Confusing Words

-ed adjectives

We often confuse adjectives that end both in –ed and –ing. (interested or interesting, bored or boring etc.)

Adjectives that end in –ed describe emotions – they tell us about how a person feels about something or even their opinion about something.

I’m surprised to see you.
He’s interested in fashion
I was bored during the lecture.
I was tired so I went to bed.

We use still to show that something continues up to the time referred to. It is used in the past present or future. Still is placed in front of the main verb:

Even though he was a teenager he still loved playing outside.

They are still living in the old farmhouse.
We will still be at work when you arrive.

Look at the comparative and superlative forms in these sentences.

Regular Adjectives

Most adjectives follow one of these rules when making comparatives.

One syllable words add er:

New becomes newer

Two or more syllable words add more first:

Intelligent becomes more intelligent

Words that end in y become ier:

pretty become prettier

Words that end in er add er:

Clever becomes cleverer

We see these two words misspelled ALL the time especially on Twitter and Facebook.

Let's take a look at the correct use of these words.

Lose

Lose: is a present tense verb. It has two meanings:

i) To have lost something. You no longer know where it is:

"Don't lose your bag. Be careful where you put it."

ii) To be defeated:

"I always lose when I play tennis against my brother."

Lost

The past form of both meanings is lost.

"I lost my bag!"

What's the difference between have to, supposed to and ought to?

Have to

When you must do something, you have to do it. It is used for a situation that has no choice. Have to is used for obligations.

"Students must wear their uniforms to school or they will be sent home."

"In England, you have to drive on the left."

When we hear the word like we think about things we enjoy, "I like English." There are other uses of the word. How familiar are you with these?

"What's she like?" - 'What...like?' is used when asking about someone's personality or character. You could answer with:
She is funny/patient/outgoing.

We use use much and many in questions and negative sentences. They both show an amount of something.

Use 'Much' with uncountable nouns

We use much with singular nouns.

Question: "How much petrol is in the car?"
Negative clause: "We don't have much time left."

What's wrong with this sentence.

"Boy played in the park."

The problem is that the noun 'boy' (the subjects) cannot be used without an article. We could say, for example, 'The boy', 'A boy' or 'My neighbour's boy'. Generally, the articles a and the are used with nouns.

When to use The

Use the before singular and plural nouns when the noun is specific.

Let's take a look at a couple of words that are often confused by English learners, alone and lonely.

If you are sitting in a room and there are no other people in the room, you are alone. Alone simply means without other people.

"I used to live with my parents, now I live alone."