Tag: vocabulary (Page 1 of 4)

Alternate and alternative

2023-01-30 / admin / 0 Comments

Alternate and alternative are sometimes confused, especially in American English. Is there a difference between alternate and alternative?

ALTERNATE

The adjective alternate means every second, every other.
We agreed to take the car to work on alternate days.

The verb alternate means fluctuate, take turns, occur after each other repeatedly.
Sunny days alternated with days of rain.

As a noun, alternate means a substitute, for example in a game or in a film.

In North American English, alternate is often used as a synonym of alternative.

The verb is pronounced as [-eit] at the end, while the adjective and the noun end with [-it].

ALTERNATIVE

The adjective alternative has two meanings. The first is different or possible.
There are several alternative methods to solve the problem.

The second meaning relates to something departing from traditional norms.
They chose to lead an alternative lifestyle.

The noun alternative refers to a possibility or option.
You have two alternatives: Stay in bed and read a good book or go jogging round the lake.

In North American English, alternate is often used as a synonym for alternative.

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.

A damaged car is being lifted on to a lorry. The image illustrates the difference between grateful and thankful. — A nasty car accident

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.

Content or contents?

2022-11-29 / admin / 0 Comments

Both content and contents refer to something contained in something else. So, what’s the difference between them?

Content is uncountable; you cannot have it in the plural. It’s about the whole of something in something else.

The content of her speech really touched the audience.
He has carried out research on the fat content of frozen food.

Content providers supply material such as text, images or music, for use on websites.

In a book, content refers to all the text in a book, but contents is the list, usually at the beginning of the book, that presents the chapters of the book and what page each chapter starts at.

Obviously, contents is a countable noun – we use the plural form. We can identify the separate parts or at least understand that they are there.

He put the flask to his mouth and drank the contents.

The nouns content and contents have the stress on the first syllable.

Content pronounced with the stress on the last syllable is an adjective. This content means happy, satisfied, pleased.

He seemed very content with his new job.

Content with the stress on the last syllable can also be a verb:

I was terribly hungry but realized that I had to content myself with some wine and a small canapé or two.

Rows of small canapés with soft cheese and olives, ham, salami, etc. The image is meant to illustrate Content or contents? — A small canapé or two…

Assure, reassure, ensure and insure

2022-10-30 / admin / 0 Comments

Even if these words all have something to do with being sure, they are easily confused.

Assure means to tell someone that something will happen or that something is definitely true.

My doctor has assured me that I will be able to read without glasses after my surgery.

To reassure somebody means to make them feel less worried or frightened about a problem.

They reassured us that they would look into the matter.

Ensure means to make sure that something will (or will not) happen.

Please ensure that all windows are closed and all doors are locked before you leave the building.

Insure means to buy insurance to protect against something bad happening to you or your possessions.

You’d better insure your gear before you go hiking in the mountains.

A man wearing a large rucksack is hiking in the mountains. The image illustrates the idea of insuring gear before doing something adventurous. — You’d better insure your gear before you go hiking in the mountains

Email or e-mail? Or perhaps E-mail?

2022-06-29 / admin / 0 Comments

This word is a combination of electronic and mail.

Should you write it with a hyphen or not?

Some compunds have started as two words, then they have been hyphenated and finally combined into one word. Here are a couple of examples:

Proof reader – proof-reader – proofreader
Living room – living-room – livingroom

(You can read more about compounds here.)

If we follow that trend, we should write email. This form was more common in American English but is now also used in British English.

A young girl on a balcony is writing on a laptop. The image illustrates the concept of emails. — Writing an email

However, we write e-commerce and e-business, so there is a reason to use the form with a hyphen, e-mail.

Of course, if the word begins a sentence, we should write E-mail.

Other compunds with a single letter as the first part start with an uppercase letter also in the middle of a sentence:

T-shirt
U-turn
X-ray

Read more about how to write compounds here.

Re: re

2022-05-28 / admin / 0 Comments

Re: (with a colon) means regarding, on the subject of. Often we can find it in the subject line of an email.

Re: Your enquiry for USB cables

With the same meaning, re can be used in informal language:

We need to have a meeting re the latest sales report.

You can read more about regarding here.

In many words the prefix re means again:

Two years later he remarried.
The votes had to be recounted.
After the installation you have to restart your computer.
All components are reusable.

Since re here means again, you must avoid writing He remarried again or The votes had to be recounted again (that would mean that he married at least three times or that the votes were counted three times). You can read more about unnecessary words here.

Re can also mean a change in the position or state of something:

relocate = locate in a new place
rearrange = arrange in a different way

The image shows a room with bookshelves. There are many book on the floor, on a desk and on a step-ladder. The purpose is to illustrate the verb rearrange in a post about the prefix re.. — He decided it was time to rearrange his book collection

Some words with re have two versions, one with a hyphen and one without, and there is a difference in meaning.

recollect	remember	re-collect	collect again
recover	get back health, ability, possession, etc.	re-cover	cover again
reform	change or improve something	re-form	create again
repress	subdue, not allow feelings, etc., to be expressed	re-press	make a new copy of a recording
resent	dislike or be annoyed at someone or something	re-sent	as in 'He re-sent the parcel'
reserve	arrange for something to be kept for your future use	re-serve	serve again

Use a hyphen if re means again and if omitting the hyphen would cause confusion with another word.

You can read more about using a hyphen here and about the difference between a hyphen and a dash here.

Farther or further?

