strike: if a clock strikes one, two, six etc, its bell makes a sound once, twice, six times etc according to what time it is.
زنگ زدن ساعت
nuzzle: to gently rub or press your nose or head against someone to show you like them
پوزه مالیدن، چانه را به جائی مالیدن
vile: extremely unpleasant or bad
خیلی بد، زننده
Mansions: used in Britain in the names of some apartment building.
آپارتمان، عمارت، خانۀ بزرگ
gritty: containing very small pieces of stone or sand.
شن آلود، غبار آگین، دارای ذرات ریز شن
Should you accept an invitation or except one? Do you eat dessert or desert after your meal? English is full of confusing words. Here are some tips on using the right word at the right time!
dessert and desert
Dessert is a sweet dish, while the desert is hot, dry and full of sand.
To accept means to receive or agree to something, while except means excluding.
The former is an adverb of place while the latter is a possessive pronoun e.g. Their house is over there.
Principles are beliefs, values or basic truths, while principal means the head of a school, or the main thing.
The former is a noun while the latter is a verb, so you can advise someone by giving them good advice.
To borrow means to receive something as a loan, while to lend means to give something as a loan. E.g. Can I borrow your car? Sorry, I can't lend it to you today
.
These have a similar meaning but are used differently. Despite is a preposition while although is a conjunction. E.g. He won the race despite his injury. He won the race although he had an injury.
The former is a verb while the latter is a noun, e.g. The effect of the war is enormous; it has affected all sectors of the economy.
Your personal details include your name, age and nationality, while personnel means the employees of a company.
To assure someone means to remove doubt or reassure them, while ensure means to make certain that something happens. E.g. I assured him that you would be there, so please ensure that you get to the meeting on time.
Words & Thoughts
Imagine a boxer stepping into the ring, and telling himself:
"I'm a loser. I'm a chicken!"
How long would he last?
Imagine a singer walking onstage, and telling herself:
"I'm pathetic! They'll hate me!"
How well would she sing?
It's a recipe for disaster.
Yet, lots of us use this same recipe every day. We tell ourselves:
"I'm fat."
"I have a rotten memory."
"I'm always broke."
"I'm an idiot."
Then we wonder why we fail!
If you expect to forget, you will forget!
If you expect to be broke, you will stay broke.
If you expect to behave like an idiot ...
So how do we start to think positively?
The first step is to watch your mouth! Notice what you SAY about yourself.
From today, NEVER SAY ANYTHING BAD ABOUT YOURSELF.
Never tell people: "I'm hopeless, I always screw up, my boyfriends always dump me ..."
Make a commitment: "From today, I will not criticise myself. If I have nothing good to say about me, I will keep my mouth shut."
It's hard to control our thoughts - but we CAN control what comes out of our mouth. Once we take control of our language, we begin to have more positive thoughts ... and life gets better.
We become what we think about
1. Context and Exposure
See or hear the vocabulary used in context
Sample contexts: reading material, audio, video, conversation
Sometimes you can guess meaning from the situation.
What type of word is it (noun, verb, adjective)?
Look at the words around it.
Try to read or listen to as much English as possible
Choose from a variety of sources
2. Pictures and associations
Sometimes seeing groups of related words can help
See our picture dictionary.
3. Understand Word Parts (prefixes, suffixes, roots)
See our word parts lists here.
4. Recognize collocations (words that go together)
Some words are commonly used with other words
See our lists of collocations: with verbs, with prepositions.
5. Consider connotations and multiple meanings of words
Some words carry special or emotional meanings
Example: house vs. home
Some words can have many different meanings
Example: play, set, run