12 Confusing English Verbs

Hello, lovely students, and welcome back  to English with Lucy. Some English verbs  

are incredibly confusing. Some  of them sound really similar,  

like the verbs 'wander' and 'wonder'. Some  have really similar meanings like 'see',  

'watch' and 'look', or it can be really  tricky to choose the right preposition or  

adverb. Did he 'fall off', 'fall over' or  'fall down'? Well, today you are in luck.

I have compiled some of the most commonly  confused verbs, and we are going to eliminate  

any doubts you might have. You are going  to have some eureka moments. As always,  

I have created a free PDF to go with this video.  You will find all of the information from this  

lesson with extra examples and a secret link to  an interactive exercise pack for further practice.

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one click. Let's get started with number  1—'hear' versus 'listen'. We use 'hear'  

to describe the process of sounds coming into  your ears whether you want them to or not. And  

that's the key. For example—'Did you hear those  dogs barking? The noise kept me up all night.

No, I had earplugs in so I couldn't hear  anything.' We also use 'hear' with the meaning  

of to be told something. For example—'Emma got  the job. So I've heard.' (So I've been told.) Now,  

listening, on the other hand, is intentional.  When you listen, you have to focus and pay  

attention. For example—'I'm listening  to a really good podcast at the moment.'

Or—'He told me what the plan was, but I wasn't  really listening.' So, hearing - no effort,  

listening - intentional, requires effort.  It's that simple. Number 2—we have 'see',  

'look' and 'watch'. Or I should really say  'see', 'look at' and 'watch'. I get questions  

about these verbs all the time. 'See' is similar  to 'hear'. It's the process of noticing something.

But this time with the eyes. No effort required.  For example—'We could see the Eiffel Tower from  

our hotel window.' Or—'I didn't see the  person who snatched my phone.' 'Look at'  

means to move your eyes in a particular  direction in order to see something. For  

example—'Look at that man dressed as a horse!'  Or—'Look at me when I'm talking to you,

please.' The action of looking is generally  quite short. 'Watch', on the other hand,  

is when you look at something or somebody for  a longer period of time, what you're watching  

will usually be moving like a film, a YouTube  video, a play or a concert. The action generally  

involves more effort. For example—'Watch how  I play it and then you can try and copy.'

Or—'Did you watch the game last night?'  Now, you can 'see' or 'watch a film',  

but be careful. We don't 'see' television.  We 'watch' television. For example—'We're  

going to watch/we're going to see Gladiator  II if you fancy joining us.' Or—'I rarely  

watch TV these days.' Not—'I rarely see  TV.' Okay, number 3 'fit' and 'suit'.

Here are 2 questions that I frequently  ask my husband, but what's the difference  

in meaning? Number 1—'Does this dress  suit me?' And number 2—'Does this dress  

fit me?' And yes, I said /suːt/ not /swiːt/,  'suit'. We pronounce suit with the long /uː/  

as in in 'boot', 'suit'. Okay, we use the  verb 'suit' to ask about how attractive  

an item of clothing, an accessory or  even a hairstyle makes a person look.

If someone says—'Wow! Those jeans really suit  you!' They're saying, those jeans look good  

on you. You look attractive wearing them. We  use 'fit' to talk about the size and shape of  

something. For example—'You can have that  T-shirt - it doesn't fit me anymore.' It's  

too big or too small for my body. You'll often  hear people say something fits well or nicely,  

and I love the idiomatic expression 'to fit  like a glove', which means to fit perfectly.

Oh, and I can't be on this topic and not  mention 'go with'. We use this phrase with  

the meaning of 'combine well'. 'That bag  goes really well with those shoes.' Your  

bag matches your shoes or your bag combines  well with your shoes. They look good together.  

It's a vibe! Okay, let's move on to  number 4—we have 'mind' and 'matter'.

Now these 2 verbs can cause a lot of  confusion if we mix them up. What is the  

difference between these 2 sentences? Which one  are you likely to say more often—'I don't mind',  

'I don't matter.' So, we usually use  'mind' in questions and negatives.  

'I don't mind' means it's not a problem for me.  For example—'I don't mind doing the washing up.'

(I'm happy to do it). Or—'We don't mind  the noise from the traffic.' (It doesn't  

bother us.) And in the question form it can  be used to make a polite request—'Would you  

mind taking me to the airport?' Notice how we  can use a noun or the -ing verb after 'mind'.  

