Words

Using afraid

September 2, 2011

Afraid and fear Be afraid is the normal expression for talking about fear. He is afraid of the dark. Don’t be afraid. (NOT Don’t fear.) (NOT Don’t afraid.) Are you afraid of spiders? There is nothing to be afraid of. She is afraid that you might get angry. Difference between afraid of and afraid to [...]

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Soon, Early and Quickly

July 19, 2011

Soon means ‘a short time after now’. Get well soon. (NOT Get well early.) We will launch a new edition of this book sometime soon. Soon can also mean ‘a short time after then’. It was difficult in the beginning, but I soon got used to it. (NOT It was difficult in the beginning, but [...]

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Come and Go

July 14, 2011

We use come to talk about movements to the place where the speaker or the listener is. ‘John, will you come here.’ ‘I’m coming.’ (NOT I am going.) (Here we are talking about movement to the place where the speaker / listener is.) We came to live here in 1990. (NOT We went to live [...]

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Until and Till

July 2, 2011

These two words mean exactly the same. They can be used both as prepositions and conjunctions. Till is more common in an informal style. Note that in American English, the preferred informal spelling of till is ’til. I waited until 6 o’clock and then I went home. OR I waited till 6 o’clock and then [...]

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