People often use the word 'sometime', when they actually mean 'sometimes' or 'some time'. There is huge bewilderment in English learners and students, regarding the use of these three, as they look alike, but have different meanings. 'Sometime' can be used to mean 'at an unspecified point in time which is either gone or yet to come'. On the other hand, 'some time' is an expression, which describes 'a span of time, no matter long or short'. We use the word sometimes, for 'an event or activity … [Read more...]

Coarse and course, are a pair of homonyms in English which have exactly similar pronunciation, but their spellings and meanings are contrasting. The word coarse means something that is harsh or rough in nature. But on the other hand, the word course has to do something with progress, it denotes a path that leads to upward movement or the way of doing something. Let's take a look at the examples below which will help you to understand the difference between these two. Joe's teacher … [Read more...]

Many think that in and into are interchangeable, while this is not so, because their meanings are very different. The word 'in' is used to denote a state when something is enclosed by something else. As against, 'into' is used to express motion wherein something comes inside from outside and then it is enclosed. Let's take a read of the examples below to understand the two better: In April, my roommate moved into her new flat. The neighbours came into my house, to see what's going on, in … [Read more...]

In our day to day life, we make plans and schedule our activities, for which we often use of the words on time and in time. These are often used interchangeably, but they are not one and the same thing, in the sense that 'on time' is used to mean at the specific time, while 'in time' means early enough. Let's take a look at these examples to understand them better: Why are you never on time? If you've reached here in time, then we had not missed the beginning of the movie. She likes to … [Read more...]

The words, bring and take both are examples of irregular verbs, as they do not have a regular -ed ending in their past forms. These two are very commonly misconstrued, but they cannot be used interchangeably, as their meanings are diametrically opposite. Bring means to carry or transfer something from one person or place to another. On the other hand, take means to hold something with hands or to accept/get something from another person. Let's understand the difference between bring and take … [Read more...]

Passed and past are the most confounding homonyms in the English language. However, their spellings and meanings are completely different from one another. While the word passed means to gone ahead, cleared or permitted, past is used to denote an earlier period, beyond or something which ceases to exist in the present time. You can understand the terms with the help of these examples: The centre-forward of the hockey team didn't pass the ball to other players, in the past tournament, due to … [Read more...]

The words 'loose' and 'lose', are the pair of words which are usually misconstrued, due to a little bit of similarity in their pronunciation, and spelling as well. However, they are entirely different in the sense that we use the word 'loose', to talk about something which is not fit or free. On the other hand, lose is used when we misplace something or it can be used as a synonym for defeat. You can understand the two with the help of these examples: As the worker loosed grip of the rope, … [Read more...]

Verbs are those words which express the action or state of the subject in a sentence. There are certain forms which a verb can take, called as 'principal parts of verbs', these are infinitive, third person present, simple past, past participle and present participle. If you take a glance at these forms, you'll notice that there are some verbs whose simple past and past participle have a set or fixed ending which are called Regular Verbs. Conversely, there are certain verbs which either change … [Read more...]

Imply and Infer are the two most confounding words in the English language, which people use synonymously, due to the interconnectivity in their meanings. Nevertheless, they are diametrically opposite terms, as 'imply' means to tell or convey something implicitly, i.e. without directly expressing it. On the other hand,'infer' means to arrive at a conclusion, considering the facts and evidence resented to you. Let 's understand this with an example: John's tone implied that he is very … [Read more...]

Lay and Lie are such a pair of words, which are not only spelt differently but their pronunciation is also different. Still, they cause confusion in people due to some similarity in their meanings. Lay is used to put something down in a horizontal position. On the contrary, Lie is used to put oneself in a horizontal position. It has one more meaning, i.e. to make an untrue statement. Let 's take a look at the examples to understand the differences: Sunny laid the phone on the table and … [Read more...]