Continuing with my earlier article “Improve
Your English Grammar – Quick Guide – Part 1”, in this article I have tried to capture some more words used
interchangeably by a lot of people, but in the wrong context, albeit inadvertently.
1.
A lot
A lot are two words and not a single word.
Examples of using “ a
lot”
(a)
There’s a lot of distance
yet to be covered;
(b)
My statement means a lot to
him.
2.
Weather vs Whether
“Weather” is the
word used in relation to temperature, precipitation etc.
“Whether” is used
to mean a condition. It introduces two
alternatives.
Quick Test
Try replacing “whether” in your sentence with “if”. If it makes sense then use whether else, use
weather.
Examples of using “whether”
(a)
Do you know whether he is
coming;
(b)
You’ll do it whether you
like it or not.
Examples of using “weather”
(a)
How’s the weather;
(b)
The weather is always great
this time of the year.
3.
Continual/ Continuous
‘Continual” indicates
something continues over a period of time, with intervals of interruption. To put simply, it means start and stop.
‘Continuous” indicates
duration without interruption, never ending.
Quick test
‘Continual’ things come and go, like rains and
arguments. It is chronic like a cough
that comes and goes.
‘Continuous’ things never stop, like a circle.
Examples of using “continual”
(a)
With continual rains you
will great sunny breaks;
(b)
A long and continual war.
Examples of using “continuous”
(a)
With continuous rains you
will never see the rains;
(b)
There are so many books in
that store.
4.
Lay vs Lie
“Lay” requires a
direct object. It means to put or set
something down, so if the subject is acting on an object. The past tense of ‘lay’ is laid.
“Lie” is defined
to mean “to be, to stay or to assume rest”.
Lie doesn’t require an object, so the subject is the one doing the
lying. The past tense of lie is lay.
Examples of using
“Lay”
(a)
I lay down the book;
(b)
I lay my head down on the
pillow/ I laid my head down on the pillow.
In both the above examples ‘You’, the subject set down the
book/pillow, the object
Examples of using “Lie”
(a)
The rocks lie near the
river/ The rocks lay near the water;
(b)
I lie down to sleep.
5.
That vs Who
Use “That” when
you are talking about something/objects.
Use “Who” when you
are talking about someone or a group of people.
Examples of using “That”
(a)
The house that became
famous for its beautiful architecture;
(b)
The apartment above me is
the one that all the noise is coming from.
Examples of using “Who”
(a)
Raghav, the person who owns
that property is a very nice person;
(b)
Prasad, who is a fine
writer, celebrated his birthday yesterday.
6.
That vs Which
“That” should be
used to introduce a restrictive clause.
“Which” should be
used to introduce a non-restrictive clause.
Think of it as adding more information.
A “restrictive clause” is essential to the meaning of a
sentence – if its removed the meaning of the sentence will change, whereas a
“non-restrictive” clause can be left out without changing the meaning of the
sentence.
Examples of using
“That”
(a)
My dog that is small is
very cute;
(b)
Who ate the cake that I
bought this morning.
Examples of using “Which”
(a)
My car, which is 15 years
old still runs very smoothly;
(b)
I sat on an uncomfortable
chair, which was lying in my office.
7.
Compliment vs Complement
“Compliment” is
what you pay to someone or something. It’s defined as “an expression of esteem,
affection, admiration etc”.
“Complement” refers
to something going well with or enhancing something else. It is defined to mean “something complete”.
Examples of using “Compliment”
(a) Deevesh has been getting lot of compliments for his success in
exams;
(c)
I was trying to pay that girl
a compliment, but she ignored me.
Examples of using “Complement”
(a)
The illustrations
complement the text;
(b)
People say the colour
complements the green in her eyes.
8.
Nor vs Or
“Nor” is negative.
“Or” is used to
connect different possibilities.
Always use ‘nor’ with neither and ‘o’r with either.
Examples of using “Nor”
(a)
He drinks neither wine nor
beer;
(b)
Neither Manish nor Purti would
be coming to the party.
Examples of using “Or”
(a)
He doesn’t drink wine or
beer;
(b)
Is it Tuesday today or
Wednesday.
9.
Comprise vs Compose
“Comprise” refers
to what something contains. The word is
used at the beginning of the sentence.
“Compose” means
‘to combine, to put something in order or to make up’. The word is used at the
end of the sentence.
Examples of using “Comprise”
(c)
The class comprises 15 boys
and 15 girls;
(d)
The house comprises 3
bedrooms and 4 bathrooms.
Examples of using “Compose”
(c)
India is composed of 28
states;
(d)
The rock is composed of
three materials.
I hope you would have find them useful. You can also look at my previous article “How
To Correct Your English Grammar – Part 1” to read more of such words.
Till then, please keep practicing on the words I have discussed above
and feel free to write to me on my blog www.nimishgoel.com
with your feedback and suggestions.
Stay blessed and keep reading my blog…
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Authored by Nimish Goel (www.nimishgoel.com), a chartered accountant with more than 12 years of experience and who’s
passion is to coach and help young chartered accountants and aspiring students
achieve the best in their life. Nimish
used to work with EY and PwC in India and has also worked with KPMG in
Europe. He now runs his own consulting
company and runs a blog www.nimishgoel.com. He can be reached for any queries and issues
on his blog.
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