- Lastly—at last
Do
not confuse lastly and at last. Use ‘lastly’ when you are talking about several
things in order and you want to show that you have reached the final thing on
the list:
And lastly I would like to
congratulate Dipesh for winning an award.
Use
at last when you want to show that something has happened after a long time or
after a lot of waiting:
She tried repeatedly until at last
she succeeded.
When at last the rescuers found them,
two people had already died.
- Last month—the last
month
Last
month is the month just before this one. If I am speaking in September, last
month was August. ‘The’ makes a big difference.
I bought this house last month.
The
last month is the period of thirty days up to the moment of speaking. On
September 12th 2014, the last month is the period from August 13th
to September 12th.
I have been ill for the last month. I
feel terrible.
- Lawful—legitimate
Legal
is the ordinary word for actions allowed by the law, and the general word for
things connected with the law.
Lawful
suggests that the law has moral or religious force:
Why don’t you value your lawful king?
Legitimate
means ‘accepted by law, custom or common belief’:
He claimed that bombing the town was
a legitimate act of war.
- Lead—guide
To
lead is to show the way and explain things:
You lead and we will follow.
To
guide is to go with someone somewhere who needs help, in order to show the way
and explain things.
He guided the tourists round the
castle.
- Lean—Slim
When
describing people with very little fat on their bodies, thin is the most usual
word. Many careful writers think slim is desirable. The word ‘slim’ is often
used to describe women who have controlled their weight by diet or exercise:
Sonakshi has a beautifully slim
figure.
She is slim.
Lean
is usually used to describe a man who is thin and muscular.
At 50, my father is lean and fit and
still very attractive.
- Like—as
If
you play football or any games like a professional, you play as well as a
professional.
He plays cricket like a professional.
If
you play cricket as a professional, you are a professional.
He plays cricket as a professional.
- Loose—lose
The
word ‘loose’ means ‘free, large, the opposite of tight.’ The word ‘lose’ means
to not be able to find someone or something.
Wrong: Anju doesn’t want to loose her purse.
Right: Anju doesn’t want to lose her purse.
Right: Subhash is wearing a loose sweater.
Maybe, he borrowed the sweater from his friend who is fatter than him.
- Made of—made from
We
usually say that something is made of a particular material.
Most things seem to be made of plastic
these days.
All our furniture is made of wood.
When
a material is changed into a completely different form to make something, we
often use make from.
Paper
is made from wood. When we talk about the process of manufacture, we can also
use out of.
Tuleshwor made all the window-frames
out of oak; it took a long time.
- Majority—plurality
The
term ‘majority’ means at least one more than half. The word ‘plurality’ means
the highest number within a greater number. For example, if 100 members of a
club vote in an election which has three candidates, one of them must receive
at least 51 votes to have a majority. If none of the candidates receives 51
votes, none has a majority. In such a situation, the candidate receiving the
highest number of votes is said to have a ‘plurality’. Thus, if A receives 46
votes, B receives 42, and C receives 12, A has received the plurality.
Wrong:
Prime Minister Dr Baburam
Bhattarai was elected by the majority of the Nepalese voters. (This sentence is
wrong because Dr Bhattarai did not receive at least 51 per cent of the popular
vote.)
Right: Prime Minister Dr Baburam Bhattarai
was elected by a plurality vote.
- Meddle—interfere
When
you meddle in a situation, you try to influence people or change things that
are not your responsibility or you know little about.
Why do you always meddle in my
private business?
When
you interfere, you try to control or become involved in a situation, in a way
that is annoying.
You should not interfere in other
people’s business.
- Much money—a lot
of money
Although
we use the word ‘much’ with uncountable nouns like sugar, water, ghee, etc, we
do not use say much money. But in interrogative sentences, much can collocate
with money.
How much money do you have at the
moment?
Wrong I
have much money.
Right I
have a lot of money.
(Because it is a statement.)
- Murder—slay
When
someone is murdered, they are murdered intentionally and illegally.
They killed him. (He was simply stabbed or shot dead
without torture.)
When
someone is slain, they are killed in a very violent way. The word ‘slay’ is
rare in modern English.
Many soldiers were slain in battle. (Soldiers were killed very cruelly.)
- Nail-cutter—nail
clippers
A
cutter is generally understood to be a tool for cutting something. So, many
learners make compound words on their own, for example a nail-cutter. But this
word does not exist in any English dictionaries.
The
correct word for trimming the nails of the fingers is nail clippers or nail
scissors.
Stop biting your nails. Buy nail
clippers and trim it.
- Notorious—famous
Famous
is like well-known but is a stronger word and means ‘known over a wide area’.
Ranjan is a well-known/famous
athlete.
Notorious
means famous for something bad. (Infamous is rather literary.)
Amrit was notorious for his evil
deeds.
