Words

Figuratively means metaphorically, and literally describes something that actually happened. If you say that a guitar solo literally blew your head off, your head should not be attached to your body. Most of us were taught that figuratively means something other than literal, and that literally means "actually" or "exactly." Somewhere along the line, literally began to be used as, well, figuratively, like this: But they're also going to create literally a tidal wave of data. (Washington Post) There wasn't an actual tidal wave, just a lot of data. Here are some examples that make word nerds literally smile: Today, protesters literally occupy Wall Street, camping in Zuccotti Park at the heart of New York's financial district. (Washington Post) They're really, actually there. People can literally drown in their own body fluids. (Scientific American) "We literally had fish blood running through the parking lot," he says. (Forbes) Ew, but true. Figuratively is more imaginative, it's used when you mean something didn't really happen. It's metaphorical, as in these examples with boats and feathers: Besides, figuratively speaking, they are still in the same boat. (Mayne Reid) So Josh—as he figuratively put it—had not a feather to fly with. (Burford Delannoy) Although literally has been horning in on figuratively's turf, they're really not the same, in fact the two words are often go together to complete a picture: Watching a waterfall drowns out — literally and figuratively — everyday cares. (Seattle Times) "The Piano Lesson" tells a more haunting story, both literally and figuratively. (New York Times) Will people understand you if you use literally when you mean figuratively? Sure. Most people will recognize that when you say, "The guitar solo literally blew my head off" it was an awesome solo, but your head is, in fact, still on your neck.

Both are awesome on a first date — complement means to complete something, and a compliment is flattering. If you feel you and your new friend complement each other, maybe it's because he's been giving you so many compliments like when he says you look like a supermodel. To complement, with an e, means to complete or supplement something, such as chocolates complementing the flowers you give your date. A complement is the thing doing the completing. The chocolates are a complement to the flowers. Here are some things that go well together: Even as teenagers, they finished each other's sentences, complementing and encouraging the other. (Golf Digest) In Ms. Clinton's case, IAC said her "skills and background complement the existing areas of expertise of other board members." (New York Times) GM mosquito technology must be evaluated as a complement to existing control measures. (Scientific American) To compliment, with an i, is to offer praise to or admiration. This could be in the form of words or actions. You might compliment your date on his dance moves, for example. "Your moonwalk is perfect!" is a compliment. Here are more: "I lived on people's compliments, kind words," she says. (Washington Post) Biggest compliment: After Rob completed his waltz, Judge Len Goodman announced, "You've got the best footwork of any guy I've seen on this show ever." (Time) Once spelled the same, compliment became distinct from complement around 1650. They're still pronounced the same. You see the difference when they're written, so as long as you're just yapping no one will know if you mix them up. When writing, though, remember that a complement completes something, but I like getting compliments.

Choose the right word for each sentence: XYZ Co. is letting go of personal/personnel at an alarming rate. My personal/personnel files include notes on how to take over the world using just a red paperclip. Match.com and other dating sites have eliminated the need to advertise in the personals/personnels. The HR department kept James' personal/personnel file updated with all the complaints about his work habits. Personal and personnel can be confused if the writer is not diligent, especially as both can be used as a noun and an adjective. Let's go through the quiz to uncover all four usages. The first example could say that XYZ Co. is laying off employees or staff; the correct choice here is personnel, a plural noun. You wouldn't have one personnel; you'd have many. The second sentence calls for personal. Personal refers to something of a particular person's, something done in person, something related to a person, and so on. My files belong to me; they are personal. They don't have anything to do with my employer. The third sentence refers to those ads placed in a newspaper by people looking for romance or wishing to send messages to others. Personals is the correct, if increasingly rare, choice. In the final sentence, a personnel file is an employee file. Although the file is about one person and is somewhat private, it is limited to James' work life at his current company; it is a file kept by the company about its employee. To remember which word is which, try this: Personnel has two ns, just as a company has to have at least two employees to have personnel. Anything personal (one n) is about one individual.

