confusing words

(ABILITY / CAPACITY)

Ability (noun) = The actual power or skill to do something.
Capacity (noun) = The potential power or skill to do something.
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(ACCEPT / EXCEPT)

Accept (verb) = To recieve; agree with.
Except (verb) = To leave out or exclude.

Except (preposition) = With the exclusion of, other than; but.
Accept (preposition) = If it were not for the fact that; only.
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(ADVISE / ADVICE)

Advice (noun) = Opinion; information.
Advise (verb) = To give advice; to counsel.
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(EFFECT / AFFECT)

Affect (verb) = To have an influence upon; to put on a false show.
Effect (verb) = To bring about; to accomplish.

Effect (noun) = Result.
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(ALL READY / ALREADY)

All ready (adjectival phraze) = To have everything prepared.
Already (adverb) = By this or a specifit time; before; so soon.
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(AMONG / BETWEEN)

Among (preposition) = In the midst of; surrounded by; talkin about a group havin more than 2 members.
Between (preposition) = Talking about 2 members; or between more than 2 members or entities when they are considered individuals.
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(COMPARE TO / COMPARE WITH)

Compare to (verb and preposition) = Used when compared two unlike things or people.
Compare with (verb and preposition) = Used when comparein 2 like things.
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(COMPLEMENT / COMPLIMENT)

Complement (noun) = Something that completes, makes up a whole or brings to perfection.
Compliment (noun) = An expression of praise, admiration or congratulations.

Complement (verb) = To serve as a complement to.
Compliment (verb) = To pay a compliment.
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(BOUGHT / BROUGHT)

Bought (past tense and the participle of the verb 'to buy') = To purchase.
Brought (past tense and the participle of the verb 'to bring') = To carry with one.
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(CONTINUOUS / CONTINUAL)

Continuous (adjective) = Uninterrupted.
Continual (adjective) = Happens regularly; recurring.
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(UNINTERESTED / DISINTERESTED)

Uninterested (adjective) = Not having any interest in; bored by.
Disinterested (adjective) = Neutral; unbaised; not personally involved.

