour has passed but in one hour at the latest.
I hope this has helped you understand the difference between in and within.
The similarity of these three words can be confusing. Adopt and adapt are verbs, while adept is an adjective or a noun.
ADOPT
Adopt means to take or acquire as your own. This can refer to adopting a child (which usually involves legal formalities) or adopting an animal as a pet.
It didn’t take long before they regretted having adopted a Great Dane.
You can also adopt, for example, a certain lifestyle, a strategy or a habit.
She had adopted a vegetarian diet.
Adopt is also used to say that one language has borrowed a word from another language.
From Swedish, English has adopted the word smorgasbord, meaning a buffet of hot and cold dishes.
ADAPT
Adapt means to modify, to adjust or become adjusted to new conditions, to make something suitable for a new use.
The spare room had to be adapted into a small office.
The film was adapted from a Pulitzer-winning novel.
Our dog quickly adapted to the new environment.
The corresponding nouns are adoption and adaptation.
ADEPT
As an adjective, adept means skilled, talented, good at doing something difficult, and as a noun it refers to an expert, somebody who is skilled or talented.
To everybody’s surprise, Grandma turned out to be adept at using a computer.
We all considered him an adept at cooking.
In Swedish, adept means pupil, disciple or novice, beginner. Thus, in spite of the word having the same Latin background as the English one, the Swedish word has the opposite meaning.
In my job as copyeditor I notice that writers tend to overuse different when they should write various instead.
Different, as you know, means that something is not the same as something else. One thing is different from another thing, or two or more things are different, not alike.
Various implies that there is a variety among things; there are several different variants of something. Various is used before a plural noun about things that are of the same type but not all of exactly the same kind.
Usually, the preposition from comes after different: Her latest novel is very different from anything she has written before. However, some writers prefer than after different. I would use than only with the comparative form: These two are more different than those.Different than is common in US English. Sometimes I also see different to, which seems to be more common in British English, but you should avoid using differentto in writing.
I recommend that you write different when you want to emphasise that there really is a difference. And write from instead of than or to! Write various to indicate that there are several types that are different from each other, that there is a variety of things.
It may be difficult to understand the difference between experience and experiences.
Experience has two meanings. The first is something that has happened to you. You might say, I had a strange experience on my way to work this morning.
This experience can take the plural form, experiences:
He talked about his bad experiences with cheap hotels. You wouldn’t believe me if I told you about my experiences in the Himalayas.
The other meaning of experience is what you have learnt from studies or work or from familiarity with something. This is what you would write in your CV. Experience in this case is an uncountable noun; it cannot be used in the plural.
You must have at least five years of teaching experience. In my experience, this is a very good car.
Experience can also be a verb:
She experienced a sense of being valued for her brains and not only for her beauty.
What’s the difference between economy and economics?
ECONOMY
Economy comes from a Greek word meaning household management.
One definition (from investopedia.com) is that economy is ”a complex system of interrelated production, consumption, and exchange activities that ultimately determines how resources are allocated among all the participants”. A government may look at different ways to stimulate the economy.
Another definition of economy is careful management of available resources. We can talk about the fuel economy of a car.
(You can read about the adjectives economic and economicalhere.)
ECONOMICS
According to wikipedia.org, economics is “the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services”. Economics focuses on how economies work.
Adam Smith, ”the father of economics”, defined economics as the science of wealth.
Economics is usually divided into two disciplines:
Macroeconomics looks at how the economy as a whole works, how economies grow, change, and go through cycles. This can be about inflation, unemployment rates, monetary policy, foreign trade, etc.
Microeconomics looks at how supply and demand change over time, how people and businesses work, how people react to changes in prices, and how they make financial decisions.
We use grateful and thankful to express our thanks for something. Even if the two words are often used interchangeably, there is a difference between them. So, what is the difference between grateful and thankful?
GRATEFUL
Grateful is used to express our gratitude when somebody is kind to us or helps us in a way that will have a long-time effect.
Many thanks for helping us move into our new flat. We are so grateful. I am particularly grateful to my supervisor for her support and encouragement.
You can feel grateful when you are in a third-world country and realise that at home you have access to fresh air and clean water.
You can use grateful when you make a request in a formal letter:
I would be grateful if you would send me your latest brochure.
THANKFUL
Thankful is used when you feel relieved that something dangerous or unpleasant did not happen.
We had a burglary last week. I’m so thankful that my computer was not stolen. My brother had a nasty car accident. We are all thankful that he was not seriously injured.
You are also thankful when somebody has done something and the situation would have been much worse if they had not done anything.
To sum up, if you are grateful, you express gratitude to somebody for something they have done or given and if you are thankful, you feel relief or happiness over something.
The corresponding nouns are gratitude and thankfulness.
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