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...]

We commonly use the words good and well synonymously, but there is a thin line of demarcation between the two. When someone says "How are you?" we either say 'I am good' or we say 'I am well', both are correct, but they do not mean the same thing. While I am good implies you are happy in your life, and everything is okay, I am well has nothing to do with happiness, as it implies that you are healthy, fit or fine. Let's take a read of these sentences to understand them correctly. Joe … [Read more...]

The crucial difference between should, ought to and must, is based on the extent to which they emphasize, in the sense that must is the most emphatic of the trio. On the other hand, ought to is less emphatic than must, but more than should. So, it is obvious that the degree of emphasis is least when we use should in our sentence. So, let's have a look at these examples to understand the terms should, ought to and must in a better way: You should have been more attentive. The outing was … [Read more...]

The word farther is an adverb form of far, which is used to express the distance between two entities or objects by comparing them. Farther is often contrasted with the word further when we talk of spatial distance. Further, is commonly used to denote distance in a non-literal sense, i.e. when it is only imaginable but not measurable. It may also mean, additional or more. Let's take a look at the example given below to understand them better: The place is farther than we thought it would … [Read more...]

Many use the words of and off interchangeably, due to lack of knowledge about their meaning and usage. 'Of' is a preposition which is used in sentences to show belongingness or possessiveness. It is commonly contrasted with the word 'off' which is used when we mean 'away from a person, object or place'. Let's take a look at the examples given below to understand their difference: The game had to be called off because of incessant rains. Maria took her pen out of the jacket, before taking … [Read more...]

In English, the words like and as, are commonly interchanged and used synonymously. However, they are not similar in their meanings, as we use the word 'like' to mean something we enjoy or prefer to do, or for someone you admire. On the other hand, the word 'as' is used to refer to the occupation or character of a person. Apart from these meaning, like and as can also refer to 'in the same way' which often confuses people with respect to their usage in sentences. Let's look at the example to … [Read more...]

There are eight parts of speech. Of which, adjectives and adverbs are most commonly juxtaposed, as they describe more about another part of speech. While adjectives are primarily used to provide additional information about a noun or a pronoun, i.e. people, places, animals and things. On the other hand, adverbs are used to give you extra detail about a verb, adjective or adverb. Let's understand these two with the help of an example: She was extremely friendly to me, as she was talking to … [Read more...]

In English Grammar, Voice is used to decide whether the verb is working actively or passively in a sentence. In this way, there are two broad classifications of voice, i.e. active voice and passive voice. If in a sentence, the subject acts as the doer of the action, then it is called as an active voice. On the other hand, if the subject acts as the target or recipient of the action performed, then the voice is called as passive voice. Now, let's look at these examples to understand them … [Read more...]

In English, there are many pairs of words, with almost identical pronunciation. However, they differ in the meanings and spellings. So, while using such words in our sentences, we need to be more careful. One such group of the word is access and excess, wherein access means the opportunity to enter, whereas excess refers to the quantity of something which is more than enough or desired. Let's take a look at these examples to understand the difference between access: You can access the … [Read more...]

Migrate refers to a temporary movement of the animals or birds from one geographic location to another, due to seasonal changes. The words, immigrate and emigrate are originated from the word migrate, which also refers to the permanent movement of people. Due to the very reason, there is a confusion with respect to their usage. While immigrate means the entering a new country and settling there permanently. On the other hand, emigrate implies leaving the country of origin and moving to … [Read more...]