Hi. I'm Rebecca from engVid. Today, we'll look at 12 verbs which are often confused
by English learners. Perhaps you have some of these issues as well, and we're going to
find out in a minute. So, today, you'll have a chance to understand clearly the meaning
of these six pairs of verbs, some of which are actually opposites, so you really need
to know the difference and make sure you're not using the wrong one, and some of them
are similar. They're close, but they have different meanings. So, let's understand exactly
what they are because they also happen to be very commonly used words, everyday words.
All right? So, you really want to make sure that you're using them correctly. So, let's
get started.
All right. So, I have six sentences on the board with the verbs that we're looking at
today. So, let's read it, and you tell me which is the right verb to be using in that
context. All right?
Number one. Do we say, "Please bring this over there." or do we say, "Please take this
over there." Which one is correct? Do you know? Are you sure? Okay? So, if you like,
you can stop the video and, you know, look at all of them, write them down somewhere,
and then join me, or let's just do it together. All right?
So, in this case, the correct verb to be using is, "Please take this over there." Okay? Why?
What's the difference between "bring" and "take"? Well, there are many ways to understand
some of these verbs, okay? Like, this one and also another one. I'm going to give you
in this lesson the most basic explanation so that you will know, you know, at that level,
at a basic level, not make any serious mistakes at all, and get the basic idea. Now, some
of them can be used in a little more advanced way. Don't worry about that. First, master
these basic usages and the basic meaning. All right?
So here, you can think of it like this. Bring this over here, or take this there. Okay?
Bring it here, take it there. All right? So, in this case, we had the word "there", so
we need to say, "Please take this", "Please take this away from me", not towards me, away
from me, "Please take this over there." All right? If it was here, then it would have
been, "Please bring this over here." Okay? So that's the most fundamental basic way in
which you can learn that one, but remember, you may be... You may hear it being used in
slightly different ways as well. Okay.
Number two, "Did you hear that sound?" or "Did you listen that sound?" Which one is
correct? So, here, we should say, "Did you hear that sound?" Okay? Not "listen". Why?
Well, these two, "bring" and "take", were opposites. Okay? Here, they're similar, but
there is a difference. When we hear something, it just means that some auditory information
is coming in through our ears. Okay? We're taking in information through our ears. We
can hear it. Okay? We're not trying to, it's just we can hear. For example, you can hear
the birds, or you can hear a siren, a fire alarm, things like that. You hear them, you're
not trying to, you just hear them. Okay? So that's the word "hear". "Listen" means paying
attention to what you hear, so it's different. So, for example, "Please, can you be quiet?
I'm just trying to listen to the news." Okay? Listen to the news, you listen when someone
is speaking because you're paying attention to the sound that is being produced. Okay?
So, "hear" is just taking in the sound, "listening" is paying attention to that sound. Alright,
next. Do we say, "Please remember me to call John" or "Please remind me to call John"?
These are also similar. What's the right word that we need here? Which one do we need? We
need, "Please remind me to call John." Okay? So, what's the difference here? So, here,
the difference is when you remember, to remember just means to not forget. Okay? So, "I need
to remember to do something", "You need to remember to do something", "I need to remember",
"I need to not forget", "You need to not forget". Okay? But when you remind, you tell someone
else or you help someone else not to forget. That's the difference. So, if I'm afraid that
I cannot remember, I might not remember something by myself, I might ask you, "Hey, could you
please remind me", you tell me not to forget, "to call John". Okay? That's the difference
there. So, remind someone else, and usually the person remembers by themselves. Okay?
That's it. Now, I just want to go back for one second to number two. There was another
reason why "listen" was not correct here. Because if we said, "Did you listen?" we have
to say "listen to". Okay? If you're paying attention, you need to say, "Listen to the
music", "Listen to the news". But with here, we don't need to use any preposition. Alright?
So, remember that point. Let's go to number four. Do we say, "Could you borrow me your
book?" or "Could you lend me your book?" Which is the right answer there? Okay? So, the correct
one is, "Could you lend me your book?" So, what's the difference between "borrow" and
"lend"? Very commonly used words, right? We need them kind of very often. So, the difference
is this. Let's put it this way. So, let's suppose I go to the library, I borrow a book,
means I take something temporarily from the library, and the library lends me the book.
The library gives me something temporarily. Okay? So, someone lends something, someone
gives something temporarily, and another person takes something temporarily or borrows something.
Alright? For example, also, we could think of a bank, right? The bank lends money, gives
money temporarily, the customer borrows money temporarily. Okay? So, think of those examples,
like a library, a bank, and you will remember this word, but it can also be like someone
says, "Hey, can I borrow your pen?" Right? Or your book. Or, so if the person says, "Can
I borrow your book?" you say, "What are you doing? You are lending that." Alright? Good.