2022-01-25 / admin / 0 Comments

What is the difference between farther and further?

Not a very big one, I’d say. Except in certain cases.

Both words can be used regarding distance. There are language purists who maintain that farther refers to physical distance and further to imaginative distance, but common usage does not seem to make that distinction. (If you want to stick to the distinction, it may help to remember that farther has far in it.)

The café is at the farther end of the street.
I can’t walk any farther.
Can you see her at the further end of the corridor?
We can’t get any further – there is a tree across the road.

The music room is on the left further down the corridor

Further can also mean more, in addition.

We need to look further into this.
Does it need further explanation?
Further (= Furthermore), recent research has shown this to be true.

In examples like the above, use further and not farther.

We can find further in some common sayings:

Nothing could be further from the truth.
We’ll deal with that further down the road (= later on, in the future).
He can’t see further than the end of his nose.
This will be in effect until further notice.
They left without further ado (= immediately, without delay).
Seek no further!
This can be seen as a further expression of her influence on the political development.
Further to our telephone conversation this morning, I am writing to confirm our order for ten ink cartridges.
I have nothing further to add.

Further can also be a verb, meaning promote, develop, help.

What can we do to further her studies?
He only wants to further his own interests.

In sum, if you want to write farther, do so only when it is a matter of physical distance. You will never be wrong using further.

Read about the difference between furthermore and moreover here.

Briefly and shortly

2021-12-09 / admin / 0 Comments

Briefly and shortly are easily confused. While brief and short are often synonymous (as you can read here), briefly and shortly have very different meanings.

Briefly means for a short time.

She appeared briefly in an Italian film.
In Britain he worked briefly as a veterinarian.
We spoke briefly about the weather.

Shortly means soon and indicates a point in time.

Shortly after her exam, she moved to Paris.
I’ll be with you shortly.

The following message should not worry you too much:

The landlord will briefly cut off electricity in the building.
This means that you will be without electricity for a short time.

However, if you get the following message, you might worry:

The landlord will shortly cut off electricity in the building.
This implies that you may not have time to prepare for the power cut.

To sum up:

Briefly tells us that something lasts for a short time.
Shortly indicates a short time before or after something.

I’ll see you briefly means that I will see you for a short time.
I’ll see you shortly means that I will see you very soon.

A young couple is seen from above waving goodbye. — They said they’d be back shortly

As I mentioned above, you can read about the words brief and short here.

Take or bring

2021-10-26 / admin / 0 Comments

These two words usually indicate direction in relation to the speaker or the listener.

Take implies moving something from where the speaker or listener is.
Bring implies moving something to where the speaker or listener is.

Can you take my dress to the dry cleaner’s?
You can bring it back when you come next week.
Should I take some flowers to Mary’s party?
Don’t take your car to work today. There’s an awful traffic jam in the centre.
Bring the salt, please!
Wait a second! I’ll bring you your towel.

In the last sentence we look at the situation from the listener’s point of view. In other words, we have changed the perspective as in the following examples:

I took your briefcase home with me by mistake.
Thanks for your kind invitation. I’ll be happy to come. Shall I bring some wine?

A woman is standing in front of a lot of wine bottles in a liquor store — Shall I bring some wine?

To sum up, think of movement to or from a position. You can compare with come and go. You come here and you go there. Bring it here and take it there.

That said, you may find that either take or bring is used when the direction is unclear or unimportant. It can also depend on whether you put the emphasis on here or there, if you think about where you are now or already imagine yourself at another location.

When you say ”Should I take some flowers to Mary’s party?”, you are still at home. When you say, ”Shall I bring some wine?”, you are already imagining yourself at the party.

Like or such as?

2020-12-21 / admin / 0 Comments

Some writers use like when they should have used such as instead.

When you suggest a category or give something as a type example, write like:

Uncle Bill often listens to crooners like Bing Crosby.

Here Bing Crosby represents a specific type of singers, crooners, who often perform in a sentimental way (think of Crosby’s version of White Christmas and you will understand!).

The sentence does not state that Uncle Bill actually listens to Bing Crosby, only that he listens to singers of that type.

When you specify singers that Uncle Bill listens to, use such as:

He collects vinyl records with singers such as Dean Martin, Fred Astaire, Perry Como, Tony Bennett and Nat King Cole.

These singers are generally known as crooners, and here we understand that Uncle Bill has their records.

A plate of squids. — Seafood such as octopus is healthy

Some more examples:

You should eat more fruits like oranges.
Citrus fruits such as tangerines, clementines and lemons are rich in C vitamin.
Advanced tools like robots can reduce production costs.
Robots can take over more complicated tasks such as welding and grinding.
The course covers basic concepts of business administration such as accounting, finance, human resources and marketing.

A songwriter like Leonard Cohen will be remembered forever (Songwriters similar to Cohen will never be forgotten).
A songwriter such as Leonard Cohen will be remembered forever (Leonard Cohen will never be forgotten).

There should not be a comma or a colon after such as, but you can have a comma before such as. Leave out that comma if what comes after such as is additional and essential information.

To sum up:

Use like when you refer to a category (you imply comparison).

Use such as when you give actual examples (you imply inclusion).

Tag: vocabulary (Page 1 of 4)

Alternate and alternative

Are you grateful or thankful?

Content or contents?

Assure, reassure, ensure and insure

Email or e-mail? Or perhaps E-mail?

Re: re

Farther or further?

Briefly and shortly

Take or bring

Like or such as?

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