You MUST NOT confuse these words Luggage or Baggage Complex or complicated Beside or Besides
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hello everyone and welcome back to
english with lucy today i am going to
teach you
how to correctly use 10 pairs of
really confusing words these are words
that both
learners of english and seasoned
speakers of english
get wrong words like luggage and baggage
they mean the same thing but we use them
in different ways sometimes
what about stationary and stationary
pronounced in the same way but again
different uses
what is the difference between
complicated
and complex is there a difference
and how should we use beside
or besides all of this
will be covered in this lesson before we
get started
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what are you waiting for let’s get
started with
the lesson ah important i nearly always
forget to say this
but i have created a free pdf
for this entire lesson it’s got all of
the vocabulary
the pronunciation the explanations and
the examples
if you would like to download that pdf
for free click on the link in the
description box
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inbox there is also a quiz
in the pdf which i think you will really
like number one
luggage or baggage
luggage or baggage so luggage and
baggage are quite unusual because they
are
near perfect synonyms of each other
both of them mean suitcases or other
bags
in which to pack your personal
belongings for travel check in your
luggage at the desk
pick up your baggage from the carousel
they mean the same thing
however baggage has several additional
meanings
which luggage does not have there is
also
a slight preference of baggage in
american english
and luggage in british english but this
is not enormous
we use both baggage can be used to
describe things that make
progress or freedom more difficult
so it’s kind of saying that you’re
carrying around
a virtual suitcase with you it’s much
harder to go through life
carrying a huge burden for example
emotional baggage if somebody has a lot
of emotional issues that they’re
carrying around with them
that prevents progress or impedes them
an
example i love him but i don’t think it
will work
he has too much baggage this baggage
could mean
lots of things it could mean maybe he
has children maybe he has a difficult
ex-partner you can use your imagination
for that one
we cannot use luggage for this it’s only
baggage
in this case if i say he sounds perfect
does he have any baggage
i’m not asking if he has any suitcases
i’m asking if he has
anything negative anything he’s carrying
with him number two
we have stationary and stationary
both pronounced in the same way but
spelt differently we have stationary
with a
r y which means to not be moving
or not intended to be moved and we have
stationary with
ery which means office supplies
basically
files pencils envelopes
paper uncountable noun have a look at
these sentences
when you hear them you can only tell the
difference through context
because stationary ery is a noun and
stationary a ry
is an adjective when you see them
written down
it’s more clear the van that was
carrying the office stationery
crashed into a stationary vehicle or
you remain stationary and i’ll go and
pick up the stationery
number three we have desert and dessert
so they only differ in one extra s
in dessert but the pronunciation is
different
the stress is on a different syllable in
each
desert dessert desert
dessert a desert is a large area of land
that’s very dry and has
no water because it’s dry and very few
plants
a dessert is a sweet food eaten
typically at the end of a meal okay
which
spellings am i referring to in these two
separate sentences
number one have you ever licked a desert
and number two this dessert is dry
okay i was just trying to confuse you
then the first one
is desert as in a dry place have you
ever
licked a dry place a desert
and this dessert pudding sweet food
is dry that’s valid a dessert could be
very dry
give yourself a pat on the back if you
got that right
number four we have beside and
besides so beside is a preposition
meaning next to something i sat beside
him
all night long and besides can be
both a preposition and an adverb as well
the preposition means in addition to or
apart from
an example we have lots of things in
common besides football
apart from football in addition to
football
besides as an adverb is used for making
an
extra comment which adds to what you
have just
said an example i don’t want to go to
the concert
besides i’ve lost my ticket that extra
comment
adds to what i have previously said
number five
we have capital and capital
pronounced in the same way but with
different spellings
so capital with a l means the most
important
city in a region or country for example
london is the capital of england capital
o l is a building in each u.s state and
i think there’s one
called the capital in washington as well
which is more specific where politicians
meet
to work on new laws so you can see how
they could be
confused an example they met in the
capital
to discuss the new legislations capital
o
l could be confused for the capital city
you just have to see it written down or
you need to know the context
number six we have to aspire and to
inspire i like that group of vows
ayah inspire a aspire
nice to aspire is to have a strong
desire oh lovely vowel sound um
to achieve something or to become
something for example she aspired to
become
an olympic gymnast to inspire
is to give someone else the confidence
desire or enthusiasm to do something
well
an example you inspired me to pursue a
career in scientific research
number seven we have breath
and breathe so different
consonant sound at the end breath
breathe same mouth shape same tongue
position
but the second one has voice
so breath is the noun and that describes
the air
that you take into your lungs and then
exhale again
an example your breath smells of garlic
it’s not what you want to hear well it
means you’ve had the opportunity to eat
garlic i love garlic
to breathe on the other hand is a verb
it describes the same thing to take air
into your lungs and to breathe it out
again
an example don’t breathe on me after
eating garlic
number eight we have complicated
and complex in many situations these can
be used
interchangeably but
sometimes they can’t and a good way to
think of this
is that complicated is the opposite of
easy and complex is the opposite of
simple an example the project is very
complicated i’ll try and explain it
later
or complex the design of the tapestry is
very complex
it’s not necessarily difficult to
understand it’s just
not simple number nine we have presume
and assume so we have
presumed with a z sound
and assume with the s
sound has voice has no voice
so these are synonyms both imply to take
something for granted without
fully understanding both mean to take
something
as true but one
implies more confidence so with presume
you are making an informed guess
based on some sort of evidence an
example
i presume that her jewelry is expensive
okay i
based on my evidence i might have seen
some before i’m presuming it’s expensive
i don’t know for sure but i have a good
idea
to assume implies less confidence
it means it’s based on little or no
evidence i can’t believe you’re here
i assumed you wouldn’t come i had no
evidence for that i just assumed it i
just
supposed it now a way that you can
remember this is to say that
to assume is to make an ass out of
you and me as you me
assume i really like that one
and number 10 we have lonely and
alone lonely and alone they sound very
similar but they have
very different meanings both are
adjectives
alone means without any other people
okay if you’re alone
no one else is there if you are lonely
you are unhappy because
no one else is there so alone has
no emotion attached to it but lonely
does
an example when i lived alone i felt
very lonely
or i’m alone but i’m not lonely right
that is it for today’s lesson i really
hope you enjoyed it and that you learned
something
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i will see you soon for another lesson
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you