Next. So, these are actually also... These are opposites, here. Right? So, you want to
make sure that you don't mix them up because the meaning is completely different.
Number five. Do we say, "When are you coming here?" or "When are you going here?" What
do you think? So, the correct answer, in this case, is "coming". Okay? This is another one
of those pairs of words which has a basic meaning and then a more complex, advanced,
nuanced meaning. I'm giving you the basic meaning now. The basic meaning is you would
say to somebody, "Come here" or "Go there". Okay? Come here, go there. So, in this case,
it's here, right? So, "When are you coming here?" Or you would have to say, "When are
you going there?" Okay? At the basic level, again. So, that's something that you can use
to remember. And again, this has slightly opposite meanings, so be careful.
Next. Do we say, "I spent a lot of money on my car because I love cars." Or does this
person say, "I wasted a lot of money on my car because I love cars." Which word is correct?
"Spent" or "wasted". And what's the difference? Okay? In this case, the correct answer is
"spent", not "wasted". Okay? So, these are sort of shades of meaning, so they're kind
of similar. So, what is the difference? Well, we spend money... To spend money or time or
resources just means to use it. So, the feeling is more neutral or positive. Okay? The person
is not unhappy about it. They just spent money. Okay? Let's say. In this case, the person
is actually happy about it because he says or she says, "I spent a lot of money on my
car because I love cars." So, they're happy; they're not unhappy about anything. But if
somebody said, "I wasted", "to waste" means to use too much money or too much time or
too many resources. Or let's say that you bought something and then it broke the next
day. All right? Because it's useless; it was really bad quality. Then you would say, "I
wasted my money because that product was no good." All right? But in this... And that's
a negative feeling. When we say, "We wasted our time. I went there, but it was no use.
I didn't get my work done. I wasted my time." Okay? Or, "I wasted my money or any other
resources." So, "wasted" definitely has a negative meaning, and "spend" is a neutral
or a positive meaning. All right? So, those are the words for now, and then we're going
to practice a little bit so you can master them.
By the way, if you want to make these kind of very important small corrections to improve
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you can make, like we did here. All right?
Number one, what do we say? Could you ____ me to call home? Which of these is correct?
Could you remind me? Okay? Remember, to remind means to tell... Help someone else not to
forget. To remember means not to forget. Okay? So, could you remind me to call home? All
right? Good.
Number two, the university ____ textbooks. Think about it. The university lends textbooks.
Who borrows the textbooks? The students, right? The students borrow textbooks, and the university
lends textbooks. The university gives temporarily. The students borrow, take temporarily. All
right? Excellent.
Number three, I'm _____ to the news. What's that? I'm listening to the news. Right? Listening,
paying attention, not just hearing, not just bringing in information through your ears,
but actually paying attention to that. That's where they're saying, "Shh, I'm listening.
I'm listening to the news." Also, listening to, remember? Good.
Number four, could you ____ this file to the HR department? Could you take, right? Could
you take this file to the HR department? HR, Human Resources Department. So, you're asking
the person to take it there, not bring it here, but take it there. Take it somewhere
else. Take it away. Okay? So, that's the correct answer there.
Number five, _____ here. I want to show you something. _____ here. I want to show you
something. So, what do you say? Not _____. Which verb do we use? We say, "Hey, come here.
Come here. I want to show you something. Look at this beautiful butterfly, or flower, or
whatever." Okay? So, "Come here." Because otherwise it would be what? "Go there." Those
are the basic explanations of those two words. Remember, there are other ways in which you
might see this word and this one, four and five, being used, but learn the basics so
that you won't get those mixed up. All right?
Next, number six, don't _____ your money on that movie. It's really bad. Don't - what's
more likely to be used here? Don't waste your money. Right? Don't waste your money because
if you spend your money, it's like it's useless. It's - there's no point. You won't get any
joy or happiness or anything from watching that movie, so it's like your money has gone
down the drain. It's wasted. All right? You didn't just spend it. If you spend, sometimes
you're very happy that you spent money on something, but when you waste something, then
you're not happy because it was useless, or it was bad, or it broke, or something went
wrong. All right? So, here you've reviewed just 12 of the most common mistakes that happen
with verbs, and as I said, if you enjoyed this kind of exercise, which is very useful
because you really don't want to make these kind of basic level mistakes. You want to
know clearly what very common verbs are being used and how to use them. So, please check
out my course, Correct Your English Errors, in 10 minutes a day, and you will be able
to make what I call in this course small changes for big results. All right? Thanks very much
for watching. Bye for now.