Can You Tell Their Differences?

In English, there are many words which look similar, but they are different in meaning:

PERISHABLE / PERISHING

Perishable: liable to die quickly.

e.g. Fresh vegetables are perishable; put them in the refrigerator.

Perishing: causing suffering.

e.g. Negative thinking may cause perishing emotions and thoughts.

SEDATIVE / SEDENTARY

Sedative: calming or soothing.

e.g. The doctor gave her some sedative medicine to put her to sleep..

Sedentary: accustomed to sitting; physically inactive.

e.g His sedentary work -- sitting in front of the computer -- took a toll on his health.

e.g. Avoid a sedentary lifestyle even if you are approaching 60.

GENTEEL / GENTLE

Genteel: well-bred, polite; imitating the lifestyle of the rich.

e.g. Your friend is genteel. Is he very rich?

e.g. All along he has been living in genteel poverty. He is not practical.

Gentle: kind, friendly, mild.

e.g. Be gentle to my puppy.

DISPOSABLE / INDISPOSED

Disposable: cant be removed or got rid of.

e.g. This machine is disposable; we can do without it

Indisposed: not feeling well; unwilling to

e.g. You look indisposed. Is there something wrong with you?

e.g. Many people are indisposed to working on weekends.

WANDER / WONDER

Wander means to walk aimlessly; wonder means to consider or question some issue.

e.g. The hiker lost his direction and wandered in the forest for some hours.

e.g. I wondered if he would come to the birthday party. 

PROVIDING THAT / PROVIDED THAT

Providing that is incorrect.

e.g. You can go out to play provided (that) you have finished your home work.

e.g. You can keep the book for another week providing that no one has reserved it (incorrect: provided that should be used instead).

TERMINABLE / TERMINAL

Terminable: can be ended.

e.g. Your employment is only temporary and terminable at any time.

Terminal: at the end.

e.g. The doctor told him that he had terminal cancer.

DECORATIVE / DECOROUS

Decorative: having an artistic or showy effect.

e.g. The ballroom with all the ribbons and flowers are very decorative.

Decorous: showing good taste.

e.g. The Princess looks decorous in that simple but beautiful dress.

Stephen Lau

Copyright© by Stephen Lau

Use of Appropriate Words and Phrases

Effective writing requires the use of appropriate words and phrases, which can make a great difference in the quality as well as the effectiveness of your writing.

Selecting words with the right connotation and denotation

Denotation is the precise meaning of a word; connotation is the association of a word, which can be positive, negative, or neutral.

e.g. slender with a positive connotation, suggesting “tall” and “thin”

e.g. thin with a neutral connotation

e.g. skinny with a negative connotation of being “too thin”

Using words in their right parts of speech

e.g. occupational hazard NOT occupation hazard (using noun for an adjective) 

e.g. sleep well NOT sleep good (using an adjective for an adverb)

Well, not good, is generally used in a compound word to form a compound adjective:

e.g. A person who behaves well is well-behaved.

e.g. A person with good intentions is well-intentioned.

e.g. A person who speaks well is well-spoken.

BUT “a person with good looks is good-looking.” (NOT well-looking, possibly because well-looking may suggest “looking healthy”.

Using correct idioms

Idioms are accepted expressions in the English language. They add elegance to your writing. But incorrect idioms can make your writing look sloppy. The following are examples of incorrect use of idioms:

e.g. according to NOT according with

e.g. aptitude for NOT aptitude toward

e.g. capable of doing NOT capable to do

e.g. complain to NOT complain with

e.g. comply with NOT comply to

e.g. conclude by saying NOT conclude in saying

e.g. conform to or with NOT conform in

e.g. die of NOT die from

e.g. different from NOT different to or different than

e.g. every now and then NOT ever now and then

e.g. except for NOT excepting for

e.g. identical with NOT identical to

e.g. in accordance with NOT in accordance to

e.g. incapable of doing NOT incapable to do

e.g. in my opinion, NOT to my opinion

e.g. in search of NOT in search for

e.g. in sight into NOT in sight of

e.g. intend to do NOT intend on doing

e.g. in the year 2010 NOT in the year of 2010

e.g. on the whole NOT on a whole

e.g. outlook on life NOT outlook of life

e.g. plan to do NOT plan on doing

e.g. prior to NOT prior than

e.g. regardless of NOT regardless to

e.g. relate to NOT relate with

e.g. similar to NOT similar with

e.g. super to NOT superior than

e.g. try to see NOT try and see

e.g. type of NOT type of a

e.g. what to do about this NOT what to do with this

Read my book American Idioms for ESL Learners.

