Англ_яз_Murphy_Евсеева_А_Ю. Учебнопрактическое пособие Грамматика английского языка
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He was incredulous when he heard their incredible story.
English has two words, where other languages only have one. Insulated is the technical word: protected against electricity, heat or cold. Isolated is the general adjective. It is used for anything that is separated, kept apart: When the tide rose, he found himself isolated on a tiny rock.
Last denotes final or most recent. This can be confusing: her last book can mean that she never wrote any others or that it is her most recent literary effort. Latest makes the position quite clear; it means the most recent of several, leaving open the possibility of more to come: our latest model, their latest publication, her latest hairstyle.
An interesting pair. Less is followed by a noun in the singular and is used when referring to extent, degree, and quantity in bulk. Fewer is followed by a noun in the plural and refers to quantity in terms of units. A few examples: less milk; fewer bottles; less help; fewer assistants; less money; fewer pesetas; less expense; fewer bills; less weight; fewer kilos
Both mean the same: making false, damaging statements; telling lies about a person or company. Libel, however, is something written, usually a newspaper article. Slander is spreading all that nasty information verbally. As it is much easier to prove written defamation than word-of-mouth comment, you will sometimes hear about a libel suit; hardly ever about legal action involving slander.
These two are often mixed up in English-speaking countries, mainly in the past tense. There are two separate verbs: to lie means to recline, to be in a horizontal position. It is irregular: to lie - lay - lain. He likes to lie in bed until lunchtime. The book lay on the shelf. The ring must have lain on the counter. It is an intransitive verb, i.e. you cannot add a direct object. You may lie on the floor, if you like that sort of thing; but you cannot lie something on the floor. You then need the other verb: It is to lay, which means to place, to put. It is irregular: to lay - laid -laid. It is transitive, i.e. it can be followed by a direct object: Let me lay the table. She must have laid it there by mistake. The ostrich laid an enormous egg. A frequent mistake is saying he lay it on the table. As you now know, it should be: He laid it on the table. Note: Just to complete the picture, there is also a third verb to lie, which means telling something that is not true. It is regular: to lie – lied - lied,
These two often mean the same, except when referring to something you have to read or listen to, when lengthy can imply that you were bored: He produced a lengthy report after his trip to Korea. Many pages, but not terribly entertaining.
In the same way as less and fewer, much applies to bulk, mass, an unspecified quantity. Many are objects you can count: much money, much demand, much traffic, much food.many guilders, many orders, many cars, many dishes The same definition applies to much worry/many worries and much trouble/many troubles. Much worry is the total extent of your problems. Many worries are the individual headaches that bother you.
The difference is simple: you and I are murdered. Statesmen and other important people are assassinated.
An offer is more general. It can be verbal or in writing. It is often applied to bulk goods with a variable price: We are interested in an offer for 250 tonnes of prime bleached sulphite pulp. The American unit of weight is still called ton. A quotation is more formal. It is always in writing and is the best term for a detailed proposal: Please let us have your quotation for Model KLB 2000 with power feed, rotary table, and grinding attachment. An offer is often based on a price calculation, a quotation on a fixed price list. Outside the office you also have a verbal offer when you tell someone how much you are prepared to pay. For a used car, for example. An offer at an auction is called a bid.
No problem with the adjective official, which means the same as in other languages: properly authorized. Officious describes a person who is over-keen to give service, who rushes around and upsets people. The best noun would be busybody. An officious waiter can ruin your carefully planned business lunch, if your guest becomes irritated and is in no mood to discuss the proposed contract.
Older is the general-purpose comparative form of old: old - older -oldest. Elder and eldest refer to family members and are always attributive adjectives: my elder brother, my eldest sister. You cannot say my brother is elder than I.
On time means punctual: The train is on time. In time means not late, before the last minute. In good time gives you a little extra: We should get a window seat if we get there in (good) time.
Identical pronunciation can cause mistakes; passed is a verb form, the simple past or past participle of to pass: She passed the test. They passed over the bridge. Past is here a preposition, applied to time or space: It is now half past ten. The ball whistled past the goal post.