To accept is to receive, and except is to exclude, usually. Both are busy little words skipping around to different meanings, but they never run into each other. To accept is to receive something like tea, an idea, or a student into your college: He accepted tea from Annette without looking at her. (Mary Cholmondeley) Comments are accepted for a month before guidance is adopted. (Seattle Times) Mary J. Blige Says She's Been Accepted To Howard University, Howard Disagrees (Huffington Post) It's difficult to find accept used incorrectly. Score one for English speakers! It's accept's nemesis, except, that poses problems. Except usually means "unless" or "excluding," but it's sometimes used as verb "to leave out." Read all the examples below except the ones you don't like: It's dark, except for the emergency bulbs that glow like red eyes along the border of the theater. (Girl in the Blue Coat) Quiet, benign, his gestures small but eloquent, he barely talks except about the music. (New York Times) But thickness excepted, he made about the same figure in the street next day. (Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson) It's the verb form that confuses, and it's usually except when accept is wanted. So remember: to accept is to receive or believe something, but to except is to leave out. Accept something by giving it an A, or exclude it with a big fat X for except.

If your teacher offered you a choice between an intense course or an intensive one, which one would you choose? And would you wonder what his intent was? Intense means of severe strength or force; having strong feelings. An intense course, then, would be an extremely tough course, such as advanced nuclear science. Intensive means focused on one subject or area for a short time; extremely thorough. So an intensive course would be very focused on one topic and would last short time, as with summer courses. The teacher's intent, his purpose or intention, might be to guide you to the best course for you. Or it might be to fill his summer course. Searching online, you'll find that in particular intensive is used instead of intense: Michigan Solar Panel Factory's Labor-Intensive Assembly Tasks These hiking-intensive trips can, of course, be strenuous. Implementation can be a time-intensive process in terms of training, data input, data conversion, and down time. Some dictionaries point out that intense is usually connected with a subjective response, while intensive is generally connected to an objective description. Here are a few examples that get it right: Intense heat sears Southern California for 4th day ‎Seaton's intent to lie, cheat is as serious as a felony‎ Professional mountain bike rider in intensive care after hit-and-run

A desert is a hot and dry place like the Sahara, but add an s and some whipped cream and you have a dessert, a sweet treat to eat. Dessert has two s's because you always want two. (If you prefer two arid ecosystems, that's on you.) A desert (DEH-zert) is dry, but to desert (deh-ZERT) is to leave someone high and dry. Although desert as a verb is pronounced like dessert, if you desert a friend, you walk away. You don't cover anyone in chocolate. Here's desert used a noun: "Even so, the Sonoran desert can feel immense and hostile, with sand and scrub stretching into the horizon." (The Guardian) And here it is as a verb: "To befriend them again would be to say, 'It was OK that you deserted us at the lowest point in our lives.'" (Seattle Times) Informally, a desert can also be a place that's missing something, as in this example: "The first location was in Watts, long considered a food desert, or an urban area lacking convenient and quality food and dining options at reasonable prices." (Los Angeles Times) Dessert, on the other hand, has an extra s for the strawberry shortcake at the end of a meal. Some people might have cheese after dinner, but a dessert is usually sweet, like oatmeal cookies or apple pie. Here are a couple of delicious examples: "The key lime pie, topped with extra-thick whipped cream, is the best-selling dessert." (Washington Post) "True to its classic form, the dessert consisted of two layers of sponge cake, a thick center of yellow cream and a chocolate-frosted top." (Wall Street Journal) So remember, don't get a desert mixed up with your dessert or else you'll wind up with sand in your strawberry shortcake. See what we did there?

Novelists, magicians, and other tricksters keep these words busy. Novelists love an allusion, an indirect reference to something like a secret treasure for the reader to find; magicians heart illusions, or fanciful fake-outs; but tricksters suffer from delusions, ideas that have no basis in reality. Blink and you'll miss it: an allusion is a quick indirect mention of something. It's a literary device that stimulates ideas, associations, and extra information in the reader's mind with only a word or two: Littlemore was not quick at catching literary allusions. (Henry James) Thomas Paine's writings contain several affectionate allusions to his father, but none to his mother. (Daniel Moncure Conway) Magicians love to create illusions, or visual tricks, like making a tiger disappear or sawing a person in half. Your eye can be fooled by an optical illusion, and Dorothy and the gang get to the bottom of the Wizard's illusion and discover he's just a regular guy. Illusions aren't always glamorous; sometimes they're just hiding the man behind the curtain: "We have no illusion that these credits are going to create lots of new jobs," the editorial said. (New York Times) But while investing in your company's stock might feel safer than betting on the stock market as a whole, that is usually an illusion. (Seattle Times) Delusions are like illusions but they're meaner. A delusion is a belief in something despite the fact that it's completely untrue. Hence the phrase is delusions of grandeur. People with delusions often wind up on the shrink's couch. Whether you are trying to deceive yourself or someone is trying to deceive you, if you believe the false idea, you have a delusion about reality: Delusions are closely allied to hallucinations and generally accompany the latter. (Samuel Henry Prince) Like everything else in this Night Zoo, it had been a fake, a delusion. (Beasts of Prey) "Basically, I think he's suffering from delusions of grandeur," he said. (Chicago Tribune) An allusion shows up in art, while illusions love kids' parties. If you believe something despite reality, you have a delusion.