Stephen Lau

Copyright© by Stephen Lau

Sentence Fragments

Sentence Fragments

A sentence fragment occurs when the sentence is incomplete. A complete sentence must have a subject and a verb. Do not treat a dependent clause or phrase as if it is an independent one.

e.g. We left the party. Since a storm was coming (a dependent clause).

Improved: We left the party, since a storm was coming.  

e.g. Going through all the documents collected all these years (a dependent phrase). We finally discovered the truth of the matter.

Improved: Going through all the documents collected all these years, we finally discovered the truth of the matter.

e.g. Let us help you. Because we know what the problem is (a dependent clause).

Improved: Let us help you because we know what the problem is.

Improved: We know what the problem is. Let us help you.

Improved: We know what the problem is, so let us help you.

Improved: We know what the problem is; let us help you.

Remember, A semi-colon (;) may be used to join two independent sentences, but not a comma (,). A semi-colon may replace a coordinating conjunction, such as and, but, or, nor, for, so, and yet. In other words, you may have the following options when you have two independent sentences:

I will help him. He is my brother. (Keep them separate as two independent sentences.)

I will help him because he is my brother. (Use a subordinating conjunction, e.g. after, when, if, unless, because, for a less important independent sentence.)

I will help him, for he is my brother. (Use a coordinating conjunction, e.g. and, or, nor, but, so, for, yet, to join the independent sentences.)

I will help him; he is my brother. (Use a semi-colon to replace a conjunction.)

I will help him: he is my brother. (Use a colon to replace a conjunction. The difference between a semi-colon and a colon is that a colon always indicates a reason or an explanation.)

Effective Writing Made Simple

Stephen Lau

Copyright© by Stephen Lau

Learning Prepositional Words and Phrases

ASK

Ask about: find out more about.

e.g. I want to ask about my application for that position.

Ask after: ask about the health and wellbeing of someone.

e.g. My in-laws asked after you.

Ask around: request information from a number of people.

e.g. I plan to ask around to see what people think about the new mayor.

Ask back: invite someone to come again.

e.g. Because of your rudeness, they will never ask you back.

Ask for: request for someone or something.

e.g. The policeman is asking for you.

Ask of: ask of something from someone.

e.g. I want to ask a favor of you.

Ask out: invite someone to go out.

e.g. I asked her out to dinner, but she refused.

Ask over: invite someone to visit.

e.g. I asked my neighbor over to fix my computer.

FACE

Face into: turn something or someone towards certain direction.

e.g. Please face into the camera; they want to take a picture of you.

Face off:  prepare for a confrontation.

e.g. The two candidates are going to face off in a debate.

Face up: confront something with courage.

e.g This is a huge challenge that you must face up.

ACE

Ace in(to): to be luck to be admitted into (slang).

e.g. My son aced into Harvard University.

Ace out of: to be lucky to accomplish something.

e.g. I aced out of my chemistry exam.

EASE

Ease someone of something: to relieve or reduce someone of something.

e.g. The doctor eased me of my back pain.

Ease off: diminish; let up doing something.

e.g The rain has eased off; we'd better leave now.

e.g. Come on, he's just a kid. Ease off!

Stephen Lau     

Copyright© by Stephen Lau

Learning Slang and Colloquial Expressions

Learning Slang and Colloquial Expressions

Learning a language takes time and effort, especially if it is not your first language. Even if it is your mother tongue, you still need time and effort to master it. Language is forever changing. What is currently popular may be replaced by something else in years to come, and the use of slang is a strong testament to that. Colloquial expressions are often acceptable in informal writing. The more you learn, the more you will know when to use them or not to use them in your writing or speaking. 