Phrasal Verbs - 6

blow...up
Seven people were killed when the building blew up.
Hank blew the beach ball up and threw it into the pool.
I blew the photograph up and framed it.
Noun: I made a blowup of the photo and framed it.
blow up
Heather blew up when she saw her boyfriend dancing with Linda.
catch on 
If his striped suits catch on, the designer will be famous.
When Sally studies, she usually catches on right away.
It took me a while, but I finally caught on to him.
come about
He was the richest man in town, and now he's bankrupt. How did that come about?
fall behind
Al and Tom are walking so fast that I've fallen behind.
Tim was sick last semester, and he fell behind in his studies.
Don't fall behind in your payments or they'll repossess your car.
goof around
Stop goofing around and get to work.
know about
Thanks for telling me, but I already knew all about it.
Knowing about art and being an artist are two different things.
help...out
We had a lot of work to do so Helen helped out.
pull...off
When Jake said he was going to rob the casino, no one believed he could pull it off.
pull off
If I get sleepy when I'm driving, I always pull off the road and take a nap.
call...off
The football game was called off because of the rain.
close...off
The police closed several streets off becaues of the parade.
Adjective: Three rooms in the museum are closed off.
hand...in
The tests must be handed in no later than 11:30.
I was so furious that I handed my letter of resignation in the next day.
The guard was ordered to hand his gun in after he shot the window washer.
hit on
I think I've hit on a way to solve the problem.
Lydie had a terrible time at the party. She was hit on by every guy there.
leave...off 
Check to make sure you don't heave anyone off the list.
leave off 
We left off at page 92 last week, so open your books to page 93.
let...off
The driver let Ellen off at the corner.
It was Jake's first offense, so the judge let him off with a warning.
I'm sorry I shouted at you this morning; I was just letting off stream.
light...up
The police lit the house up with their spotlights.
I have no matches so I can't light up m cigarette.
Adjective: The signs aren't lit up, so it 's hard to see them at night.
track...down
I finally tracked down that book I was looking for.
empty...out
When you go through airport security, you have to empty your pockets out.
empty out
There was trash everywhere after the statium emptied out.
fall out (of) (with) (over)
I found a baby bird that had fallen out of its nest.
Al fell out with his sister after he criticized her husband.
Noun: The manager of the team quit after he had a falling-out with the owner.
go out (to) (with) (for) (of)
I 'm cooking. Go out and play in the backyard.
The campfire went out during the night.
The lights in the barrack go out every night at 10 pm.
Sally and Jim went out for two years before they got married.
Last weekend we went out to Jim's cabin at the lake.
leave out (of)
The director left out several pats of the book when he made the movie.
Adjective: No one talked to Jerry at the party so he felt left out.
stick out
I cut myself on a nail that was stickig out of the wall.
Alan's nearly seven feet tall, so he really sticks out in a crowd.
stick...out (of)
English is hard but if you stick it out, you'll be glad you did.
We all stuck our heads out of th window to get a better look.
clean...out (of) 
We clean out our garage every spring.
A con artist cleaned my grandfather out of $50.000.
I got home to find that thieves had cleaned me out.
Adjective: Now that my garage is cleaned out, there's room for my car.
clear...out
After the police threw out tear gas, the crowd cleared out quickly.
Look at how much more room we have now that we've cleared the jund out.
come out (of) (to) (with) (for) (against)
Susie's friend knocked on the door and asked her to come out to play.
The most wonderful arome came out of the kitchen.
Would you like to come out and visit our farm?
It was a tough game, but our team came out on top.
Barron's is coming out with a new TOEFL book soon.
Eveyone was shocked when it came out that the butler was the murderer.
Don't get blood on your shirt - it'll never come out.
Flowers come out in the spring when the weather gets warm.
Wait until the sun comes out; you'll get a better picture.
We were surprised when the mayor came out for gay marriage.
fool around (with)
My boss said he wasn't paying me to fool around and I should get to work
Fooling around with drugs is pretty stupid.
Sally's father caught her fooling around with Jim in the basement.
go by
We watched the parade go by.
Let's go by Ralph's house and pick up the tools so we can work on your car.
I can't believe forty years have gone by since I got married.
Going by the book has always been my policy.
Don't go by the clock on the wall; it's fast; use the clock on the desk.
hold...against
Jane lost her job because of mistakes Rob made but she doesn't hold it against him.
leave...behind
The explorers left the jungle behing and entered the mountains.
Leaving our children behind at the gas station was pretty dumb.
My husband walks so fast, he always leaves me behind.
live with
Living with my in-laws in driving me crazy.
Jake committed suicide rather than live with the shame of what he did.
make of
So what did you make of the president's speech?
narrow...down
The detective narrowed the list of suspects down to the few cook, the butler and the maid.
trick...into
The on artist tricked them into giving him their life savings.

clichè

"Keep me on my toes" is a clichè that means "keep me alert, aware, and prepared" so you will not get caught off-guard (off-guard is yet another clichè).

Hardly, barely, scarcely imply a narrow margin by which performance was, is, or will be achieved.

Hardly, though often interchangeable with scarcely and barely, usually emphasizes the idea of the difficulty involved: We could hardly endure the winter.

Barely emphasizes the narrowness of the margin of safety, “only just and no more”: We barely succeeded.

Scarcely implies a very narrow margin, below satisfactory performance: He can scarcely read.

phrasal verbs - 5

fall off

The dish fell off the table and broke.

Sales of fountain pens fell off after the ballpoint pen was invented.

Noun: The chairman was asked to explain the falloff in the company's sales.

fill...in

Maria filled in the application and gave it to the secretary.

I fell asleep during the lecture? Can you fill me in on what the professor said?

Noun: The check isn't any good - the amount isn't filled in.

fill in (for)

The regular bartender is on vacation so Todd is filling in for him.

Noun: Jerry is Ann's fill-in while she's on vacation.

go ahead (with)

I've decided to go ahead with my plans to reorganize the company.