These two words look and sound similar. In fact, if you think too hard about them together, you might find your tongue tripping over them. The older unconscionable, dating back to the 1560s, is the absence of reason or right; having no idea between right and wrong: She said she finds WWE's simulated rape scenes "unconscionable.'' It is unconscionable that the Obama Administration is gambling with American lives. Attempting to fence them out of their home is unconscionable. Relative newcomer unconscious originated in 1712, meaning unaware. In the 1860s, it picked up the meaning to lose consciousness, to not be awake: Fidgeting and Doodling Could Be Unconscious Focus Tools Woman attacked and left unconscious under bridge in Edinburgh Zsa Zsa Gabor is unconscious as she's been fitted with a feeding tube in the hospital. Both words descend from the Old French conscience (inner knowledge), which in turn comes from the Latin conscientia, which means both inner knowledge and a knowledge of right and wrong. How can you tell these cousins apart? Unconscionable's opposite would be the obsolete conscionable,and it sometimes seems right behavior is also obsolete in our society—just look at our example sentences! If that's not the word you're after, it must be unconscious.

Pop quiz time! Choose the correct word for each sentence: Ricky Gervais' clever touch is muted in this unexceptional/unexceptionable film about young men navigating adulthood. Religious freedom in the U.S. Constitution is unexceptional/unexceptionable. The judge's ruling was unexceptional/unexceptionable. The first sentence discusses a film that was ho-hum, nothing exciting, nothing to write home about. Choose unexceptional, and you'll be saying it's plain or ordinary. The second sentence states that in the U.S., we have religious freedom, period. There are no exceptions, no loopholes. The proper word choice, then, is unexceptionable, meaning without exception or objections. But what about the third sentence? Was the judge's ruling ordinary or without objections? Interestingly, both Merriam-Webster Unabridged and Oxford Dictionaries Online say that either answer could mean one of two things. MWU gives a second definition of unexceptional as "allowing no exception; unalterable." If you choose unexceptional, then, MWU would allow for either meaning. ODO, on the other hand, notes that unexceptionable can mean "ordinary." It would allow you to use unexceptionable for either meaning. Clearly, past writers have confused the meanings of unexceptional and unexceptionable to an extent that meanings are expanding. What's a careful writer to do? To write and speak clearly, we must choose our words with care and be certain our audience understands us. Reserve unexceptional to mean ordinary and unexceptionable to mean without exception or objection.

We don't often look at four words that can be easily confused for each other, but this pack is an exception. Let's start with our base word: pity. Pity is to feel sorrow or compassion for someone's misfortunes or sorrows. It can also be something that causes sorrow or disappointment: Pity the misunderstood conifer: Evergreens' many benefits overlooked Pitiless, then, is without (-less) pity, lacking compassion. Pitiless can be cruel or merciless: Hell, on the other hand, will be like having to read an unauthorised biography of yourself written by a pitiless researcher who has exposed your secrets. Pitiable, piteous, and pitiful all mean some shade of deserving pity. Let's see if we can untangle the differences. Piteous and pitiable both mean being deserving of pity: A single drought could spell the end of a society and doom its inhabitants to piteous deaths. Barb tried to comfort me as Rusty looked on, giving me a pitiable shake of the head. Pitiable is found 10 times as often, however, as piteous in Google News search results. Because of this difference, piteous has become a more archaic, poetic word, while pitiable remains more common. The latter also means scornfully small or poor: All of these foods proffer very pitiable nutritional value, and it consequently makes no sense at all to carry on eating them. Which brings us to pitiful. It, too, means deserving of pity and carries that second meaning of scornfully small or poor. It's used, though, in a much more negative sense, giving rise to feelings of contempt rather than compassion: They are asking what is this pitiful circus financed with millions of their tax dollars. Maine Gubernatorial Coverage: Sloppy, Pointless, Pitiful Union chief endorses 'pitiful' bonus deal for Palm Beach County If you want to say, then, that something deserves pity, pitiable is your best choice. If you're looking for a more poetic phrasing, go with piteous. A contemptuous meaning wants pitiful. And if you're all out of pity, go with pitiless.

