11) 'Myself'
You may have come across many people introducing themselves by saying, “Hi, myself Harish.” This is wrong. Instead, say, “I am Harish.” 'Me', 'I' and 'myself' are all used to refer to the same person (that person is you) but cannot be used interchangeably. Understanding their usage is an important part of learning English.
The first thing to understand is that ‘myself’ is neither a replacement for me, nor for I. The word ‘myself’ is a pronoun and is used to lay emphasis. Take a look at the following sentences.
12) Elicit and Illicit
‘Elicit’ and ‘illicit’ are homophones, but they have different spellings and meanings and one must be careful about using them.
On the one hand, ‘elicit’ means to draw something out of someone, by coaxing or pleading or urging. For example, the sentence - His father was unable to elicit a response from him on the matter means that the father could not extract the information that he desired from his son.
On the other hand, ‘illicit’ means illegal, or forbidden. Examples: Theirs was an illicit relationship because their parents were opposed to inter-caste marriages, or He was thrown into prison for smuggling illicit weapons into the country.
13) So and Such
It is easy to get confused about the usage of ‘so’ and ‘such’, as their structures are quite similar. However, they are not one and the same in terms of meaning or usage. For example, the sentence He is so good friend is glaringly wrong, as is The sky is such beautiful today. The difference can be illustrated using a simple formula:
15) When and If
‘When’ and ‘if’ are both used while referring to the future, as in I will be able to see you in the evening when I get off work and I will be able to see in the evening if I get off work. The difference between the two words is very basic and easily understood:
16) Advice and Advise
‘advice’ acts as a noun, defined as ‘opinion about what could or should be done about a situation or problem; counsel’, and
‘advise’ acts a verb, meaning ‘to give advice’.
Therefore,
His father’s advice was for him to give the matter thought before reaching a conclusion about what to do. = His father advised him to give the matter thought before reaching a conclusion about what to do.
The ‘c’ in ‘advice’ is pronounced like the ‘s’ in ‘sip’, whereas the ‘s’ in ‘advise’ is pronounced like the ‘z’ in ‘zip’.
In American English, this distinction between the two words is not always maintained.
17) Adapt and Adopt
To ‘adapt’ is to become or make something suitable to an environment or condition.
It took me a long time after college to adapt to life in the office.
To ‘adopt’ is to take something and use it as or make it your own. I adopted his policy of neutrality and stayed out of trouble.
18) Adverse and Averse
‘Adverse’ and ‘averse’ are not only spelled similarly (with the ‘d’ in ‘adverse’ being the only difference), they are also both adjectives with negative connotations, and hence easily confused.
‘Adverse’ means, roughly, ‘unfavourable’, or ‘harmful’. Therefore, if a sportsman is said to perform well in adverse conditions, it means that he or she performs well in conditions that are not easy to play in. It is used in reference to things, actions or events, rather than people.
‘Averse’ describes a strong disinclination. It is used of things and people, but we never speak of an averse thing or person. It is most often used in the form averse to, as in I am averse to speaking in public.
19) Bought and Brought
They are the past tenses of two different verbs.
‘Bought’ is the past tense of ‘buy’: I bought a new car last week.
‘Brought’ is the past tense of ‘bring’: I brought him a glass of water.
The difference can be remembered easily too, as ‘bring’ shares the its first two letters with ‘brought’ (‘br’).
20) Compliment and Complement
Both function as noun and verb, but are quite distinct in meaning.
As a noun, ‘compliment’ refers to an expression of esteem, admiration or praise. For example, to call someone handsome/beautiful is to pay him/her a compliment, and the verb refers to this action, ie, the paying of a compliment.
On the other hand, as a noun, the ‘complement’ of something supplies what that something is missing, ie, completes or perfects it. For example, wine can be said to complement a meal.
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You may have come across many people introducing themselves by saying, “Hi, myself Harish.” This is wrong. Instead, say, “I am Harish.” 'Me', 'I' and 'myself' are all used to refer to the same person (that person is you) but cannot be used interchangeably. Understanding their usage is an important part of learning English.
The first thing to understand is that ‘myself’ is neither a replacement for me, nor for I. The word ‘myself’ is a pronoun and is used to lay emphasis. Take a look at the following sentences.
-
I will do it. I will do it myself.
-
I cleaned the house. I cleaned the house myself.
-
I fixed the car. I fixed the car myself.
12) Elicit and Illicit
‘Elicit’ and ‘illicit’ are homophones, but they have different spellings and meanings and one must be careful about using them.
On the one hand, ‘elicit’ means to draw something out of someone, by coaxing or pleading or urging. For example, the sentence - His father was unable to elicit a response from him on the matter means that the father could not extract the information that he desired from his son.
On the other hand, ‘illicit’ means illegal, or forbidden. Examples: Theirs was an illicit relationship because their parents were opposed to inter-caste marriages, or He was thrown into prison for smuggling illicit weapons into the country.