Yes, go ahead and leave work early. It's not a problem.

Noun: The FDA (Food Drug Administration) approved the drug and gave the company the go-ahead to market it.

grow up

I grew up on a small farm in North Dakota.

You're acting like a child. Why don't you grow up?

Adjective: Susie is only eleven but she acts very grown-up.

Noun: Only grown-ups are allowed to sit in the front seat of a car.

hand...out

The teacher handed the tests out to the class.

Noun: Handouts of food were given to the homeless people.

The teacher prepared a handout for his students.

kick back

She offered to kick back 10% if I switched to her company.

It's been a rough week. Let's kick back and watch the game tonight.

Noun: The reporter discovered that the loan to the governer was really a kickback.

lay...off

Ford laid off 20,000 workers during the last recession.

Noun: The company said there wouldn't be any layoffs despite the decline in profits.

lay off

You've been bugging me all day. If you don't lay off, you'll be sorry.

Listen to how much you're coughing. You've got to lay off cigarettes.

screw...up

I tried to fix my computer myself but I just screwed it up worse.

You really screwed me up when you lost my car keys.

Noun: My back is so screwed up I can't even walk.

Two babies were switched because of a screw-up in the maternity ward.

come up with

It took me all night, but I came up with the answer.

get around to

I didn't get around to doign my taxes until April 14.

get...out of

Sam got out of gym class by pretending to be sick.

The judge didn't get any pleasure out of imposing such a harsh sentence.

It took me a while, but I got the whole story out of her.

go back on

The president went back on his pledge not to raise taxes.

go through with

The company's president said they would go through with their plan to move operations to Mexico.

monkey around with

I monkeyed around with my camera and I think maybe I fixed it.

boil down to

My decision to stay at his awful job boils down to one thing - money.

come down with

I don't feel well. I mustbe coming down with something.

I caught a cold but I am getting better.

some notes

My family are coming to visit. They come once a year. in BrE
My family is coming to visit. They come once a year. in AmE

However in standard AE,
I love my family. It is important to me. is standard.

I love my family. They are important to me. in BrE

If you are speaking AE, your family takes a singular verb.
If you are speaking BE, it may be singular or plural, depending on context.

How much does a burger cost? Four dollars and change.
How long have you been practicing? Four hours and change.

It means extra... the "change" is from currency transactions meaning literal change (coins added to the four dollars in paper notes above) -- but it is sometimes used in other contexts.

A along with B go fishing every other week. They love it. (plural)
Along with A, B is one of the biggest fans of fishing. (singular)

Units of time are singular.

One week is enough
Three days is enough
Twelve minutes is enough
How many hours of sleep are enough for good health? (Not a time unit.)
Eight hours is a good number to begin with. (A time unit.)

How many minutes are there in an hour?
There are sixty minutes in an hour. (Not a time unit, just an answer.)

How much time do I have to do this job?
Sixty minutes is enough time. (A time unit.)

"Sometimes people don't like to correct other people's mistakes in order not to not come off as rude."
"Sometimes people don't like to correct other people's mistakes so that they do not come off as rude."

I can't stand it when she does ....
It's the action she does you can't stand.
I can't stand her doing it
It's her doing the action you can't stand.

recommend

I advise people.

I recommend things.

I recommend that the work be started at once.
I am recommending that the work be started at once.
It is my recommendation that the work be started at once.
I would recommend that the work be started at once.

I recommend that you go to the cinema.

I recommend that you follow the advice of me.

I recommend your going to the doctor.

I recommend that you go to the doctor.

would you like some- would you like to have some

We're seated at dinner and I'm passing the salad (or other food, but not drinks).
"Would you like some salad?"
"Would you like to have some salad?" (sometimes)

I'm preparing dinner and am really asking, Should I make a salad (or other food, but not drinks) or not?"
"Would you like salad with dinner?"
"Would you like a salad with dinner?"
"Would you like to have some salad?" (usually)

I'm offering. (usually drinks, not food)
"Would you like a beer?"
"Would you like some tea/some coffee?"