This word set can be confusing, even for word geeks. Let's start with the basics. A homograph is a word that has the same spelling as another word but has a different sound and a different meaning: lead (to go in front of)/lead (a metal) wind (to follow a course that is not straight)/wind (a gust of air) bass (low, deep sound)/bass (a type of fish) A homophone is a word that has the same sound as another word but has a different meaning. Homophones may or may not have the same spelling. Here are some examples: to/two/too there/their/they're pray/prey Not so bad, right? The ending –graph means drawn or written, so a homograph has the same spelling. The –phone ending means sound or voice, so a homophone has the same pronunciation. But here's where it gets tricky. Depending on whom you talk to, homonym means either: A word that is spelled like another but has a different sound and meaning (homograph); a word that sounds like another but has a different spelling and meaning (homophone) OR A word that is spelled and pronounced like another but has a different meaning (homograph and homophone) So does a homonym have to be both a homograph and a homophone, or can it be just one or the other? As with most things in life, it depends on whom you ask. In the strictest sense, a homonym must be both a homograph and a homophone. So say many dictionaries. However, other dictionaries allow that a homonym can be a homograph or a homophone. With so many notable resources pointing to the contrary, are we losing this strict meaning? What then will we call a word that is spelled and pronounced the same as another but has a different meaning? If homonym retains all these meanings, how will readers know what is actually meant? The careful writer would do well to follow the strict sense, ensuring his meaning is understood immediately.

Economic is all about how money works, but something economical is a good deal. You might take an economic studiesclass to understand the ebb and flow of cash in the world, but if you buy a used textbook for it, you're being economical. Economic appeared in the late 1500s, referring to household management, but its sense of relating to a country's wealth first appeared in the 1800s. It's still related to economics (the study of the transfer of wealth) or economy (a country's wealth), but not thrifty (that's the other one). Here are some economic examples: The Fed said economic conditions will likely warrant "exceptionally low" interest rates through at least mid-2013. (Business Week) Some slowing is expected in 2012 because of global economic woes. (New York Times) The word economical also showed up in the 1500s, referring to household management, but it refers to being thrifty or not wasteful, which is still the definition today: Not long after The New York Times profiled an inventive and economical restaurant experiment taking place in Windsor Terrace, Brooklyn, the experiment ended. (New York Times) Electric lights are economical, clean, and give more light than gas. (Rose Buhlig) If you want an adjective related to the economy, economic is your word. If you want a word to describe something that saves money, like buying used textbooks, use economical.

Around the Vocabulary.com office, we might like an instance of tea, but we vehemently oppose instant tea. That's because instance means an example or an occurrence: Police investigated five instances of criminal mischief to motor vehicles on Forest Avenue A student in the engineering academy, for instance, would have to take three engineering-specific electives. There was an instance in a game in August where the catwalk came into play. Instant, on the other hand, mean immediately or urgently: Easy Reader: Philip Roth's Nemesis an Instant Classic Starbucks announced last summer it would start retailing flavored instant coffee, and here it is. Now think about the times when you fell victim to the instant desire to buy that new shinny thing. Oddly enough, the two are related. Instance dates back to 1380 as meaning the current time, but it comes from the Medieval Latin (through Old French) instantia, which refers to both presence and urgency. Instant dates to about the same time, prior to 1398, as meaning a specific moment. It comes from the Medieval Latin instantem, meaning present and urgent. Instant picked up its modern meaning of immediately around 1443 from its English definition and instance seems to have never meant urgency, creating a distinction between the two. But instant tea is still disgusting.

