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vocabulary

especially vs specially

Hello

Would you please tell me whether the second sentences are OK ,if yes, do the both sentences mean the same thing?

1- My mother baked the cake specially for me.
2- My mother baked the cake especially for me.

1- The food was specially formulated for dog.
2- The food was especially formulated for dog.

Thanks a lot.

Shopping English

Average: 3.6 (13 votes)

Are you a shopaholic (a person who shops frequently)? Do you live to shop?

However you feel about it, a little retail therapy (shopping to make you happy) is often a good thing. While you're away on holiday in a foreign country, your family and friends are going to expect some small souvenirs (something you buy to help you remember a holiday/ a holiday present).

Here are a few expressions and words that will make your retail experience a whole lot more enjoyable.

10 Commonly Mispronounced Words

Average: 3.7 (23 votes)

The following words are all very common, yet they often present pronunciation difficulties. Hopefully, these tips will make it a little easier to say each word more clearly.

1. Clothes – the “th” sound followed by an “s” is very difficult even for native speakers.  Pronounce this word just like the word “close” as in: “Please close the door.”
Say: I wear clothes (close) when I close the door.

-ed and -ing adjective endings

Average: 3 (36 votes)

"This movie is boring, I am bored of watching it."

Subject Verb Agreement

Average: 3.4 (24 votes)

"Peter plays tennis"

Peter is the subject of the sentence. The subject is the person (or thing) that does an action.

In the news: man pretends to be his dead mother!

Average: 2.8 (13 votes)

Read the following news story and complete the exercise underneath. Some other key-words are linked to the Cambridge Online Dictionary:

A strange story surfaced in the American media this week about a New York man who was arrested for pretending to be his dead mother. Why would someone do something like that? For money, of course!

What are homonyms?

Average: 3.3 (70 votes)

What's a homonym?

Sun and son - what do these two words have in common?

That's right,  they're homonyms.

Homonyms are words that have different meanings and spellings, but share the same pronunciation.

Learn English Slang - 5 new words

Average: 3.9 (13 votes)

Here are 5 common English slang words. Remember that slang is very casual and should only be used in informal situations. These words are usually used by young-adults. I'll let you decide if you are too old to use them!

to cane

To do something at high speed or recklessly (British English only):

Verb Tense Test

Average: 3.4 (12 votes)

Look at the following sentences and type in the missing word (only one word per sentence).  Use the words in brackets to help you. 

Link: General Quiz - Time to Review

Link: Verb Collocations

Learn English Noun and Adjective Endings

Average: 3.5 (97 votes)

By knowing typical endings of words that identify nouns, adjectives, or adverbs, students can improve their vocabulary quickly and easily. This will also greatly improve reading comprehension. If you are reading, and come across a word that you don't know, follow these steps: