Confusing words (part 1)

1. Advice vs Advise

“Advice” is a noun. It’s an opinion or a suggestion about what somebody should do in a particular situation.

At the beginning of 101 Conversations in Simple English, I give you some advice on how to read the book.

I say, “You don’t need to understand every word, just the main ideas. If you can, that’s enough! You’re set! You can understand and enjoy a great amount with gist alone, so carry on through the material and enjoy the feeling of making progress! If the material is so hard that you struggle to understand even the gist, then my advice for you would be to consider easier material.”

“Advise” is the verb. It means “to give someone advice”. You can advise someone against something, or advise someone to do something.

Here are a couple of examples.

1. I strongly advise you to read and listen a lot if you want to learn a language.
2. I always advise my students against worrying too much about grammar rules when they speak.

2. Affect vs. Effect

If something affects you, it influences you.

Here’s an example from my book, Short Stories in English for Beginners: Read for pleasure at your level, expand your vocabulary and learn English the fun way!

Laura doesn’t know what to do. Finally, she makes a decision. ‘I don’t know how long that light will affect me,’ she says. ‘I’m invisible! I have to enjoy it!’

An “effect” is the change or result caused by something or someone.

Here’s another example from the same story.

Laura is on her way back to Edinburgh. She wants to enjoy the effects of her invisibility. The best place to completely experience it is in public. As she drives, her friends make an important phone call – to the police!

3. Alone vs Lonely

When no one is with you, you’re alone.

Here’s a dialogue from 101 Conversations in Simple English: Short Natural Dialogues to Boost Your Confidence & Improve Your Spoken English.

Alice: Pauline seems like a good nanny. But it is normal that Mariana is alone in the house, like she was yesterday?

Lawrence Windsor: Yes. Not often, but it does happen sometimes.

If you’re lonely, it means that you are sad because you have no friends or people to talk to. Some people are happy to be alone, but no one can be happy if they’re lonely!

Here’s an example from Chapter 3 of Short Stories in English for Beginners.

Aldin couldn’t believe it. Maha was the daughter of the Kalkian Emperor! The girl could cause world chaos! And all because she was lonely? Because she thought Emperor Valior understood her problems? What had she done?!

4. Altogether vs All together

“Altogether” means “completely.”

Some examples:

• These ridiculous costs are forcing many students to bypass college altogether.
• The lifestyle during those days was altogether different.
• Altogether those sums total $71 billion.

“All together” means “with each other”

• Example: I picked up the clothes and put them all together in one pile.

5. Allusion vs Illusion

An allusion is an indirect reference to someone or something.

• Example: The author made an allusion to Shakespeare in the poem.

An illusion is a false impression, idea, or belief.

• Example: Optical illusions are usually harmless and are actually entertaining.

6. Amount of vs Number of

“Amount of” is normally used with uncountable nouns.

Here’s an example from Short Stories in English for Beginners.

Alfred looked at him. ‘So that was the end of the magic water?’ ‘Not quite,’ replied Lars. He gave Alfred a serious look. ‘Arthuren had a small amount of magic water saved. And he knew a secret.

“Number of” is normally used with countable nouns.

In my books, I included a glossary to explain some tricky terms, and I used “number of” in the definition of the word “population.”

Population: the number of people who live in an area

7. Arise vs Rise

“Arise” means “happen” or “start to exist.” We often use it when talking about problems or difficult situations and it’s a rather formal verb.

• Example: Very serious problems can arise if your heart stops pumping effectively.

“Rise” means “go up,” “get up,” or “increase.” The past form is “rose.”

Here’s an example from Short Stories in English for Beginners: Read for pleasure at your level, expand your vocabulary and learn English the fun way!

The men rose with the sun. They ate some of the supplies left from the journey. They also had meat from the hunt.

In this example, “rise” means “get up.”

Here are two more:

• The sun rises in the east and sets in the west. (rise = go up)
• Prices have risen a lot in the last few months! (rise = increase)

8. At the end / In the end

“In the end” means “finally” or “after a long period of time or series of events.”

Have a look at this example from Short Stories in English for Beginners.

George went one way. Sylvia went the other. Sylvia saw no sign of the creature. She thought more about it. In the end, she came to the simplest conclusion. She and George imagined the creature. It was not real.

If something happens at the end, it happens in the final part of a period of time, an event, an activity or a story.

Here’s my example from the book.

Carl worked very long hours. He usually worked late. His workshop was near Eastern Green Beach. At the end of the day, he often went to the beach to stretch his legs.