The weather outside is partly cloudy whether you like it that way or not. A wether, on the other hand, is a castrated sheep. You read that right. Weather comes from the Old English weder, for basically, "air and sky." It used to refer to storms, but now the weather can be sunny, too. Ships that weather a storm get through it, just like people who weather something. Examples: "Given the odd weather of late, you may be aware that we are in the midst of what could be a record-setting El Niño." (Washington Post) "If you enter the theater of this novel, get set to weather some disorientation as soon as the lights dim." (Washington Post) The word whether indicates a choice. You can decide whether to go to the movies. The "or not" isn't necessary because it's implied in the word whether. "Or not" can be added if it means, "regardless of whether," as in "We will play outside whether or not it snows." Here's Hamlet's famous choice: "To be, or not to be? That is the question— Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles…" Poor little wether. It's always jumping in for whether but wether is never a choice. It's always a sheep or a goat. The word pops up a lot, but these sentences actually get it right: "He jumped up, and called to the shepherd— 'I say, old boy, let that bell wether of mine alone, will you?'" (Richard Cobbold) "My shepherd's pipe can sound no deal, my wether's bell rings doleful knell." (William Henry Burr) Weather refers to climate conditions and whether comes before a choice. As for wether, be careful. If you say "We're having great wether tonight," it might sound like you're serving castrated goat for dinner.

Voracious describes someone super hungry, like a zombie or a wolf. A voracious appetite makes you want to eat a whole cake. Veracious (with an "e") means truthful, as in a veracious first president who cannot tell a lie. Voracious is spelled with an "o" for an open mouth or the hole in your stomach you're trying to fill if you have a voracious appetite. It's used to describe appetites, but not always for food — a voracious reader devours books by reading one after the other. Here are some unrelenting examples: The fish are such voracious eaters that they have crowded out other species and disrupted ecosystems. — Wall Street Journal A voracious reader, he became a self-educated art historian and a well-informed generalist whose knowledge awed his friends, including well-known artists. — New York Times The more formal word veracious comes from the Latin root verus for "truth." You might recognize that root in words like verify "to show something's true," or verisimilitude for "seeming true to life." Veracious means truthful, so a veracious author, for example, is one who tells the truth. Here are more examples: This interesting, although not very veracious author, gives the following account of the process. — J.G. Millingen I ought to have bought up all sorts of memories, and written the most veracious novel the world has seen. — Israel Zangwill If you had to hang out with either a voracious person or a veracious one, choose the veracious, or truthful, one. The voracious one would definitely eat all of your French fries, and your brains if you hang out with zombies.

grisly/gristly/grizzly Blood, guts, and man-eaters, oh my! Faint of heart turn back now! Grisly means relating to horror or disgust, gristly means related to gristle or cartilage, and grizzly is a big ol' bear. That can eat you. Grisly describes blood and guts, horror movie fodder, something totally repulsive. It shows up in these blood-curdling examples: The grisly massacre — some bodies were grotesquely mutilated and defiled — shocked the country and made global headlines. (Time) Television video showed a heavily damaged building and a grisly scene inside, with clothing and prayer mats scattered across a blood-splattered floor. (New York Times) Gristly is gross, too, but it means related to gristle or cartilage, that yucky hard stuff in a chicken leg, for example, or the tough chewy part in any meat. Or person. Here are some gristly examples to gnaw on: In a ham sandwich is a cold, pink punch in the face, an angry thing marbled with gristly neglect. (Guardian) This is surrounded by a sheath of connective tissue, at first merely membranous, later becoming cartilaginous or gristly. (John Mason Tyler) Grizzly refers to a species of brown bear found in North America. Grizzly can also refer to the color gray or gray hair: Grizzlies get their name from the white hairs that grow in their brown coats, making them look grizzled (streaked with gray). He makes a face like a threatened grizzly bear: mouth wide open, snout muscles flexed, teeth bared. (New York Times) All in all, if you're going out on a bear hunt, avoid grisly, gristly, and even grizzly bears. Hunt for teddy bears instead.

Lose sounds like snooze. If you lose something, you don’t have it anymore. Add an "o," and loose rhymes with goose and describes something that’s not attached. The word lose has been through some changes since it hit the scene in the year 900. Now you can lose a game, lose your mind, lose control, lose your temper, lose your… train of thought, but you can also lose your car keys or ten pounds. Here are some current examples (because Old English would be confusing): "If you know you eat all the time because you need something, but you aren’t sure what you need, diets won’t help you lose weight.” (US News) "Sometimes I have trouble staying focused and I lose my train of thought,” Ford said. (Washington Times) Loose is also an old word. Its meaning overlapped with lose's at some point, but now they’re separate. Loose got loose! It means not attached well, like a loose tooth, or free like a loose dog that’s off the leash. Lips come in pairs, like the "o’s" in loose, and loose lips sink ships. Here are more examples: “State police say they're not sure how many chickens are on the loose." (US News) "And sheepskin coats flowed loose and luxuriously around the body." (Washington Post.) If you get them mixed up, don’t feel bad: lose and loose do have a shared history. To remember the difference, think of how a goose can get loose. But when loose loses an “o,” it’s gone forever. If you snooze, you lose.

