Although / though / even though, In spite of / despite

After although we use a subject + verb:'

• Although it rained a lot, we enjoyed our holiday.


• I didn't get the job although I had the necessary qualifications.

Compare the meaning of although and because:

• We went out although it was raining.


• We didn't go out because it was raining.

After in spite of or despite, we use a noun, a pronoun (this/that/what etc.) or -ing:

• In spite of the rain, we enjoyed our holiday.


• I didn't get the job in spite of having the necessary qualifications.


• She wasn't well, but in spite of this she went to work.


• In spite of what I said yesterday, I still love you.

Despite is the same as in spite of. We say in spite of, but despite [without of):

• She wasn't well, but despite this she went to work.(not despite of this)

You can say in spite of the fact (that) ... and despite the fact (that) ... :

• I didn't get the job in spite of the fact (that) I had the necessary qualifications.
  I didn't get the job despite the fact (that) I had the necessary qualifications.

Compare in spite of and because of:

• We went out in spite of the rain, (or ... despite the rain.)


• We didn't go out because of the rain.

Compare although and in spite of / despite:

• Although the traffic was bad,/In spite of the traffic, we arrived on time,
  (not In spite of the traffic was bad)


• I couldn't sleep, although I was very tired./despite being very tired.
  (not despite I was tired)

Sometimes we use though instead of although:

• I didn't get the job though I had the necessary qualifications.

In spoken English we often use though at the end of a sentence:

• The house isn't very nice. I like the garden though. (= but I like the garden)


• I see them every day. I've never spoken to them though. (= but I've never spoken to them)

Even though (but not 'even' alone) is a stronger form of although:

• Even though I was really tired, I couldn't sleep, (not Even I was really tired ...)

too- either

We use too and either at the end of a sentence.

We use too after a positive verb:	We use either after a negative verb:
• A: I'm happy.	• A: I'm not happy.
B: I'm happy too.	B: I'm not happy either, (not 'I'm not... too')
• A: I enjoyed the film.	• A: I can't cook.
B: I enjoyed it too.	B: I can't either, (not 'I can't too')
• Mary is a doctor. Her husband is a doctor too.	• Bill doesn't watch TV. He doesn't read newspapers either.

big, large, great and tall- high

1.We use big mostly in an informal style.

• We've got a big new house.
  


• Get your big feet off my flowers.
  


• That's a really big improvement.
  


• You're making a big mistake.

In a more formal style, we prefer large or great.

Large is used with concrete nouns (the names of things you can see, touch, etc).

Great is used with abstract nouns (the names of ideas etc).

• It was a large house situated near the river.
  


• I'm afraid my daughter has rather large feet
  


• Her work showed a great improvement last year.

With uncountable nouns, only great is possible.

• There was great confusion about the dates. (NOT . . . big confusion . . .)
  


• I felt great excitement as the meeting came nearer.

2. Tall is used to talk about vertical height (from top to bottom). It is mostly used for people; sometimes for buildings and trees. 

• 'How tall are you?' 'One metre ninety-one.'

3.We also use great to mean 'famous' or 'important'.

• Do you think Napoleon was really a great man?
  


• Newton was probably the greatest scientist who ever lived.

4.We sometimes use great to mean 'wonderful' (very informal).

• I've had a great idea!
  


• How's the new job?' 'Great.'
  


• It's a great car.

5. Note that large is a 'false friend' for people who speak some European languages. It does not mean the same as wide.

• The river is a hundred metres wide. (NOT . . . metres large)

6. tall and high

a We use tall for things which are this shape:

We can talk about tall people, trees, and sometimes buildings.

• How tall are you⁹ (NOT How high are you?)


• There are some beautiful tall trees at the end of our garden.

We do not use tall for things which are this shape, We use high.

• Mont Blanc is the highest mountain in Europe (NOT . . . the tallest mountain.)


• It's a very high room. (NOT . . . tall room.)

b We use high to say how far something is above the ground.

• A child standing on a chair may be higher than his father, but not taller.

c Parts of the body are long, not tall.

• She's got beautiful long legs. (NOT tall legs.)

Difference between a/an and the

Very simply:

a/an just means 'one of a class'
the means 'you know exactly which one'.

Compare:

• A doctor must like people. ( = any doctor, any one of that profession)
  


• My brother's a doctor. ( = one of that profession) I'm going to see the doctor. ( = you know which one: my doctor)
  


• I live in a small flat at the top of an old house near the town hall, (a small flat, there might be two or three at the top of the house — it could be any one of these.


• an old house: there are lots near the town hall — it could be any one.


• the top: we know which top: it's the top of the house where the person lives — a house only has one top.


• the town hall: we know exactly which town hall is meant: there's only one in the town.)

Talking: Say, Tell, Ask, Speak, Talk, Answer, Reply

Say (say/said/said)

We use say when we report someone's words.

• She said 'This is horrible!'


• He said that he wanted a drink.

We use say when we ask about language.

• a: How do you say 'book' in Spanish? b: 'Libro'.

We say hello / goodbye   please / thank you /Happy Birthday / Merry Christmas / Happy New Year / Congratulations

Tell (tell/told/told)

Tell is usually followed immediately by a person. Say is not followed immediately by a person.

• He told me his name. [not He said me his name.]

We use tell when we want to know how to get to a place.

• Can you tell me where the bus station is, please? [not Can you say me ...?]

We use tell with other wh- words too (when, how, why, where), e.g. you can tell someone how to do something, where something is, why something happened.