Practical has to do with reality, with practice, with a good idea: it seems the only practical solution. You are a practical person if you can knock a nail into the wall without hitting your thumb. Practicable means possible, something that can be put into practice: This idea is unfortunately not practicable. This means it can't be done. A practical suggestion may not be practicable. Negative versions: unpractical and impracticable. (Impractical can be found in American English.) Practically is colloquial for almost: The book is practically finished.
As these two sound completely alike, spelling mistakes are not uncommon. Principle is a noun and means the motive guiding an action or attitude. He looks narrow-minded, but we have to respect his principles. It can also be the basic element: I am not worried about the extra 50 cents, it's the principle that bothers me. Principal as adjective means main, chief, first, foremost: Their principal export is bananas. As a noun it means the head of an institution, usually of a school or college: Let's see the Principal about Willie's bad exam results. In business an agent may refer to the firm or person he represents as his principals: We are authorized to sign on behalf of our principals.
A question is a straight request for information. The person asking it may know something about the subject; he may know nothing. A query is the result of some doubt in the mind of the speaker or writer who usually knows something about the subject. Clever you and I, listening to the lecture on The Advantages and Risks inherent in Pressurized Water System Nuclear Reactors', may afterwards raise a query. Jack over there, who slept solidly throughout the talk, will wake up and ask a question.
Readable is easy to read because of style: The highly complicated subject was treated in a readable manner. If you want to make sure that your books are read by a wide audience, you must make them readable, i.e. easy to understand, a pleasure to read. Legible is also easy to read, but because the printing or writing is clear: Some pages in this old bible are hardly legible.
Small is the neutral, general-purpose word, but little has an emotional element and conveys a personal attitude to the object. They have a small fox terrier describes size in a detached, matter-of-fact way. You should see their little cocker spaniel indicates that the speaker is rather fond of the little fellow. Another use of little, often unconnected with physical size, is as reinforcement of a negative opinion. When you say 'He is a nasty man!' you are obviously not over-impressed by his charm. When you hiss 'He is a nasty little man!', he must be very nasty indeed.
The difference is the same as that between small and little. Large is for sober comment; big for a more personal or emotional opinion. An advertisement for a house, for example, may mention large dining room . When you have seen it, you are likely to tell your friends: 'it's got a big dining room'.
As you can guess, these two words have something to do with getting things to move a bit faster, raising the interest level and other developments in the right direction. Stimulus is the abstract term: His enthusiasm was a tremendous stimulus to all of them. Stimulant is the concrete article, usually something you swallow to prevent you from going to sleep.
Both mean a certain distance from the ground. Tall implies a narrow base, something slender: a tall chimney, a tall mast, a tall person. High has a base of a certain width: a high wall, a high mountain, a high fence. When you are in doubt about someone who is tall but by no means slender (Fatty weighs 150 kilos), call him big. If a person is described as 'high' it means that he or she has had too much alcohol or drugs.
These two are very often mixed up in newspaper articles and even in books written by people who should know better. The difference is quite clear and should definitely be preserved. Uninterested means lacking in interest, by far the more frequently used of the two. Disinterested means unbiased, impartial, without self-interest or personal motive that could influence your attitude. The judge and jury in a court room must be interested in the case being tried, but must at the same time be disinterested. If a company is on trial and one of the jurors owns shares in it, he could not claim to be disinterested, i.e. to be free from the thought that an adverse verdict might hurt his pocket. uninterested=lack of interest; disinterested= disinterest
Very usually qualifies an adjective to indicate degree: very funny, very deep, very loud, and so on. Much qualifies participles to indicate degree: much admired, much discussed, much appreciated, and so forth. Very can also be used to qualify a few participles that have assumed the meaning of adjectives. All of these have something to do with emotions or state of mind: very pleased, very alarmed, very worried, very frustrated, very impressed, very elated Whenever you are in doubt about very or much, use a simple trick: say rather (weaker than very/much) or greatly (stronger than very/much). They usually fit: greatly perturbed, rather bothered, greatly underrated, etc.
