Англ_яз_Murphy_Евсеева_А_Ю. Учебнопрактическое пособие Грамматика английского языка
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UNIT 44 TRICKY WORDS
Both have a common verb "to adhere" which means to stick. Adhesion is the physical condition: This paint has excellent adhesion. Adherence has the figurative sense: They are to be admired for their adherence to moral principles.
Admission means permission of entry. It can be physical: The admission of immigrants had to be restricted. Admittance is a formal term for right of entry. A notice that says NO ADMITTANCE on a door means KEEP OUT. Using the two words together, you could say that a drunk was refused admittance to the show even though he had paid his admission.
These two verbs are often mis-spelled, also in English-speaking countries. The reason may be that they have a common noun: effect. To affect means have an influence on something: The strong wind affected the tennis game. To effect means cause, bring about: The new manager effected an improvement in the EDP Department. The adjective affected can also mean the same as in many other languages: displaying mannerisms that are not natural.
Although your Latin may be rusty these days, you probably still recognize that these two words must have something to do with friend. Amiable is always applied to people who are pleasant, easy-going, likeable. Amicable cannot be applied to people, only to relationships that are friendly. Using both words in one sentence, you could comment: The two amiable proprietors had an amicable business relationship for many years.
Beside refers to the physical situation, it means side by side, close to: He sat beside her. Still in a sense physical, but used figuratively are: Beside the point, meaning irrelevant, and the slightly old-fashioned expression: He was beside himself with rage, which indicates a really boiling temper. Besides is used in two ways: as an adverb in the sense of moreover, in addition: He has not improved; and besides, he does not seem to care . Less frequently, it can also be a preposition, meaning apart from: Besides curtains, they also sell sun blinds.
Both have something to do with the movement of the eyelids. Blink is what you do involuntarily every few seconds with both eyelids. A wink is the lowering of one eyelid to give a signal. Here is the difference, shown in artistic form in its three stages: Not quite logically, wink (not blink) is used in phrases connected with sleep: I didn't sleep a wink last night = got no sleep at all. They had forty winks after lunch= a brief sleep, a nap.
When you are temporarily red in the face, it can be the result of either blush or flush. Emotion (embarrassment or shyness) makes you blush: When he complimented her on her first-class work, she blushed. Physical exertion causes you to be flushed: She was flushed after running for the last bus. An in-between situation can exist when you are red in the face because of a mixture of emotion and physical causes. You can, for example, be flushed with excitement.
Childish is no compliment. It means immature: His reaction to their mild letter of complaint was very childish. (He sulked for months.) Childlike can be a compliment, as its meaning of like a child refers to positive attributes such as innocence, grace, honesty, etc.: The movements of the dancers had a childlike grace.
Contents is what you find in some form of container: the contents of a bottle, bag, box, book, and so on. Make sure you use the plural. In other languages you use the singular. Content is the presence of one element in another, often expressed as a percentage or proportion: the water content in my glass of wine, the copper content in an aluminium alloy, etc. The content (singular) of a book or a speech can also mean the essential element: It's a bestseller but devoid of serious content.
Continuous means without interruption, all the time, non-stop: There is a continuous performance from four to eleven. Continual means very frequent: They are notorious for their continual complaints. Nobody can complain 'continuously'. People have to sleep some of the time. Note: Constant is near in meaning to continuous, but not quite non-stop: her constant companion, constant headache, constant worries.
A customer buys goods and pays a price. A client buys professional services and pays a fee. Professional services are provided by lawyers, architects, accountants, and various consultants, who do not sell goods but give information or advice in some form or other. Doctors and dentists are also part of the professional group. They have patients and charge a fee. The English word profession means the same as in your language: He is a carpenter by profession. She is a professional tennis player. The English expression the professions, however, refers to a group of activities that require academic training, a university education: He is not sure yet, but will probably go in for one of the professions.
