Instruction
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00:00
Hello everyone, and welcome back to English
with Lucy. Today, I'm going to help you out
00:05
with some doubts. We are going to talk about five
pairs or trios of very confusing English words,
00:14
pairs of words that native speakers
struggle with too. Words like especially
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and specially, why are they so similar? Accept
and except. Assure, ensure, insure, inquire,
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enquire. Which ones do we use? I'm going to tell
you. Before we get started, I would just like to
00:36
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Right, let's get started with the confusing
words. And to make this even easier for you,
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I have created a PDF worksheet. We've got
all of the words, their pronunciation,
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all of the information from the video, plus some
additional activities as well. Do bear in mind,
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this is a two-part video. You can also find
the second part in the description box. But
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the order doesn't matter. So the first one
we have, especially and specially. Especially
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means more with one person or thing than with
others, or more in particular circumstances
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than others. In my opinion, it's quite a hard
word to define. It's easier if you see it
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used in a sentence. For example, I love Seville,
especially in the spring. So I love Seville in
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general, but I love it even more in the spring.
Or, baby animals are cute, especially puppies.
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So I think all baby animals are cute, but
I really think that puppies are so cute,
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maybe that little bit more cute, that
little bit cuter. Now, specially means
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for a particular purpose or a particular person.
An example, I made this cake specially for you.
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Now, here's the complicated bit. In British
English, we tend to use the two interchangeably.
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It can be really hard to hear the difference when
people speak. Specially tends to be less formal.
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And I think that part of the reason for this is
because it sounds like you are lazily dropping
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a syllable. I made this cake specially for you.
It almost sounds like someone's trying to say,
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especially for you, but they're dropping a
syllable. And actually, I would be inclined
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to say, I made this especially for you. And
that is something that you will hear a lot
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in British English. I made this cake especially
for you. I made this cake specially for you.
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So in general, in American English, they
differentiate between these words more. And
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in British English, we just use especially
in formal situations and specially in less
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formal situations. But really, it does depend on
the person and what they have grown up hearing.
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Number two, we have loose and lose. So there's
a big pronunciation difference here. Well,
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I say big. It's very subtle, but it is quite
important. Loose with the s at the end, and lose
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with z at the end. But they are minimal pairs.
They only differ in one sound, that final
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phoneme z, s. Loose is an adjective meaning
not tight or not securely fixed. For example,
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I need to go to the dentist because my tooth is
loosed. It's not securely fixed into my mouth.
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Or I lost weight and now my clothes are
loose. They're not tight. They are loose.
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Now, to lose is a verb, meaning to
not be able to find something, or
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to fail to keep something as well. Examples, go
to the dentist before you lose your loose tooth.
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Before you lose (verb), your loose (adjective),
tooth. Or she wants to lose weight to make her
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clothes loose. She wants to lose (verb) weight to
make her clothes loose (adjective). It is very,
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very common to see people misspelling
these words and using the wrong one,
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so don't beat yourself up about it. I know I
say this a lot, but seriously, it's just not
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the end of the world. We will understand what
you're trying to say. Number three, we have
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accept and except. So with a, accept, we
use the schwa, accept. And with e, except,
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we use an e sound, except. Now in general, in
British English and modern received pronunciation,
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you will hear people just using the schwa for
both, except, except, except, except. When you
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speak quickly, you often find yourself using the
most convenient or efficient way of pronouncing
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something. So the schwa gets used a lot.
Now, I'm going to use a and e for emphasis so that
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you know, which word I am referring to. Accept
is a verb, but except is usually a preposition
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or conjunction. It is sometimes a verb and I will
touch on that later. But accept as in to accept
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is to agree or to receive something if offered.
An example, I will not accept your apology,
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or I hope they accept the proposed changes.
Now let's look at except with the E,
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except. It generally means apart from or
excluding or with the exception of. An example,
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I study every day except Sundays, or we look
exactly the same, except my hair is darker.