Waste is usually avoidable: a waste of food, money, time, etc. Wastage is generally unavoidable. It is the natural loss of a substance through evaporation, normal leakage, and similar causes: wastage of fuel in a tank, water in a cistern, and so on.
Whisky is from Scotland; whiskey from Ireland or North America. Plurals? Whiskies and whiskeys, respectively.
Sometimes you have the choice between three or even four vaguely similar words. Which do you choose?
Generalizing a little, we recommend beautiful for male babies and female persons of all ages. Handsome is suitable for males beyond the baby stage and women of slightly advanced age when beauty may be combined with a certain dignity. The description a handsome girl usually indicates a cautious assessment by the speaker, i.e. the girl has perhaps a bit of a horse face, but is otherwise not too repulsive. Pretty is applied to small girls and young women. If you are a woman of forty, you will prefer to be called pretty rather than handsome. Multi-purpose, uni-sex adjective, suitable for babies as well as grandmothers or grandfathers of 80? Good-looking.
A boat can be of any size, from a rowing boat to an ocean liner. Be careful with professionals, however, because you will not be asked to the captain's table again after telling the master that his forty-thousand ton liner is a beautiful 'boat'. The correct word is ship, an ocean-going vessel. Vessel is the formal or generic term.
Former means still alive but no longer in the same job or position: our former manager, a former employee, one of my former pupils, etc. Ex- means the same as former, but often with the implication that the departure was not quite voluntary: ex-husband, ex-President, ex-mayor, etc. The late Jock Mac Tavish does not mean that Jock arrived at 4.30 when he should have been there at four o'clock. It means that he is dead. You do not need late when it is generally known that a person is no longer alive: It is attributed to President Truman but it belonged to her late grandfather.
Journey is any kind of travel of a certain distance. Voyage looks like the French 'voyage' but means travel by sea only. Both terms have lost the race against trip, that very short and ordinary-looking word. Trip used to mean a short journey by land, sea or air. Now it can be travel of any distance: We are going on a trip to the mountains. (23 miles) Have a good trip! (They are flying around the world.) Trip is not suitable when referring to distance or time. You then need the other two words: She has a journey of eight miles to get to the office. Europe-Australia can mean a voyage of five weeks.
Likely indicates that something is expected to happen, that it is probable: The application is likely to be approved tomorrow. Apt is applied to people or animals and denotes a tendency, a characteristic action or reaction: She is apt to be offended by your lack of interest. Liable is similar in meaning to likely and apt, but has a negative connotation, i.e. that something unpleasant will happen: If you use this shampoo, your hair is liable to fall out.
Packet is usually small, often machine-wrapped: A packet of envelopes. Parcel is of medium size, usually what you can carry or send through the post. The wrapping is normally done by an amateur like you and me. Package is bigger than a parcel. If you send me three towels, you make a parcel. If you send two dozen, you make a package. Pack can be the American equivalent of packet: A packet of cigarettes (British) - a pack of cigarettes (American). It is also a container for easy carrying: A six-pack of beer, for example. Back pack? That's the modern type of rucksack.
Sufficient is the same as enough but more formal. Adequate is just enough and no more. Our hotel room was adequate indicates no special enthusiasm. Ample is more than enough: Stop! Seven potatoes is ample!
Under is the most common preposition of the three. It describes situation or means less than: I found it under the house. It cost under ten dollars. Below applies to situation: They live below us. (This can be more than one storey lower) A fracture below the knee. It is also used in a few expressions: below expectations, below freezing point, below his rank, below the belt, etc. Underneath describes situation, usually the immediate underside: It was underneath the table top. They live underneath us. (On the floor directly under ours). Beneath is little used. It survives in such phrases as 'it was beneath his dignity'.
Wages are normally paid weekly for manual work, piece work or the lower grades of clerical work. A salary is paid monthly to any other kind of employee. You pay a fee for professional services, i.e. work consisting of a specific job and not a fixed work period: medical fees, an architect's fee, legal fees, audit fees, and so on. |