EASILY CONFUSED WORDS EARN, GAIN or WIN? Earn suggests "deserve". It may be used to talk about money obtained through work. You earn money, a reward, admiration, respect. Gain suggests "progress, increase, obtain an advantage". It is NOT used to talk about money. You gain advantage, experience, speed, time. Win suggests "victory". It may be used to talk about money not obtained through work. You win a bet, a game, a race, a prize, a war. Examples: How much money do you earn? I have gained alot of experience in my job. I have won the lottery! BORROW or LEND? You borrow things from the owner. The owner lends you things / lends things to you. • borrow (borrowed, borrowed) I borrowed this book from my brother. (The owner of the book is my brother, I just took it for a determined period of time). That kid is always borrowing from his friends. • lend (lent, lent) My brother lent me this book. (He is the owner of the book, and he gave it to me for a determined period of time). Banks usually lend money. AVOID or PREVENT? • Avoid + -ing (evitar) = stay clear from; keep away from; keep out of the way of someone or something. I need to avoid eating sweets if I want to lose weight. • Prevent + sb/sth (FROM) -ING (prevenir, impedir)= stop (someone, something) from doing (something). He will prevent you from passing ( te impedirá pasar). We can't prevent it happening ( no podemos evitarlo o no podemos evitar que suceda). WAIT, EXPECT or HOPE? Wait means that you do something until something else happens. Expect means that you think that something will happen. Hope means that you want something to happen. I'm waiting for the bus. I will wait until she comes back. I expect to arrive in a week (you think you will). We didn't expect her to stay so long. I hope to arrive in a week (you are not certain but you want to). I hope everything goes well. LAST or LATEST? Last means final (one). Nobody wants to be the last to know. Latest means most recent. Have you heard about his latest plastic surgery?
HARDLY or HARD? Hardly (adverb) is a negative word eaning almost not.I can hardly wait for my birthday. Hard (adverb) with difficulty. I have to work hard today. REMEMBER OR REMIND? Remember to inf. or -ing means to 'have the memory of something', 'not forget something'. ("recordar") Remind sb of sth.means 'make somebody remember'. ("recordarle") Remember to leave the window open. I remember reading that book in school. This place reminds me of home. Remind me that I have an appointment with the doctor today. ACCEPT OR EXCEPT? Accept is a verb that means "to receive, admit, regard as true, say yes." I can´t accept this gift. Except is a preposition that means "excluding". He bought a gift for everyone except me. ALL or WHOLE?
All comes before the definite article: All the time Whole comes after the definite article: The whole time All comes before a possessive adjective: All my life Whole comes after a possessive adjective: My whole life
ACTUALLY or REALLY?Actually ("de hecho, en realidad") in fact..It emphasizes a fact or that sth is not true, Yes, I know he look very young, but he´s actually 45. Actually doesn´t mean "actualmente"(at the present time).We use CURRENTLY, AT PRESENT or AT THE MOMENT instead. Really ("muy" and "la verdad es que") very and the truth is. It´s really cold today. He pretended that he was having a good time but really he wanted to leave. QUITE or QUIET? Quiet (adjective) means "not noisy." Be quiet please and listen to what John has to say. Quite (adverb) means "to a certain extent, completely". He was quite young when he graduated from school.
JOB or WORK? Both mean what you do to earn your living Job is countable.What does she do? She has a good job in a bank. Work is uncountable.What´s your work?/ What work do you do? I´m a reporter.