Definite means certain, clearly defined: Their arrival time is now definite. Definitive means final, often implying not merely the last, but also the best: It is probably the definitive book on the Vietnam war. This sentence means that the author has treated the subject so much better than anyone before him, that it will be the book on the war in Vietnam.
In one of your idle moments - perhaps when sitting at your desk in the office this morning - you may have been wondering whether there is any difference between these two words. If you are thinking about the organization in a company, American usage prefers division for all but the tiniest sections in a firm: Chemical Division, Marketing Division, Export Division. British usage has always preferred department, reserving division for major integrated parts of a company: Export Department, Marketing Department, Consumer Products Division. Division, with its military connotation, somehow sounds more impressive than department. That must be the reason why companies outside North America tend to use it increasingly for modest departments that would previously not have qualified for this distinction. This idea that the division is bigger than department is reversed when it comes to the government. Then department is really the big thing. The State Department, for example, is that vast United States ministry known in other countries as Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Foreign Ministry, Ministry for External Affairs, and similar more descriptive terms. (It is called Foreign Office in the UK).
Distinct is clear: a distinct difference, distinct outline, distinct advantage. Distinctive means being different from something else. You may need a distinctive trademark, distinctive design, distinctive slogan, i.e. something that stands out, something that people recognize because it is striking. Combining the two, you could say that a signpost can be made more distinctive by using more distinct lettering.
Eatable means that something is of a quality suitable for eating. As comment on somebody's standard of cooking it expresses a very low degree of enthusiasm:
Edible means suitable for human consumption, because the food contains nothing that will poison you. Illustrated books will enlighten you on edible and inedible mushrooms, for example. Negative form of eatable: uneatable.
Economic refers to the science of economics. You can have economic factors, an economic return on investment, an economic business. People can never be called economic. Economical is the opposite of wasteful and can be applied to people and objects. If money is involved, economical is simply money-saving. He is very economical in his buying habits = spends little. The new engine is highly economical = uses little fuel. In a court case someone once admitted that he had been economical with the truth, a very elegant way of saying that he was not telling the whole truth.
Efficient is competent, well organized. It can be applied to people or things: She is incredibly efficient. Proficient means qualified, skilled, an expert at something. It can be applied to people only: They are proficient in (at) braille. It is quite possible that someone proficient (who knows his special field) can at the same time be inefficient, if he forgets to answer letters or has a messy workshop. e.g. /i.e. These two abbreviations are often confused. An example, a limited selection is introduced by e.g. This is short for "exempli gratia". When reading it aloud, say for example, for instance or, if you insist, 'ee-gee': They manufacture medical appliances, e.g. syringes, catheters, surgical instruments, etc. An explanation, a definition is introduced by i.e. (id est). Say 'eye-ee", 'namely', 'that is 'or 'that is to say' when reading it aloud: They have three major product lines, i.e. chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics.
The extra 't' makes a considerable difference, although both people are not wildly attractive characters. An egoist is the same kind of person you have in other languages; someone who thinks only of himself; someone who is selfish. An egotist (remember that 't' to denote talking) is a person who talks a lot about himself. An egotist is probably also an egoist, but an egoist is often no egotist. (He keeps very quiet while he is gobbling that pound of chocolates when nobody is looking.)
Electric describes individual products that are in some way actuated by electricity: electric light, electric train, electric motor, and so on. It includes electric eel and electric shock. Electrical describes anything else connected with electricity, also the collective nouns of electricity-powered products: electrical engineer, electrical science, electrical appliances, electrical phenomenon, and so forth. Using the two adjectives in one sentence you would be quite correct in saying: Our electric toaster is an electrical appliance.
The difference between the two is not enormous, but error is usually less serious than mistake. If I ask you to multiply 312 by 758, and you tell me that the result is 236 498, you probably made a slip when typing the last digit. I would call this an error. If you tell me that you bought a company two years ago, which has so far lost two million dollars, you made a mistake (How could you do such a thing?).