Unit 15: The Big Ship 1. Facilitate [fəˈsiləteit] v. 🍃 To facilitate something is to make it easier: 🍁 To facilitate the meeting, Melissa used a simple computer program. 🍁 The current structure does not facilitate efficient work flow. 2. Fleet [fliːt] n. 🍃 A fleet is a group of ships: 🍁 The fleet of ships spent a few days at the dock. 🍁 The entire Spanish fleet was defeated within 6 hours. 3. Grid [grid] n. 🍃 A grid is a pattern of squares with numbers and letters to find places on a map: 🍁 We located our town using the grid. 🍁 Grid system: In Barcelona the streets are laid out in/on a grid system. 4. Import [ˈimpɔːrt] v.n 🍃 To import means to bring in a product from another country: 🍁 Foods that have been imported are usually more expensive. 🍁 We import a large number of cars from Japan. 🍁 Restrictions on foreign imports 5. Infer [inˈfəːr] v. 🍃 To infer something is to decide it is true based on other information one has: 🍁 By the position of the sun in the sky, she inferred that it was noon. 🍁 I inferred from her expression that she wanted to leave. 6. Inflate [inˈfleit] v. 🍃 To inflate something means to fill it up with air: 🍁 I helped him inflate the balloons. 🍁 Air bags in cars are designed to inflate automatically on impact. 🍃 to have or cause a general increase in prices and economic activity : 🍁 There have been efforts to inflate the economy and prop up asset prices.

😄Issue ➖➖➖➖➖➖ 🔘Issue, as a noun, can be an important topic that people are talking about. The environment is an important issue. The energy crisis is a big issue for many people. 🔘An issue can also be 'a problem'. If you find any issues with our videos, please let us know. Your work was good, but there are a few issues you need to address. 🔘As a verb, we can use 'to issue'. This describes something being ready or available, often for official purposes. I'm waiting for reception to issue my work pass. my new driving license has finally been issued. 🔘We can call a newspaper or magazine an issue if it belongs to a certain title. Read about this story in next week's issue!

😄Practice ➖➖➖➖➖➖ 🔘Practice, as a noun, can be the reality of doing something, rather than the theory. It sounded like a good plan but in practice, it was terrible. Your idea works in theory. Let's see if it works in practice. 🔘Practice can be used to describe a custom or tradition. It's common practice to tip taxi drivers and hairdressers in the UK. Shaking hands before and after a business meeting is good practice. 🔘We can also use practice to describe an activity that we do regularly. I enjoy football practice because I love football and I see my friends. I have to go now. I have band practice this evening.

😄Certain ➖➖➖➖➖➖ 🔘 Certain is commonly used as an adjective. It's similar to 'sure', but stronger. I am certain that Tuesday is the day before Wednesday. The boss told me he is certain that Friday's meeting will be cancelled. 🔘 We can also use certain to mention something or someone specific, without giving exact details. Certain foods are easier to buy than others. Certain members of my family don't approve of the way I dress.

😄Through ➖➖➖➖➖➖ Through can mean: 🔘 from one side to the other of a physical place or space We went for a slow walk through the woods. The train goes through a tunnel and you come out in a different country! 🔘 from the beginning to the end of a period of time It rained through the night. I couldn't sit through the whole film - it was too scary! 🔘 'using' or 'by' I got my bike through an advert in the local paper. He got his job through his uncle. He didn't even have to interview! 🔘'finished' or 'completed' Are you through with the scissors? I'm almost done - I should be through in a few minutes.

😄Appreciate ➖➖➖➖➖➖ Appreciate is a verb. 🔘It can be used to show you think that someone or something is special or important. After appreciate we can use the person’s name, or the thing you value to show who or what we're talking about. I appreciate Luciana. She’s amazing. I really appreciate good music. It makes me feel good. 🔘Appreciate can also be used to show gratitude and that you are thankful for something someone has done. I really appreciate you organising the party. I appreciated your help. I needed it. 🔘Appreciate can be used to show that something's financial value has increased. The value of my investment appreciated by 20% over the last five years. My house has appreciated in value by £10,000 in the last month. 🔘Appreciate can mean 'understand a situation fully and realise how important it is' I appreciate that this could be a big problem. I don't think you appreciate how serious the situation is.