• He told me how to send a fax.


• Tell me when you want to have dinner.


• You can tell someone the time / a story / a joke / your name / address / telephone number.

Ask

Ask is used for questions.

• My sister asked me where I was going, (or My sister asked (me) 'Where are you going?')

• a: Can I ask you a question? b: Yes.


• a: What day of the week were you born? b: Thursday.

You can ask someone the way / the time / a question.

Ask somebody to do something and ask someone for something.

• I asked him to turn off his radio, (or I said 'Please turn off your radio.'


• She asked for the bill, (or She said 'Can I have the bill please?')

Speak/talk/answer/reply

Do you speak Japanese?   [not Do you -talk Japanese?]

I like talking to you. (having a conversation with you)

Can you answer the telephone / the door, please?
(pick up the phone / open the door to see who it is)

I wrote a letter to him but he did not reply.
(for letters/faxes/e-mails) (he did not send me a letter

Get - Go - Turn - Become

Get is a very common verb in English, but it is not always appropriate for talking about changes. Note also alternatives to get which can improve your style.

Go, not get

Go is used for changes in people's personality, appearance and physical abilities: People go mad/bald/grey/blind/deaf.

Go is often used for sudden, usually negative, changes: He was very embarrassed and his face went red. Suddenly the sky went very dark and it started to rain.

Go can also be used for slower colour changes:

The pages of the book had gone yellow over the years.

Turn, not get

Turn often collocates with colours: The sky turned gold as the sun set.

When the tomatoes turn red, the farmers pick them and sell them.

The news gave his mother such a shock that her hair turned white overnight.

Get and become

Get and become can often be used with the same collocations, but become is more formal

and is therefore more appropriate in essays:

She gave up smoking when she became pregnant.

I would like to become involved in raising money for charity.

The same is true for collocations with adjectives such as angry, bored, excited, depressed,

upset, impatient, violent-.

He became depressed after his wife's death.

Become, not get, is used with the following: extinct, (un)popular, homeless, famous. Our local baker's has become famous for its apple tarts.

Alternatives to get and become

She fell ill and was taken to hospital.

Everyone fell silent when they heard the shocking news.

As my father grew older, he spent less time working.

The noise grew louder and soon we realised it was a plane approaching.

Overusing and misusing get

Here are some sentences from students' essays where get is wrongly used.

sentences with get	more appropriate alternatives
1 was able to get new friends.	1 was able to make new friends.
A year ago he got a heart attack.	A year ago he had/suffered a heart attack.
If 1 get a child of my own one day ...	If 1 have a child of my own one day ...
1 was getting crazy.	1 was going crazy.
In June, 1 got a baby, James.	In June, 1 had a baby, James.

Have -Take - Pay

Have

Note that these verbs collocate with have rather than any other verb (e.g. get or make).

collocation	example
have an accident	Mr Grey had an accident last night but he's OK now.
have an argument / a row	We had an argument / a row about how to fix the car.
have a break	Let's have a break when you finish this exercise.
have a conversation/chat	I hope we'll have time to have a chat after the meeting.
have difficulty	The class had difficulty understanding what to do.
have a dream/nightmare	I had a nightmare last night.
have an experience	I had a frightening experience the other day.
have a feeling	I have a feeling that something is wrong.
have fun / a good time	I'm sure you'll have fun on the school trip.
have a look	The teacher wanted to have a look at what we were doing.
have a party	Let's have a party at the end of term.
have a problem / problems	Ask the teacher if you have problems with the exercise.
have a try/go	I'll explain what to do and then you can have a go/try.

Pay

collocation	example
pay attention	You must pay attention to the teacher.
pay a compliment	I was trying to pay her a compliment but she misunderstood.
pay your (last) respects	At a funeral people pay their last respects to the person who has died.
pay tribute [formal]	When Jack retired, his boss made a speech paying tribute to all he had done for the company.

as if - as though

as if / though + subject + present /past verb

as if / though + subject +past verb with present meaning

1. As if and as though mean the same .
We use them to say what a situation seems like.

• It looks as if/ though it's going to rain


• I felt as if/ though I was dying

2. We can use a past tense with a present meaning after as it/though.
This means that the idea is unreal.

• He looks as if he's rich (perhaps he is rich)


• She talks as if she was rich (but she isn't)

We can use were instead of was when we express unreal ideas after as it/ though.
This is common in a formal style.

• She talks as if she were rich.

3.  Like is often used instead of as if/ though , especially in American English
This is very informal.

• It looks like it's going to rain

List T

taping or tapping?	tape + ing = taping tap + ing = tapping
testimonial or testimony?	TESTIMONIAL = formal statement in the form of an open letter bearing witness to someone’s character, qualifications and relevant experience TESTIMONY = formal written or spoken statement of evidence, especially in a court of law
thank you or thank-you?	I should like to THANK YOU very much for your help. THANK YOU for your help. Ihavewrittenallmy THANK-YOU letters. You will see that ‘thank you’ is NEVER written as one word. It is hyphenated only when used as a compound adjective describing ‘letter’ or another noun. Those who care about such things can never bring themselves to buy otherwise attractive thank-you cards that have THANKYOU or THANK-YOU printed on them!
troop or troupe?	TROOP refers to the armed forces or to groups of people or particular animals: a TROOP of scouts a TROOP of children a TROOP of monkeys TROUPE refers to a group of touring actors, dancers, musicians or other entertainers.