Here is something for the connoisseur. Every applies to an unspecified number of objects. Each is usually better when the number of objects is known or small. Examples: In Glasgow you find a pub in every block. You do not know the number of blocks in merry Glasgow. You are making a general statement, therefore every. There is an entrance at each corner of the park. You know that the park has four corners. Therefore each. Here are two nearly identical sentences with a difference in interpretation: Every airliner has a Certificate of Airworthiness. All airliners have it. A general statement. Each airliner has a Certificate of Airworthiness. Each single aircraft I am talking about; presumably of one specific company, production run, type.
Exceptional is, of course, something that is an exception, unusual, abnormal: We had an exceptionally wet summer three years ago. Exceptionable is mainly used in the negative form unexceptionable. It means acceptable, not open to objection: I have read the conditions. They seem unexceptionable. To take exception to something means to disapprove, raise an objection. You will probably find exceptionally good weather unexceptionable.
These two are not completely interchangeable. Fast refers to speed of movement or action: A fast train. A fast run. Quick relates to the length of time an event or action takes: A quick meal. A quick reply. Using both adjectives in one sentence, you could say: They had a quick crossing because the boat was fast. He had a quick meal because he is a fast eater. Exception department: quick can mean speed if the movement or action is not sustained, abrupt: Try to get that window seat! Quick! or He is an odd kind of man, with very quick, nervous movements.
Good news! Further can now safely be used in place of farther although there is a difference according to the dictionary. Farther is the comparative of far and thus relates to physical distance: London-Eastbourne is farther than London-Brighton. Nobody will be worried if you use further here. Further means additional, other, subsequent: We have to await further developments. Floor/storey (Am.: story) Floor indicates the position in a building: second floor, top floor, etc. Storey refers to the height of a building: a ten-storey apartment block.
Historic refers to something important that is or will be remembered in history, recorded by history: a historic meeting, historic decision, historic voyage, historic landmark, etc. Historical is the adjective for all other purposes when you mean to do with history: a historical play, historical novel, historical costumes, etc.
Human is the more frequent adjective when referring to matters concerning homo sapiens: human habitation, human failings, human ancestry, etc. Humane means benevolent, compassionate: humane treatment is decent treatment.
In future means from now on, starting now: All goods will in future be sent by our own transport. In the future is more vague and means at some unspecified later date: We hope to be able to send all goods by our own transport in the future. (As soon as we can afford three trucks.) While talking about 'the future', here is one small point you may find interesting. If today is the 5th of the month and you want to say that something will happen on the 26th, you have three ways of putting it: in three weeks; in three weeks from now; in three weeks' time. When using the last version, please don't forget the apostrophe in writing: In five hours'/days'/months'/years' time. if/whether In many constructions these two words are indeed interchangeable: I am not sure if this is possible. I am not sure whether this is possible. The main difference is that whether is always assumed to be followed by or not. This means that in questions or requests an answer is usually expected. Take these two almost identical sentences: Let me know if you can come. The stress is here normally on the word know. The speaker or writer tells you here: If you can come, please let me know. (If you can't, don't bother to notify me). On the other hand, someone may tell you: Let me know whether you can come. This says: Please let me know whether you can come or not. An answer is required.
Many people think that these two mean the same thing. There is a difference worth remembering. Imply is what the speaker or writer does: says, suggests, insinuates, hints at something that can be interpreted in a certain way. Infer is what the listener or reader does: concludes, guesses, deduces, thinks. Taking the two together, you could say: When she implied that she was very busy, he inferred that he was not welcome. The two nouns are implication and inference. (Inference has the stress on the first syllable. The remainder is pronounced like the same syllables in 'reference' )
Both have something to do with believe, as anyone will tell you who has ever battled with Latin. Facts, events, reports, and other impersonal things are incredible (or credible): they are hard to believe. People can be incredulous, i.e. they don't believe what they read or hear. The two together: |