Tag Archives: confusing words

Which is correct ? It sounds good or it sounds well??

General, ,

What is your bet? Before you go on reading, try to guess which one is correct. Say it aloud! Once again!  Ok! I’m sure your guess is correct!

So, what do you say…

♥ it sounds good or it sounds well?

♥ it feels good or it feels well?

♥ it tastes good or it tastes well?

♥ it smells good or it smells well?

The verbs  in the sentences above are all  verbs of sense; with them, we use the adjective “good“. Using  “well” would be a mistake ( very common, by the way, in non native speakers) but which would  sound weird to native speakers .

But English can’t be that simple, can it? Look at these two examples where both sentences are correct:

♥He looks good-  it means he has a pleasing appearance

♥He looks well- it implies that yesterday he was ill


Anyway, if you have difficulty remembering which one is correct, just sing along  the great James Brown.

A word on Grammar: Old or Elder, Farther or Further

General, , ,

Very often I have been asked this question in class. What’s the difference between Farther /ˈfɑː.ðər/  and Further  /ˈfɜː.ðər/ and between Older /əʊldə/ and Elder/ˈel.dər/?

♥ Farther /Further

– Distance: both  farther and further are used to talk about physical  distance . There is no difference between them.

 Ex :    Leon is further /farther away than Oviedo

– Additional: Further  is used  when we want to mean ” additional” ” extra” “more advanced”.

  Ex : For further information, see page 153.

 ♥Older/Elder

We use Elder when we want to talk about the order of birth of the members of a family . They are only used before nouns, ie, in attributive position

Compare:

My elder /older daughter has just found her first job

My sister is two years older than me

My eldest /oldest daughter has just found a job

Peter is the oldest student in his classroom

Now, fancy doing some practice?

Word of the Day: Roast and Baked

Word of the Day, ,

Hope you are having a great week!! I can’t complain!! Apart from a visit to the hospital and another one to the doctor to have my wrist bandaged I can say that , all in all , it’s been a great week so far.

I understand  you might be a bit tired of reading about food , but that’s what I am teaching and that’s where my  brain is focused right now. In fact, I have just found a video in youtube to add to the growing list of food related posts. Keep poted !!

Today I just want to point out the difference between these two words which are very similar and therefore raise doubts

♥Both are adjectives

♥Both  mean cooked in the oven

♥Baked is used for bread, cakes and most sweet things, and also fruit and vegetables.

♥Roast  means cooked with fat, and is used especially for meat and potatoes.

Word of the Day: stressed or stressful?

Word of the Day, ,

Probably some  of the most popular words in nowadays society where we are always running to and fro and with little time to unwind.

Aren’t some people always complaining of suffering from stress, of having had a very stressful day or feeling very stressed?

  • Stress  is a noun.
  • Stressed and Stressful are both adjectives .

What’ the difference between Stressed and Stressful?

The difference between them is the same that exists between other pair of adjectives ending in -ed and -ing  such as interesting/interested, bored/boring, tired/tiring , annoyed/annoying…etc. Let’s see this difference:

1. Adjectives ending in -ed  express how someone feels about something (stressed)

I am interested in this book  or I am really annoyed today

2. Adjectives ending in -ing describe the thing or situation  that causes the emotion. (stressful)

It was a boring film or  The teacher’s explanation was confusing

The adjective STRESSED can be explained  as belonging  to the first group of adjectives (bored,interested…)  and STRESSFUL as belonging to the second group  (boring, interesting…)

  • Stressing is just the -ing form of the verb To Stress

Stop stressing me, please!!!

Hope it helps you improve! 🙂

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