😄Bear ➖➖➖➖➖➖ 🔘When we use bear as a noun, it's the animal’. As a verb, it has different meanings. 🔘Literally it can me 'to support weight' The bridge was designed to bear 100 tonnes. 🔘Figuratively, we can use it to mean 'to put up with' or 'to tolerate' The pain was too much to bear. 🔘 Another literal meaning of bear is 'to carry something' and we use this figuratively in the expression to bear in mind which means 'to think about' or 'to remember'. Bear in mind the deadline is today - you need to work quickly!

😄Energy ➖➖➖➖➖➖ 🔘The noun energy can refer to the power that people and animals have that lets them move and think. I have so much energy today. I might go for a run! I don't even have the energy to think right now. I need to sit down! 🔘Energy is what powers our vehicles, and the things in our home. Turn off lights and have quicker showers to save energy. Wind power is green energy. It helps the planet. 🔘The energy a place or person has describes how they make people feel. Your positive energy is infectious! I'm always happy around you. The concert had such incredible energy. I've never felt better.

😄Over ➖➖➖➖➖➖ 🔘Over is a preposition with lots of different meanings. It can mean in a higher position. The mirror hangs over the fireplace. 🔘It can mean cover. Put this scarf over your shoulders to keep warm. 🔘Over can mean fall down. I tripped over in front of my date. It was so embarrassing! 🔘Over can mean finished. Let's go out for dinner when this film is over.

😄Share ➖➖➖➖➖➖ 🔘Share means have something at the same time as someone else. Share this pizza with me. I'm not hungry. 🔘 It can also mean having the same opinions, feelings or hobbies. We both share a love of dancing! We share the same thoughts on politics. 🔘A share, as a noun, can mean something divided between people, and can also mean part of a company people can buy. Your share is bigger than mine! Give me some of yours! I bought shares in a company. Hopefully I'll make a good profit.

😄Thought ➖➖➖➖➖➖ 🔘As a verb thought is the past tense of 'think': I thought about the problem for a little while. 🔘 an idea or plan. I've had a thought about what we should do next. As a plural noun, thoughts can be: 🔘our opinions or beliefs. What are your thoughts on the best way to learn English? As an uncountable noun, thought can mean: 🔘‘careful consideration’. We need to give more thought to this project.

😄Current ➖➖➖➖➖➖ As an adjective current relates to time. It means 'related to the present', 'relevant now' or 'up to date'. I'm still reading the current edition As a noun, current can mean: 🔘'steady continual movement', especially of air, water and electricity. There's no current in that circuit - it's not working! The boat was carried along by the current. 🔘 'feelings and opinion held by a lot of people together'. This article reflects a current of public opinion

😄Accept ➖➖➖➖➖➖ Accept is a regular verb. Here are five common ways to use it: 🔘to agree to take something or receive something willingly, for example a gift, an award, an apology, responsibility for something or even a form of payment. Many shops don’t accept cash anymore. The actor accepted a life achievement award at a special ceremony. 🔘 to say yes to an invitation or an offer. She accepted the job straight away! I accepted Leon's dinner invitation from us both. I hope that's OK! 🔘to believe or recognise that something is true. The relationship has been over for weeks, but he still refuses to accept it. The police officer didn't accept the suspect's answer. 🔘to consider satisfactory or to give approval. Tommy was immediately accepted by the other children at his new school. Her boyfriend's family welcomed and accepted her straight away. 🔘to endure something without complaint. He accepted that he had lost the match. Even though it makes me sad, I accept that my one minute with you is up.

😄Remain ➖➖➖➖➖➖ 🔘 Remain is a verb, and is quite formal. Remain can mean “stay in the same place”. The doctor said I need to remain in bed for a few days after the operation. 🔜 You must remain out here until it is safe to go back inside. 🔘 Remain can also mean “stay in the same condition “. It can be followed by an adjective like silent or a noun like a mystery. I asked him to tell me his secret but he remained silent. The location of the diamond remains a mystery, even 100 years later. 🔘 Remain is also used to talk about things that continue to exist, long after other things don’t. Parts of the ship remain at the bottom of the ocean. Only a few cave paintings remain today.

