Hello and welcome to this lesson. Today I'm going to test your English vocabulary and see if
you know these 15 confusing English words. Of course, I'm Jennifer from JForrestEnglish.com
And this channel is dedicated to helping you feel confident speaking English in public,
so you can take your career and your life to the next level.
Now, before we go any further, make sure you subscribe and hit that bell icon
so you're notified every time I post a new lesson. Now let's get started with this lesson.
Are you ready to see if you know these 15 confusing English words? So here's how this
video is going to work. I'm going to show you a sentence and you're going to have two options,
and you have to decide which option correctly completes the sentence. Now I'll only show
the sentence for a couple seconds. So make sure you hit pause, take your time to read it,
to answer it, and then hit play and I'll show you answer. And I'll explain why that answer is
correct. Are you ready to go? Number one, there were people at the party than I had expected.
The answer is fewer. There were fewer people at the party than I had expected. And the reason
is we use fewer with countable nouns. You can count how many people there are. And we
use less with uncountable nouns. So I would say there was less rain. You can't count rain. There
was less rain this year compared to last year. Number two, I'm just in the of a big project.
And the answer is midst. Midst. This is a tricky one simply because of pronunciation. When you
hear this in spoken English. I'm in the midst of a big project. It's easy to confuse this with mist.
And to be in the midst of something is simply to be in the middle of something. So
I'm in the middle of a big project. Number three. Wow, that shirt really your hair.
And the answer is complements within an E. These two words sound exactly the same in pronunciation.
It's the spelling that's different, but they have different meanings. Complement in this example is
when one thing, your shirt, combines really well with another thing, your hair. Compliment with an
'I' is when you say something nice to someone. I love your shirt. Thanks for the compliment.
If you want to learn more about compliment and complement, you can look at the description for
a link on a video on that topic. Number four, that movie had quite an on me.
The answer is effect. It had quite an effect on me. The pronunciation is very similar,
affect effect. There's a slight difference. But the spelling is important because affect is a verb
and effect is a noun. And we need a noun. You know that because there's an article in the sentence.
With the verb, I could say, that movie affected me. If you want to learn more about affect and
effect you can look in the description for a link on that. Number five, quizzes are a great way to
your skills. To hone your skills. Again similar in pronunciation but the correct choice is hone.
This is an expression to hone one's skills. This is simply to improve one's skills. Number six,
I didn't know at the party. I didn't know anybody at the party.
Didn't is negative. In the English language, we do not like double negatives. You can
only use one negative in a clause and since I already have 'didn't',
I can't use the negative 'nobody'. I have to use 'anybody'. Number seven, I don't like carrots.
I don't like carrots either. Now this is the same as number six because I 'don't'. 'Don't'
is a negative. 'Neither' is also a negative. So we can't use it. We want 'either'. I don't like
carrot either. To use 'neither' I could say, you don't like carrots. Neither do I. Neither do I. If
you want to learn more about either and neither you can look in the description for a video I
created on this. And number eight, she has more she needs. She has more than she needs. Similar in
pronunciation, than then. But they're two totally different words. 'Than' we use in comparisons.
More than, less than, fewer than. Comparisons. Then is an adverb. It's used in time references.
First I'll eat lunch, then I'll go for a walk. Number nine, joining a social club is, for all
purposes, the solution to loneliness. For all intents and purposes. This is an expression in
English, for all intents and purposes. This simply means in almost every situation, in
virtually every situation. But when you say this at a natural pace, for all intents and purposes.
For all intents and purposes, it sounds like intensive. Intensive is a word that people are
very familiar with. 'Intents and' is not something that people are familiar with. But the correct
expression is intents and purposes. This is a very useful business or academic expression. It
isn't really used in casual conversation too much. Number 10, we can discuss this
after the meeting. We can discuss this further after the meeting. Further and farther both mean
more. We can discuss this more, in more detail, after the meeting. We use 'further'
when we're talking about figurative and we use 'farther' when we're talking about literal.
For example, we need to walk farther, we literally need to walk more, we need to walk
farther to see the waterfall. If you want to learn more about this, look in the description
for a link on a separate video. Number 11, you can down here. You can lie down here. Lay and lie,
they have the same meaning. But lay is transitive. It needs an object. For example, lay the baby
down here, lay the blanket down here. You lay something. But lie is intransitive. So there's no
object. Lie down here. Lie yourself down here. Lie down here. Number 12, that sweater is too on you.
That sweater is too loose on you. This one is confusing because of the spelling. Do I need
one or two Os? It's easy to forget. Lose with one O is the opposite of win. Did you lose the game?
Did you win the game? Did you lose the game? Loose with two O's, when we're talking about clothing,
is when it doesn't fit closely to your body. So this shirt I'm wearing is not loose.
It fits closely to my body. But this sweater, for example, is loose. Number 13, we should worked
harder. We should have worked harder. Now this is a mistake that many native speakers make
because in spoken English we take have, which is the grammatically correct choice, but we
reduce it. We say it quickly and it sounds like 'of'. You should of, you should of, you should
of worked harder. So sometimes native speakers forget that it's actually have and not of because
that's what it sounds like in spoken English. So in spoken English, you can absolutely say,
you should of. You should of worked harder. But in written English, just remember that the
correct choice is have. Number 14, I shouldn't have to the party. I shouldn't have gone to the
party. Our verb here is go. The past simple is 'went' and the past participle is 'gone'. This
structure requires the past participle, the third form of the verb. Yesterday I went to the party.
I've gone to three parties this month. And finally, number 15. do you trust the most?
Whom do you trust the most? Who and whom, it can be very tricky for students and native speakers to
know the difference. Just ask yourself, do you need she or her? Do you need a subject
or an object. She or her, he or him? I trust her the most. We need an object,
not a subject. So you use whom. Who is your friend? She is my friend. In this case,
we need a subject so we use who. So how did you do with this quiz? Share your score in the comments
below. And if you got any wrong don't worry. Just do some practice sentences and remember to
look in the description because I shared many links to other videos that go into more depth
on these confusing words. And if you found this video helpful, please hit the like button, share
it with your friends and of course subscribe. And before you go make sure you head on over
to my website JForrestEnglish.com and download your free speaking guide. In this guide, I share
six tips on how to speak English fluently and confidently. And until next time Happy Studying!