Hell-bent on: very determined.

e.g. The team is hell-bent on winning the game tonight.

Not born yesterday: not as naive or foolish as you think.

e.g. Don't give me all that nonsense. I was not born yesterday.

Right you are: I agree.

e.g. "I think I'm going to accept this job." "Right you are."

All at sea: confused.

e.g. "What do you think of the proposal?" "I'm all at sea; I'm completely clueless."

Get cold feet: become anxious and fearful.

e.g. He got cold feet, and left without taking the challenge.

All hot and bothered: agitated, confused, or excited.

e.g. She was all hot and bothered when she heard the news of their divorce.

Poorly: sick or unwell.

e.g. What's the matter with you today? I say, you look poorly!

Saw you coming: realized your ignorance.

e.g. You gave him the money right away without asking any question; he saw you coming!

Pooped: exhausted.

e.g. I was pooped after working for nine hours in the yard.

Say one's piece: say what one ought to say.

e.g. I must say my piece: that was not a nice thing to say to your parents.

Stephen Lau

Copyright© by Stephen Lau

Learn Some English Slang

Learn some English slang. Slang is highly ephemeral: it changes from one generation to another. Slang terms come into existence for various reasons, some obvious, some inexplicable, but most of them are delightfully direct and to the point. The use of slang adds spice to speech and writing.

in low water: short of money
e.g. In this economic time, many people are living in low water.

stunner: an attractive person or object
e.g. This necklace is a stunner on you.

flap one's mouth: talk too much
e.g. Shut up and don't flap your mouth!

off the nail: drunk
e.g. Every time I come home, I find him off the nail with a bottle in his hand.

ditch: abandon
e.g. He's not a trustworthy person: he's going to ditch you before long.

flattened out: broke; having no money
e.g. I tell you what: I'm flattened out!

something out of a bottle: an impracticable idea
e.g. Is your suggestion something out of a bottle?

stuffed shirt: an arrogant perso
e.g. He's nothing but a stuffed shirt; nobody likes him.

do oneself proud: indulge in unusual and satisfying extravagance
e.g. Now that he has inherited the family fortune, he's going do himself proud.

fat lot: extremely little
Did you win a lot at the casino? Fat lot!

Stephen Lau

Copyright© by Stephen Lau

Confusing Words

PERISHABLE / PERISHING

Perishable: liable to die or perish quickly.

e.g. Fresh vegetables are perishable if you don't put them in the refrigerator.

Perishing: causing suffering.

e.g. Negative thinking may cause perishing emotions and thoughts.

SEDATIVE / SEDENTARY

Sedative: calming or soothing.

e.g. Without her sedative medicine, she could not go to sleep.

Sedentary: accustomed to sitting; physically inactive.

e.g His sedentary work -- sitting in front of the computer -- took a toll on his health.

e.g. Most seniors have a sedentary lifestyle as they continue to age.

FRAGILE / FRAIL

Fragile: delicate, easily broken.

e.g. This piece of antique is fragile; please handle with care.

Frail: weak in health; without strong support.

e.g. He looks pale and frail.

e.g. The Senator received frail support from his party.

PERIODIC / PERIODICAL

Periodic: occurring again and again.

e.g. The singer has never really retired with periodic appearance on TV.

Periodical: published at regular intervals.

e.g. This is a periodical magazine -- published once a month.

   

REMOVABLE / REMOVED

Removable: can be dismissed or removed.

e.g. This is a removable position, not a permanent one.

Removed: distant, remote, separate.

 e.g. He is my removed relative.

IMPAIR / REPAIR

Impair: weaken or repair.

e.g. Spending too much time on the computer may impair your vision.

Repair: fix

e.g. Eye exercises can repair your vision

Stephen Lau

Copyright© by Stephen Lau