😄Figure ➖➖➖➖➖➖ 🔘 a number. If something is 'in single figures', it's between 1-9, and if it's 'in double figures', it's between 10-99. Can you check these figures for me, please? It was a great basketball game! Five players scored in double figures. 🔘a picture or drawing in a book, often with a number Please turn to page 32 in your textbooks and have a look at figure 3. Have a look at figure 8 for details. 🔘 the shape of a person It was dark, so I couldn't see exactly who the two figures were. A dreamed that a mysterious, angelic figure entered my room. 🔘 an important or well-known person Is there a public figure who you admire? She is an important literary figure. #Figure 👨‍🏫 @America

😄Charge ➖➖➖➖➖➖ 🔘 “Charge” is a verb and can be used to show the anount of money that a business or seller asks for a product or service, and that the customer needs to pay. The museum charged for 30 dollars for a day ticket. 🔘 Second, “charge” is used when the police formally accuse someone of a crime. He was charged for stealing from the company. 🔘 We can also use “charge” to mean add power to a device with a low battery. I need to charge my phone becore we leave. It’s only got 8% left. 🔘”Charge” is used to mean move forward quickly and violently and is often associated with animals. Don’t walk in the field because the bull might charge. #Charge 👨‍🏫 @America

😄Effort ➖➖➖➖➖➖ 🔘Effort, is a noun, and it can have a similar meaning to 'hard work'. I would help you, but it's too much effort. It takes effort to succeed - you do realise that, right? 🔘When used as a countable noun, it can mean an attempt to do something. We've got to make a real effort to get there on time. It was my best effort, but it wasn't good enough. 🔘Effort as a countable noun can also mean 'something that's difficult to do'. Sometimes it's a real effort to wake up in the morning. I'm trying to learn a new language, but it's a real effort!

😄 Several ➖➖➖➖➖➖ 🔘Several is a quantifier - it tells how much of something there is. It's not exact, but it's more than two and less than many. I spent several hours looking for my purse. There are several reasons why I can't answer that question. 🔘We can use 'several' with other determiners, but here we add 'of'. Several of my friends don't have cards. You got several of the answers wrong. 🔘We can also use 'several' as a pronoun. I didn't know which key to use, so I tried several. Good restaurants in town? There are several.

😄Conduct ➖➖➖➖➖➖ 🔘Conduct, as a noun, refers to the behaviour of a person, particularly in a specific place or situation. The leader praised the conduct of the students. 🔘Conduct, as a verb, can mean how someone behaves. When used like this, it is followed by a reflexive pronoun. While on this school trip, conduct yourselves appropriately please. 🔘Conduct can also be a verb that means 'organise' and 'do'. It is often used with nouns like 'experiment' and 'survey' The class conducted a survey on pollution in the town. 🔘Finally, conduct, as a verb, is used to mean direct the performance of a piece of music or musicians. The choir was conducted by a new musical director this year.

😄Mean ➖➖➖➖➖➖ 🔘 Mean as a verb can show a thought, idea or fact. I don’t know what this text means. He said “we need to talk…” 🔘 Mean can show that a specific result has been achieved. You got 75%. This mean you passed the exam! 🔘Mean can be similar to intend. I didn’t mean to call you. I sat on my phone and it must have rung you. 🔘 The adjective mean describes an unkind or not generous person. He’s so mean. He only put 20p in the charity box!

😄Major ➖➖➖➖➖➖ 🔘 Major can be something important or large. This is a major meeting. I can't be late! It's a major building. There are over 100 floors. 🔘 Major is also used to talk about university courses, especially in the US. I studied history as my major. 🔘 And it can be used as a verb in the same way. I majored in history.

😄Company ➖➖➖➖➖➖ 🔘 Company is a business that makes money from goods or services. I work for a very small company. There are only 5 employees. 🔘 If you are with people, they are company. People can be good company or bad company. I love going out with Jen. She's great company. Gareth is boring. He's really bad company.

😄Critical ➖➖➖➖➖➖ 🔘 Critical means you say something is bad or not as good as it should be. She was quite critical of my work but I appreciate her feedback. 🔘 Critical can also mean you think something is very important, especially for the future. Think carefully about what you do next. It's a critical move. This is a critical time in my life. I'm leaving home and moving to a new country. 🔘 Critical means something is extremely serious or dangerous. He has critical injuries. I don't know if he'll survive.