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A little memory tip, the EX, ex of except can
be used to remind you that it is excluding,
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ex excluding. Now to except as a verb
with an E is very, very formal and it is
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rarely used. It means to not include something
or someone, you will usually see it in written
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English and I'll explain why. Look at this
sentence. Tours are arranged all year round,
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January excepted. Okay. So it's quite confusing,
if that sentence is said in spoken English.
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January excepted, is January accepted as in
they agree to it? Or is it excepted as in it
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is not included? When you see it written down, you
can see it means that it is excluded. January is
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not included. You won't come across this verb
very frequently. It's just another example of
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English being a pain in the neck. That's an idiom
meaning really annoying for accepted and excepted
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to mean the opposite, but to sound the
same. Oh, it's just so annoying.
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We have number four and this is a trio. We have
assure, ensure and insure, okay. So the last two
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have the same pronunciation ensure, insure. So
let's look at the three to assure with an A, is to
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remove someone's doubts. I assure you that I will
arrive on time. Don't worry, don't have any doubts
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I will arrive on time. To ensure with E N is to
guarantee or to make sure that something happens.
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I need to study to ensure that I pass my exam.
So assure and ensure a very similar, assure with
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an A, to remove someone's doubts and ensure with
E N is to guarantee that something will happen.
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To insure with I N, is to cover someone or
something like a house with an insurance policy.
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An example, the insurance company won't protect
my house against flooding. Now frustratingly
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some policies, some insurance policies also have
assurance policies as well, which just makes it so
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confusing, but let's not worry about that. We
know the basic differences between the three.
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Finally, we have number five, which is inquire
and enquire. The same pronunciation again, they
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have very similar meanings. Well actually they
mean the same thing, but sometimes they're used
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in different situations. So they both mean to ask
someone for information. Now in American English,
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once again, they have made this easier for you.
They tend to favour inquire with I N, so enquire,
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you won't hear it as frequently in general. I'm
having to make a lot of generalisations here.
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However, the UK British English, we just
liked to make everything that little
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more complicated. Traditionally, to enquire
as in E N to enquire simply meant to ask,
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but inquire, I'm just using, in and en for
emphasis so you know which word I'm referring to.
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Inquire was used for formal investigations. So I
would enquire at a tourist information desk to see
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where the best ice cream shop was, but the police
or a court would inquire about something.
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However, nowadays both are used interchangeably.
So people are just using words without knowing
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exactly what they mean, which is fine. I imagine
eventually we will end up just favouring one.
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I wonder if it will be inquire or enquire,
time will tell probably. Right. That's it for
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today's lesson. There is also a part two to this
lesson, which I posted a week before this one.
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In that video, we discuss either or neither
or either or neither, we talk about the
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pronunciation and which one you should use. We
discuss to bring and to take, advise and advice,
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practise and practise, and also effect and affect,
with E and with A. It's a very interesting lesson,
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if I do say so myself, and don't forget, I've made
all of this easier for you. I have created a free
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PDF for you to download. It's got all of these
confusing words, the pronunciation information,
13:04
the clarifications, the examples,
and also some additional activities
13:09
that I think you'll really like.
If you'd like to download that PDF,
13:12
all you've got to do is sign up to my mailing
list. The link is in the description box
13:17
and the PDF will be sent straight to your inbox.
Don't forget to check out Lingoda. The link for
13:23
the sprint is in the description box as well.
And you can use my code "WIN7" for 10 euros off.
13:30
Don't forget to connect with me on all
of my social media. I've got my Facebook,
13:34
my Instagram, my mailing list. I've also got my
personal blogging channel where I upload lots
13:40
of subtitled, always fully subtitled blogs. So
you can use them as listening practise, they're
13:46
all about my life in the English countryside.
And I have just released my first ever course.
13:52
It is a British English pronunciation course,
where I teach modern received pronunciation.
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That is my accent. If you are interested in
that, the link is also in the description box,
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as well as a little good surprise. I
will see you soon for another lesson.
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Mwah!
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