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Th ẩm tâm Vy, 2020 ENGLISH CONFUSABLE WORDS 1.

ENGLISH CONFUSABLE WORDS 01

ability, capability, capacity

1. If someone has ability, a particular ability, or the ability to do something, they can do

it because they have the skill or the knowledge that is needed to do it. You often use

ability to say that someone can do something well.

- He had remarkable ability as an administrator.

- There are four main factors which determine mathematical ability.

- ...the ability to bear hardship.

2. A person’s capability is the amount of work they can do and how well they can do it.

- The director has his own ideas both of the role and of the capability of the actor.

- It was, in any case, beyond the capability ofone man.

3. If someone has a particular capacity, a capacity for something, or a capacity to do

something, they have the characteristics required to do it. Capacity is a more formal

word than ability.

...their capacity for being inspired by heroes.

...his capacity always to see the other person’s point of view.

able, capable

Both able and capable are used to say that someone can do something.

When you say that someone is able to do something, you mean that they can do it either

because of their knowledge or skill or because it is possible for them to do it.

- Breslow wondered if he would be able to climb over the rail.

- They must be able to use their profits for new investment.

Note that if you use a past tense, you are saying that someone has actually done

something.

- We were able to reduce costs.

When you say that someone is capable of doing something, you mean either that they

have the knowledge and skill to do it if they want or need to, or that they are likely to do

it

- Workers are perfectly capable of running the organizations which employ them.

able

- She was quite capable of dropping off to sleep.

You can also say that someone is capable of a feeling or an action.

- I think he’s capable of loyalty and seriousness.

- Bowman could not believe him capable of murder.

You normally use ‘capable of’ when talking about what something such as a car or

machine can do.

- ...water turbines, which are capable of producing more economical electricity.

- The car was capable of 110 miles per hour.

If you describe someone as able or capable, you mean that they do things well and in

an intelligent way. There is little difference between the two words when used in this

way.

- ...the able and methodical King Charles V of France.

- This very able man totally failed to see the possibilities of the telephone.

- Newborn babies are more capable than was once thought.

- Well, you certainly have a capable gardener there.

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actual, real

You use actual to emphasize that the place, object, or person you are talking about is

the correct or genuine one. For example, if you talk about the actual cost of something,

you are talking about what it does cost rather than what it is expected to cost.

- ...turning from ratings in the polls to actual performance in elections.

- We call the baby Doc. His actual name is Daniel.

You can also use actual when you are giving exact information about something, for

example the time you take to do something rather than preparing to do it.

- The actual boat trip takes about forty-five minutes.

You only use actual in front of a noun. You do not say that something ‘is actual’.

Something that is real exists and is not imagined, invented, or theoretical.

- ...real or imagined feelings of inferiority.

- Robert squealed in mock terror, then in real pain.

Note that you can use real after a link verb like ‘be’.

- What we saw was real.

actually, really

Actually and really are both used to emphasize statements. Both words can emphasize

a whole clause or sentence, or just a word or group of words.

You use actually when you are saying what the truth is about something, in contrast to

other things that might have been said or thought.

- All of the characters in the novel actually existed.

- Actually, all pollution is simply an unused resource.

You also use actually to emphasize something surprising. You put actually in front of

the surprising part of what you are saying.

- Tommo actually began to cry.

- I was actually cruel sometimes.

Actually can be used to be precise or to correct someone.

- No one was actually drunk.

- We couldn’t actually see the garden.

You use really in conversation to emphasize something that you are saying.

- I really think he’s sick.

- I only wish your people really trusted me.

When you use really in front of an adjective or adverb, it has a similar meaning to

‘very’.

- This is really serious.

- It was really good, wasn’t it?

- We’re doing really well

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* * Th ẩm tâm Vy, 2020 ENGLISH CONFUSABLE WORDS 1.

admit, confess

If you admit something bad, unpleasant, or embarrassing, you agree, usually rather

reluctantly, that it is true. You can admit that something is true, admit something, or

admit to something.

- I would beforced to admit that I had used Ewen Waite’s gun.

- He admitted that the mounting cost was a matter ofserious concern.

- Boylan began to play. Rudolph had to admit he played well.

- Again the manufacturers, employers and government were reluctant to admit the

danger.

- She was obviously in considerable pain, but she wouldn’t admit it.

- She admits to being difficult to live with.

If you confess something, you say that you have done something you should not have

done. Usually you feel regret or embarrassment when you confess something. You can

confess that you have done something, confess something, or confess to someone.

- Finally, the boy confessed that he had been lying throughout.

- The mother could not be persuaded to confess her previous error.

- It turned out that he’d confessed to Castle that he hadn’t gone to the dentist.

If someone confesses to something such as a crime, they say they did it.

- Bianchi had confessed to five of the murders.

- They confess to murders they haven’t committed.

- Three days after Mr Profumo confessed and resigned, Stephen Ward was arrested.

You can also use both admit and confess in expressions like ‘I admit', ‘I must admit’,

‘I confess’, and ‘I must confess’ when you mention a fact that embarrasses you slightly

or that you think might upset the person you are speaking to.

- Well, I’ll admit he seems harmless.

- I have to admit that this has been only partially successful.

- This is not a neat household, I confess.

- I must confess that, to put it plainly, I find him a bore.

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after, afterwards, later

You use after, afterwards, and later to talk about things that happen at a time

following the time of speaking or following a particular event. You can use after as a

preposition.

- After dinner she got hold of the President and spoke to him.

- He resigned after allegations that he was involved in drug-trafficking.

You can also use after as a conjunction.

- I returned to England only recently, after spending two months in India.

- His fame grew after he left the hospital.

In expressions like ‘shortly after’ and ‘not long after’, you can use after as an adverb.

- Douglas came round to see me, and soon after I met him again at a friend's.

- Shortly after, Fania called me.

Afterwards can also be used as an adverb when you do not need to mention the

particular time or event.

- Afterwards we went to a night club.

- You’d better come up to my room afterwards and show me what you've got.

You can use later as an adverb to refer to a time or situation that is after the one that

you have been talking about, or following the time of speaking.

- I returned some three or four weeks later.

- I’ll go round and see Nell later.

You can use all these words after a phrase which mentions a period of time to say

when something happens.

- She wrote about it six years afterwards.

- Ten minutes later Sutherland grabbed a microphone.

- ..five hundred years after his death.

 The words ‘shortly’, ‘soon’, and ‘long’ can be used with both after and afterwards.

- He was back in the hotel shortly after six.

- Soon afterwards, Ira came storming into the clinic.

- ...under a tree known long afterwards as the Queen’s Oak

 ‘A little’, ‘much’, and ‘not much’ can be used with later.

- A little later, thefaint blue glow of the emergency lights went out.

- I learned all this much later.

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after, behind

You use after to say that something happens at a later time than something else.

- Eva was tidying up after lunch.

- Send them on their way after just one meal.

If you are behind someone or something, they are in front of you and you are facing

their back.

- Alison came across and stood behind her.

- The girl behind him is typing.

- Sandy stared at me, his eyes widening behind his rimless glasses.

After and behind can also be used with verbs such as ‘walk’ or ‘run’ which express

movement. If you walk or run behind someone, they are in front of you and stay in front

of you.

- He walked behind me for a long way.

If you walk or run after someone, you try to reach where they are, perhaps so you can

talk to them or in order to catch them.

- Thomas ran after him, yelling to him to stop.

…to be continued