Hello everyone, and welcome back to English with Lucy. Today, I'm going to help you out
with some doubts. We are going to talk about five pairs or trios of very confusing English words,
pairs of words that native speakers struggle with too. Words like especially
and specially, why are they so similar? Accept and except. Assure, ensure, insure, inquire,
I have created a PDF worksheet. We've got all of the words, their pronunciation,
all of the information from the video, plus some additional activities as well. Do bear in mind,
this is a two-part video. You can also find the second part in the description box. But
the order doesn't matter. So the first one we have, especially and specially. Especially
means more with one person or thing than with others, or more in particular circumstances
than others. In my opinion, it's quite a hard word to define. It's easier if you see it
used in a sentence. For example, I love Seville, especially in the spring. So I love Seville in
general, but I love it even more in the spring. Or, baby animals are cute, especially puppies.
So I think all baby animals are cute, but I really think that puppies are so cute,
maybe that little bit more cute, that little bit cuter. Now, specially means
for a particular purpose or a particular person. An example, I made this cake specially for you.
Now, here's the complicated bit. In British English, we tend to use the two interchangeably.
It can be really hard to hear the difference when people speak. Specially tends to be less formal.
And I think that part of the reason for this is because it sounds like you are lazily dropping
a syllable. I made this cake specially for you. It almost sounds like someone's trying to say,
especially for you, but they're dropping a syllable. And actually, I would be inclined
to say, I made this especially for you. And that is something that you will hear a lot
in British English. I made this cake especially for you. I made this cake specially for you.
So in general, in American English, they differentiate between these words more. And
in British English, we just use especially in formal situations and specially in less
formal situations. But really, it does depend on the person and what they have grown up hearing.
Number two, we have loose and lose. So there's a big pronunciation difference here. Well,
I say big. It's very subtle, but it is quite important. Loose with the s at the end, and lose
with z at the end. But they are minimal pairs. They only differ in one sound, that final
phoneme z, s. Loose is an adjective meaning not tight or not securely fixed. For example,
I need to go to the dentist because my tooth is loosed. It's not securely fixed into my mouth.
Or I lost weight and now my clothes are loose. They're not tight. They are loose.
Now, to lose is a verb, meaning to not be able to find something, or
to fail to keep something as well. Examples, go to the dentist before you lose your loose tooth.
Before you lose (verb), your loose (adjective), tooth. Or she wants to lose weight to make her
clothes loose. She wants to lose (verb) weight to make her clothes loose (adjective). It is very,
very common to see people misspelling these words and using the wrong one,
so don't beat yourself up about it. I know I say this a lot, but seriously, it's just not
the end of the world. We will understand what you're trying to say. Number three, we have
accept and except. So with a, accept, we use the schwa, accept. And with e, except,
we use an e sound, except. Now in general, in British English and modern received pronunciation,
you will hear people just using the schwa for both, except, except, except, except. When you
speak quickly, you often find yourself using the most convenient or efficient way of pronouncing
something. So the schwa gets used a lot. Now, I'm going to use a and e for emphasis so that
you know, which word I am referring to. Accept is a verb, but except is usually a preposition
or conjunction. It is sometimes a verb and I will touch on that later. But accept as in to accept
is to agree or to receive something if offered. An example, I will not accept your apology,
or I hope they accept the proposed changes. Now let's look at except with the E,
except. It generally means apart from or excluding or with the exception of. An example,
I study every day except Sundays, or we look exactly the same, except my hair is darker.
A little memory tip, the EX, ex of except can be used to remind you that it is excluding,
ex excluding. Now to except as a verb with an E is very, very formal and it is
rarely used. It means to not include something or someone, you will usually see it in written
English and I'll explain why. Look at this sentence. Tours are arranged all year round,
January excepted. Okay. So it's quite confusing, if that sentence is said in spoken English.
January excepted, is January accepted as in they agree to it? Or is it excepted as in it
is not included? When you see it written down, you can see it means that it is excluded. January is
not included. You won't come across this verb very frequently. It's just another example of
English being a pain in the neck. That's an idiom meaning really annoying for accepted and excepted
to mean the opposite, but to sound the same. Oh, it's just so annoying.
We have number four and this is a trio. We have assure, ensure and insure, okay. So the last two
have the same pronunciation ensure, insure. So let's look at the three to assure with an A, is to
remove someone's doubts. I assure you that I will arrive on time. Don't worry, don't have any doubts
I will arrive on time. To ensure with E N is to guarantee or to make sure that something happens.
I need to study to ensure that I pass my exam. So assure and ensure a very similar, assure with
an A, to remove someone's doubts and ensure with E N is to guarantee that something will happen.
To insure with I N, is to cover someone or something like a house with an insurance policy.
An example, the insurance company won't protect my house against flooding. Now frustratingly
some policies, some insurance policies also have assurance policies as well, which just makes it so
confusing, but let's not worry about that. We know the basic differences between the three.
Finally, we have number five, which is inquire and enquire. The same pronunciation again, they
have very similar meanings. Well actually they mean the same thing, but sometimes they're used
in different situations. So they both mean to ask someone for information. Now in American English,
once again, they have made this easier for you. They tend to favour inquire with I N, so enquire,
you won't hear it as frequently in general. I'm having to make a lot of generalisations here.
However, the UK British English, we just liked to make everything that little
more complicated. Traditionally, to enquire as in E N to enquire simply meant to ask,
but inquire, I'm just using, in and en for emphasis so you know which word I'm referring to.
Inquire was used for formal investigations. So I would enquire at a tourist information desk to see
where the best ice cream shop was, but the police or a court would inquire about something.
However, nowadays both are used interchangeably. So people are just using words without knowing
exactly what they mean, which is fine. I imagine eventually we will end up just favouring one.
I wonder if it will be inquire or enquire, time will tell probably. Right. That's it for
today's lesson. There is also a part two to this lesson, which I posted a week before this one.
In that video, we discuss either or neither or either or neither, we talk about the
pronunciation and which one you should use. We discuss to bring and to take, advise and advice,
practise and practise, and also effect and affect, with E and with A. It's a very interesting lesson,
if I do say so myself, and don't forget, I've made all of this easier for you. I have created a free
PDF for you to download. It's got all of these confusing words, the pronunciation information,
the clarifications, the examples, and also some additional activities
that I think you'll really like. If you'd like to download that PDF,
all you've got to do is sign up to my mailing list. The link is in the description box
my Instagram, my mailing list. I've also got my personal blogging channel where I upload lots
of subtitled, always fully subtitled blogs. So you can use them as listening practise, they're
all about my life in the English countryside. And I have just released my first ever course.
It is a British English pronunciation course, where I teach modern received pronunciation.
That is my accent. If you are interested in that, the link is also in the description box,
as well as a little good surprise. I will see you soon for another lesson.
Mwah!