These two verbs, allude and elude, have very different meanings. To Allude means to refer to something indirectly (in words or perhaps images): She did not tell me what to get her for Christmas, but she alluded to it, with a hint. One can only allude to something; you cannot allude something. You may hear […]

These two words are very different, although they both have to do with literature, as you can tell from the stem literate. Alliterate is a verb describing a poetic way of using sound in language.  Illiterate is an adjective meaning “not literate”—not able to read and write successfully (in a particular language). To alliterate means to use […]

These two terms have different meanings, and different parts-of-speech: All ready is simply a combination of all (a quantifier) and ready (an adjective):The children were all ready to get in the car.(All of them were ready)Already, in contrast, is an adverb meaning, “in the past” or “before”: The children were already in the car, even before they were told. All ready is two separate […]

These words, both adjectives, may give you trouble because they are not used a lot in everyday conversation, although they are fairly well known words and you should use them when appropriate.Aesthetic describes the experience of art or beauty/ugliness, for example: H.R. Geiger’s designs created the remarkable aesthetic effects of Ridley Scott’s film, Alien. Sometimes […]

Amuse and Bemuse are NOT very close in meaning—or at least were not originally, but that may be changing (see below). However, for now, they are still different and they are constantly confused by native speakers. You should be aware that you will probably hear native speakers use bemuse incorrectly—as if it meant amuse.Amuse means […]