13) So and Such
It is easy to get confused about the usage of ‘so’ and ‘such’, as their structures are quite similar. However, they are not one and the same in terms of meaning or usage. For example, the sentence He is so good friend is glaringly wrong, as is The sky is such beautiful today. The difference can be illustrated using a simple formula:
-
‘So’ is followed necessarily by an adjective. In technical terms, it takes the adjective phrase.
-
Formula: ‘so’ + adjective + ‘that’.
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For example: The movie was so scary that I couldn’t watch it till the end.
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‘that’ is optional. Therefore, the above sentence would work just as well without ‘that’: The movie was so scary, I couldn’t watch it till the end.
-
Formula: ‘so’ + adjective + ‘that’.
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‘Such’ is followed by an article, the adjective, and then the noun. In technical terms, it takes the noun phrase.
-
Formula: ‘such’ + article + adjective + noun + ‘that’
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For example: We chose such a scary movie to go for that I couldn’t even watch it till the end.
-
Again, ‘that’ is optional. If ‘that’ in the above sentence were to be replaced with a comma, it would still work.
- Note: the article after ‘such’ is used when the noun is countable; that is to say, when it is something that can be expressed in numbers. For example, ‘car’, ‘dog’ and ‘book’ are countable nouns, as there can be a number assigned to each, such as ‘5 cars’ or ‘2 dogs’. For uncountable nouns, such as ‘food’, ‘milk’ or ‘water’ or ‘air’, the article is dropped.
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Formula: ‘such’ + article + adjective + noun + ‘that’
-
‘Threw’ is the simple past tense of ‘throw’, when the latter is used as a verb.
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meaning(s): to hurl or cast something from the hand or to project one’s voice. He threw the ball at the stumps, looking to run the batsman out.
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meaning(s): to hurl or cast something from the hand or to project one’s voice. He threw the ball at the stumps, looking to run the batsman out.
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‘Through’ is generally used as a preposition. Meaning, in brief:
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to get into something from one end or side and come out the other. Example - The sunlight coming through the window woke me up.
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to travel over or across or in something. Example - The plane hurtled through the air at supersonic speed.
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to go past or beyond something. Example -The fugitives went through three red lights before the cops finally caught up with them.
- to go from one to another of, or between or among individual members of something.
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to get into something from one end or side and come out the other. Example - The sunlight coming through the window woke me up.
15) When and If
‘When’ and ‘if’ are both used while referring to the future, as in I will be able to see you in the evening when I get off work and I will be able to see in the evening if I get off work. The difference between the two words is very basic and easily understood:
-
‘When’ should be used while referring to something that one is certain will happen. The ‘when’ in ‘I will be able to see you in the evening when I get off work’ implies that the speaker is sure that s/he will get free from work in the evening.
-
‘If’ should be used while referring to something that might or might not happen. The ‘if’ in ‘I will be able to see you in the evening if I get off work’ implies that the speaker is not sure that s/he will get free from work in the evening; it is a possibility, not a certainty.
16) Advice and Advise
‘advice’ acts as a noun, defined as ‘opinion about what could or should be done about a situation or problem; counsel’, and
‘advise’ acts a verb, meaning ‘to give advice’.
Therefore,
His father’s advice was for him to give the matter thought before reaching a conclusion about what to do. = His father advised him to give the matter thought before reaching a conclusion about what to do.
The ‘c’ in ‘advice’ is pronounced like the ‘s’ in ‘sip’, whereas the ‘s’ in ‘advise’ is pronounced like the ‘z’ in ‘zip’.
In American English, this distinction between the two words is not always maintained.
17) Adapt and Adopt
To ‘adapt’ is to become or make something suitable to an environment or condition.
It took me a long time after college to adapt to life in the office.
To ‘adopt’ is to take something and use it as or make it your own. I adopted his policy of neutrality and stayed out of trouble.
18) Adverse and Averse
‘Adverse’ and ‘averse’ are not only spelled similarly (with the ‘d’ in ‘adverse’ being the only difference), they are also both adjectives with negative connotations, and hence easily confused.
‘Adverse’ means, roughly, ‘unfavourable’, or ‘harmful’. Therefore, if a sportsman is said to perform well in adverse conditions, it means that he or she performs well in conditions that are not easy to play in. It is used in reference to things, actions or events, rather than people.
‘Averse’ describes a strong disinclination. It is used of things and people, but we never speak of an averse thing or person. It is most often used in the form averse to, as in I am averse to speaking in public.
19) Bought and Brought
They are the past tenses of two different verbs.
‘Bought’ is the past tense of ‘buy’: I bought a new car last week.
‘Brought’ is the past tense of ‘bring’: I brought him a glass of water.
The difference can be remembered easily too, as ‘bring’ shares the its first two letters with ‘brought’ (‘br’).
20) Compliment and Complement
Both function as noun and verb, but are quite distinct in meaning.
As a noun, ‘compliment’ refers to an expression of esteem, admiration or praise. For example, to call someone handsome/beautiful is to pay him/her a compliment, and the verb refers to this action, ie, the paying of a compliment.
On the other hand, as a noun, the ‘complement’ of something supplies what that something is missing, ie, completes or perfects it. For example, wine can be said to complement a meal.
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Source: http://www.englishleap.com
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