Pairs of similar English words that we often confuse

Learning English is an important part of immigration. Even after moving to the USA, you shouldn't forget about the language. Constant practice and improvement has never hurt anyone. FluentRu posted a couple of words that are often confused by immigrants. Using the wrong words changes the meaning of the sentence, and sometimes even deprives it of meaning. Let's figure out how not to confuse words and speak so that native speakers understand us.

There are several words that describe our feelings that are often confused. studying English. In this article, we'll take a closer look at 10 of these words.

Be sure to learn to see the slight difference between these five pairs of words that can be easily confused. Then you can tell your friends how you really feel and connect better with those around you!

12 pairs of words that are best not to be confused

1. Fun or Funny

A common mistake among immigrants from different countries - incorrect use of the words "fun" and "funny". Both words can be used as adjectives, they have similar meanings, but still they are different.

Word used to describe someone or something pleasant or good time. Funnyinstead, describes something or someone that makes you laugh.

“Fun” is used as a noun, it must be used with the verb “to have”. For example, “I had at the party last night ”. This is especially appropriate if you want to emphasize the fact that the subject (you or your friends) is enjoying something, and not just that enjoyable event / activity.

Of course, sometimes things and people can be funny and funny at the same time. For example, I can call my best friend “fun and funny”. She's funny because we always do what we love and bring joy to both of us. She is funny because she makes me laugh when we spend time together.

3. Tired or Tiring

What do you say if you want to sleep, it's late: “I'm tired” or “I'm tiring”?

Or you just took a walk and now you want relax... Do you say “the bike ride was tired” or “the bike ride was tiring”?

In the first example, you need to use the word "tired"Because you want to sleep. In the second example, you need to use the word “shooting"Because the bike ride was exhausting.

End -ed here describes how you feel, and the ending -ing - describes a situation / event that makes you feel this way.

"Tired" - adjective. Use this word to describe how you feel when you feel sleepy or tired.

«TiredInstead, is used to describe an activity or event that makes you feel tired, fatigued, or fatigued.

This means that the structure of the sentence looks like this: [activity / event] + [is / are] + [tiring].

2. Bored or Boring

Have you ever yawned and said “I'm boring”? If so, people around you might giggle a little. Why? Because I should have said "I'm bored".

Must speak boredwhen you want to say that you or someone else is tired or unhappy because you have to endure something uninteresting, or you just have nothing to do. Bore Is the opposite of "interesting". It is used to describe things that make us bored, uninteresting things. For example, My kids say long flights are boring, but watching movies makes them more entertaining. My kids say long flights are boring, but watching movies makes them more fun.

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4. Alone or Lonely

To understand the difference between alone and lonely, you must first learn. that this statement is not true for most native English speakers.

Sometimes we like to be alone. Let's figure out what the difference is.

Lonely - adjective. It describes the feeling we experience when there are no other people around and because of this we feel sad and unhappy. For example: When my boyfriend travels and I stay at home, I feel lonely... When my boyfriend leaves and I stay at home, I feel lonely.

Alone - adjective and adverb. This word means “without other people” or “by itself”. For example: I don't have any roommates. I live alone... I have no roommates. I live alone.

5. Scared or Scary

These words are used when you need to describe what scares us, things that we are afraid of. At the same time, these words are not used in the same way.

scared - adjective. It describes the feeling you get when someone scares you, worries, or worries. For example: My mom is scared of snakes. My mom is afraid of snakes. Remember that "Scared" is also the past form of "to scare."

Word scary never used to describe your own or someone else's feelings. Rather, one should use scaryto describe things that make you feel fearful or terrified — something that scares you. For example: The waves in the ocean are big and scary... The waves in the oceans are very large and scary / scary.

6. Food and Meal

We use these words every day. What is the difference and how not to confuse them, explained Rapid English.

Food used to describe any food that can be consumed to sustain life. For example: We have enough food for today. We have enough food for today.

Meal describes the process of eating, the meal, or the time during which the food is consumed. Also, this word means food that we eat at a certain time. For example: We ordered a meal. We ordered food.

7. Comfortable and convenient

comfortable we use it when something is physically convenient for us. We are relaxed and confident. For example: My new shoes are comfortable. My new shoes are comfortable.

We talk convenientwhen we want to say about something that does not cause difficulties. what is convenient for us does not contradict the plans. For example, I will come at 5, if it is convenient for you. I'll come at 5, if that's convenient for you.

8. Disturb and bother

I am sorry if I disturbed you. In this case, we are disturbing someone's peace. We distract and disturb this person.

Bother the same is used to denote anxiety, anxiety that someone gives to another. For example, The kid bothered him with questions. The child bothered him with questions.

9. Offer and suggest

Offer - an offer of something specific: services, assistance, things. For example: I can offer you to drink something. I can offer you something to drink.

Suggest used when we put forward an idea, we invite someone to do something. For example, I suggested a walk in the street. F suggested taking a walk down the street.

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10. Like and as

When we talk about similarity, about something similar, we use like. For example, Why can't you be quite like all the other children? Why can't you be calm like all other children?

If we are talking about objects that are not similar to each other, but about specific functions, we use as... For example, Some people keep exotic animals as pets. Some people have exotic animals as pets.

11. Want and wish

Want used when we want something that can actually come true, at least with a small probability. Also used colloquially. For example: I want ice cream for dessert. I want ice cream for dessert.

If we want something that is unlikely to come true, such as a dream, we use wish... For example, I wish I were a millionaire. I would like to be a millionaire.

12. Difficult and complicated

When we talk about something that requires effort, special skills, when it brings problems, we use difficult... For example, The crisis got us in a difficult position. Because of the crisis, we found ourselves in a difficult situation.

Complicated is used to describe something difficult to understand when it has many parts. For example, The book is about a very complicated period in our country.