Category: Vocabulary

Let’s be honest, sometimes English can be confusing.  Sometimes when learning English it is easy to mix up words or be unsure when to use them.

I often hear German speakers who are learning English make mistakes with the words ‘donate’ and ‘spend’.

Take a look at the examples below.  Hopefully they will make things clearer for you.

When we donate something we give things (e.g. money, clothes, time, goods, body parts) to others for a good cause. We don’t expect anything in return for our contribution.

E.g. I donate money every year to several charities.

       He donated 5 large bags of old clothes to the local charity shop.

       She donated a kidney to her sister.

Spend means to give money in exchange for something you want.   When you buy something, you spend money.

E.g. He spends a lot of money every year on holidays.

       Businesses spend money on advertising to sell their products.

       The department has just spent a lot of money on a new computer system.

Have fun learning English!

Louise

Let’s be honest, sometimes English can be confusing.  Sometimes when learning English it is easy to mix up words or be unsure when to use them.

I often hear German speakers who are learning English make mistakes with the words ‘shade’ and ‘shadow’.

Take a look at the examples below.  Hopefully they will make things clearer for you.

When something blocks the direct light from the sun a slight darkness is created.  This is an area of shade.

E.g. It’s 35 degrees today.  When it’s this hot I prefer to sit in the shade out of the direct sun.

       It was so hot yesterday but there were no trees to offer any shade.

A shadow is a specific, dark shape caused when an object blocks a source of light.

E.g. The children had a lot of fun jumping on each other’s shadows.

E.g. When the sun is low on the horizon, shadows are long. When the sun is high in the sky, shadows are shorter.

Have fun learning English!

Louise

I often hear these mistakes made by German speakers who are learning English.

They say:  Oh no! I forgot my phone in the hotel room. I’ll go and get it. I’ll be back in a minute.

This is totally understandable but not correct. It’s the wrong verb.

Correction:  Oh no! I have left my phone in the hotel room.  I’ll go and get it. I’ll be back in a minute.

The verbs leave and forget are both used to say that we did not remember to bring something with us but we use these verbs in different contexts.

E.g. My boss is running a little late for the meeting today.                      

When he got to the office he realised that he had forgotten his laptop.

He had left it in his office at home and he had to go back and get it.

Hopefully he hasn’t left anything else behind.

Have fun learning English!

Louise

I often hear these mistakes made by German speakers who are learning English.

They say:  On work days I usually stand up at 6.30 a.m.  If it’s not a work day, I sleep longer and normally stand up at 8 a.m.

This is totally understandable but it is incorrect.  ‘Stand up’ is not correct here.  We can stand up from a sitting position (in a chair for example) but when getting out of bed we use the verb to get up.

Correction:  On work days I usually get up at 6.30 a.m.  If it’s not a work day, I sleep longer and normally get up at 8 a.m.

Have fun learning English!

Louise

I often hear these mistakes made by German speakers who are learning English.

They say:  My new office is in the near of the main station.

A native speaker hearing this would totally understand what is meant but ‘in the near of’ is not correct.  It’s a mistranslation of ‘in der Nähe von…’

Correction:  My new office is near the main station.

                      My new office is close to the main station.

                      My new office is not far from the main station.

Have fun learning English!

Louise

Let’s be honest, sometimes English can be confusing.  Sometimes when learning English it is easy to mix up words or be unsure when to use them.

I often hear German speakers who are learning English make mistakes with the words ‘broach’ and ‘brooch’.  These words sound the same but have different meanings.

Take a look at the examples below.  Hopefully they will make things clearer for you.

To broach is a verb.  It means to start a topic for discussion or to mention something for the first time.  It’s often used when the topic for discussion is difficult or uncomfortable.

E.g.  The subject of budget cuts was first broached at the meeting on Monday.

E.g.  I’ll broach the subject with her at our next meeting.

E.g.  He knew it was an unpopular decision so he avoided broaching the subject for as long as possible.

Brooch is a noun.  It is a piece of jewellery which can be fastened to clothes or a hat.

E.g.  She fastened the scarf around her neck with a brooch.

Have fun learning English!

Louise

I often hear these mistakes made by German speakers who are learning English.

 

They say:  It’s equal.

This is a mistranslation of the German ‘Es ist (mir) egal.’

 

Correction:  It doesn’t matter (to me)    /    I don’t care.

 

Have fun learning English!

Louise

Let’s be honest, sometimes English can be confusing.  Sometimes when learning English it is easy to mix up words or be unsure when to use them.

I often hear German speakers who are learning English make mistakes with the words ‘to drive’ and ‘to ride’.

Take a look at the examples below.  Hopefully they will make things clearer for you.

In British English we drive a car, a taxi, a bus, a lorry, a van and a train.

In British English we ride a bike, a motorbike and a horse.

 

E.g.  He lives in New York and drives a taxi for a living.

When we moved to a new flat I drove the removal van.

 

E.g.  I ride a bike to work every day.

He really enjoys riding around on his motorbike at the weekends.

 

Have fun learning English!

Louise

The English word ‘relegation’ should not be confused with the German word ‘Relegation’.

In English at the end of, for example, a football season, a number of teams at the bottom end of the table are relegated to the lower league.  In other words they move down to a lower league.

Teams in the lower league that performed well and ended up at the top end of their table are promoted to the higher league.

Some teams are promoted automatically.  Other teams have to play further matches to decide who goes up.  This process is called the ‘play-off(s)’ and not ‘relegation’ as I often hear in Germany.

E.g.  The play-offs usually start in the middle of May.

The play-off final is on Sunday.

 

Have fun learning English!

Louise