Economic or Economical? | Politics or Policy? | English Vocabulary Lesson

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Hello and welcome everyone to this lesson which  is based on some very common vocabulary mistakes  

I hear from some of you my students. So, let me  share my screen ... which is here. There we go,  

and here are the words, the vocabulary that  I often hear mistakes with, and it concerns  

the difference between 'economic & economical',  'historic & historical', 'classic & classical',  

and very importantly 'politics & policy. So,  let's start with the first pair, which is  

'economic & economical'. They're both adjectives,  but they have actually very different meanings:  

'economic' means 'related to the economy',  which is a country's industry and trade system,  

for example: 'The country's economic situation  is worsening.' There are two related words to  

'economic' which are important for you to know and  use correctly, and these are 'economics', which is  

the subject of study related to the economy,  and 'economist', which is a person, an expert,  

in the field of economics. Notice the difference  in pronunciation (word stress): economics and  

economist. So, these words... Also, it's always  good to review the pronunciation from a word  

stress point of view. So, that's 'economic'.  What about 'economical'? Now, 'economical'  

has a completely different meaning. It means  'not costing a lot of money', for example:  

'Is solar energy more economical than fossil  fuels?' So, it's more or less like 'cheaper',  

and there is an interesting expression related  to this idea, and that is a 'false economy',  

and that means 'something that costs less now  but will cost more in the long run', for example:  

'Buying a cheap car is always a false economy.'  And, the last thing to say about these two words  

is the adverb. The adverb form 'economically'  is used for both meanings. So, let's have two  

examples: 'Economically (that's the first meaning  related to the economy of a country), the country  

is facing huge challenges. Second example related  to 'not costing very much': 'My savings are  

growing because I've been living economically.'  Also for pronunciation, notice that it is not  

'economiCALLY'. Many of you make this mistake of  pronouncing 'C-A-L-L-Y' as 'kally'. It's 'cli':  

economically. Right, so bear that in mind because  it's important for the other words as well. Right,  

that's this pair. Let's look at 'historic' and  'historical'. Again, they're both adjectives.  

They're both related to history, so similar  meanings but slightly different. 'historic'  

means 'important in history'. So, it's related  to history, but it also has the connotation of  

being very important, very big, for example: 'The  fall of the Berlin Wall was a historic occasion.'  

'historical' just means 'related' to history,  'related to things from the past', for example:  

'I enjoy watching historical movies.' And, there  is an adverb form 'historically', but it's mainly  

used for the second meaning related to things in  the past, for example: 'This book is not always  

historically accurate.' That brings us to the next  pair, which is 'classic' and 'classical': again  

both adjectives, but with different meanings.  Actually, 'classic' has two meanings. The first  

one means 'of high quality thanks to a traditional  style', for example: 'This is a classic car from  

the 1950s.' And, the second meaning of 'classic'  is 'typical'. It's a synonym for 'typical',  

for example you say: 'This is a classic mistake  many CEOs make, a typical mistake.' It's a strange  

meaning, but that's a second meaning. Now, let's  look at 'classical'. 'classical' refers to art  

forms that belong to a long tradition, for  example: 'Beethoven is my favourite classical  

composer.' There is an adverb 'classically', but  it is again mainly used for this second meaning,  

which is for example : 'She's a classically  trained ballet dancer.' O.K. Let's look at  

the last pair. ... Lots of mistakes here that  I've noticed from many different students. So,  

let's be very careful with these two words:  'politics' and 'policy'. They are nouns. Now  

looking at 'politics'. 'politics' refers to the  activities of a government or the study of such  

activities, for example: 'I'm not particularly  interested in politics.' or 'He's going to study  

politics at university.' It's very important  to remember this point: The adjective form  

of 'politics' is 'political' NOT 'politic'. The  word 'politic' doesn't exist (unlike 'economic,  

classic, and historic). This word doesn't exist in  English, so don't use it, for example don't say:  

'I try to avoid politic discussions.' It's always:  'I try to avoid political discussions.' It's the  

only adjective form for the word 'politics'. There  is an adverb form 'politically' obviously. So,  

for example: 'I try to avoid politically  sensitive topics.' Notice again the pronunciation:  

Not 'kally', but 'kli'. It's 'politically'. So,  we had: economically, historically, classically,  

and now politically. Important, and also, this  is another mistake I often hear: a person who is  

involved in politics is a politician, again  not a politic! So, for example don't say:  

'She's lost her trust in all politics.' It's:  'She's lost her trust in all politicians.' And,  

that brings us to the last word, which is  'policy'. What is 'policy'? 'policy' refers to a  

set of rules or plans that governs the activities  of a government or a company or an organization,  

so for example: 'The focus of the Prime Minister's  speech was foreign policy.', not foreign politics.  

That's the mistake you need to avoid. Or: 'These  company policies, not these company politics.  

'These company policies are outdated and need to  changed.' O.K. that brings us to the end of the  

lesson. I hope that the differences, the different  meanings, are clear for you, and that from now on,  

you'll be able to use all these words correctly  when you speak. I hope you've enjoyed this lesson.  

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