We also often use 'not mind' to say that we  are happy with any options offered to us.

For example—'Do you fancy going out for dinner  or should we stay in? I don't mind.' (I'd be  

happy doing either.) And what about the second  sentence—'I don't matter.' I really hope you  

never say this. If something 'matters' to you,  it's 'important' to you. So, if you say 'I don't  

matter', you're saying 'I'm not important'? I  recommend memorising these 2 phrases together.

'I don't mind', 'it doesn't matter'. We use  'matter' to reassure someone that something isn't  

important. 'Oh, no! I forgot to buy the milk!  It doesn't matter - we can do without it.' Now,  

rather confusingly, you can also use the  expression 'never mind' here with the same  

meaning. And one final point here, don't mix 'I  don't mind' up with 'I don't care'. If you used  

with the wrong tone of voice, 'I don't care'  can make you sound angry or disinterested.

Compare the responses to the question—'What  do you fancy for dinner? I don't mind.' (I  

genuinely be happy with anything  you make for me.) I don't care!  

That means—(Leave me alone. I don't want  to have to think about this right now;  

I'm too busy!) The difference is quite  clear. Okay, number 5—we're going to  

take a look at 2 verbs with very different  meanings that sound ridiculously similar,

'wonder' and 'wander'. Can you hear the  difference? I pronounced wonder with the 'o',  

as in /ˈwʌndə/ with the /ʌ/ vowel sound an  'up', 'wonder'. Lots of speakers in the north  

of England will use the /ʊ/ vowel sound like  in 'put', 'wonder'. 'Wander' spelt with an  

'a' is pronounced with the short /ɒ/ vowel like in  'October' and 'hot', 'wander', 'wonder', 'wander'.

Can you hear the difference? But what do they  mean? Well, 'wonder' is a very useful verb,  

which means to ask yourself something you wish  you knew the answer to. 'I wonder what Diego  

is thinking right now.' But I know what he's  thinking, it's his dinner time. We're nearly  

at the end of the lesson. Or—'I wonder  what Will's bought me for my birthday.'

'Wander' has nothing to do with 'wonder'.  'Wander' means to walk around a place with  

no set plan or purpose. Like—'We wandered around  the narrow streets of Venice for hours.' Or the  

very famous line from the William Wordsworth  poem—'I wandered lonely as a cloud.' Let's use  

them both in a sentence—'I wonder where Diego  wanders when Will and I are working.' Next,

we have 'fall off', 'fall over' and 'fall  down'. I cannot count the number of times  

that a student has told me 'they've  fallen down their bike' or 'fallen  

over the stairs'. These are incorrect. Let's  clear this one up once and for all. We use  

the verb 'fall' when we suddenly drop from  the position we are in towards the ground.

We have a fight with gravity and gravity  wins. 'Fall off' can have an object,  

and this object is usually something we've been  sitting on. For example—'I fell off my bike,  

a horse, my chair, the roof.' Well, I hope  not! 'Fall over' is when you suddenly drop  

to the ground from a standing or upright  position and it doesn't need an object.

'I fell over and banged my knees.' It doesn't need  an object, but it can have one. For example—'The  

dog fell over the cliff.' 'Fall down' is most  commonly used for stairs or steps. It can be  

used with other inclined objects like a hill  or a slope. 'My brother fell down the stairs  

and broke his ankle.' Okay, I think it's  time for a quiz to see what you remember.

I have 5 sentences for you to  complete with the correct verb,  

make sure you conjugate the verbs—make  sure you use them in the correct form.  

Keep track of your score and let me know how  you did in the comments. Number 1—'My baby's  

growing so fast; none of her clothes  _ her anymore.' Is it 'fit' or 'suit'?

Did you say 'suit'? I hope not, because the  correct answer is 'fit'. Her clothes are too  

small. They are no longer the right size or  shape. Number 2—'I forgot to pick up your  

parcel! It _. I can get it on my way home.' Do  we say it 'doesn't matter' or it 'doesn't mind'?

You should say 'it doesn't matter'. Number 3—'We  

spend hours _ on the streets of Seville.  I want you to use 'wonder' or 'wander'.

Did you say 'wandering' with the /ɒ/  sound? Well done! 'Wonder' means to  

ask yourself a question. Number  4—'Have you seen that reel of the  

girl dressed up as a ghost falling _ the  stairs?' Is it 'off', 'over' or 'down'?

That's right! We 'fall down' the stairs just like  

we do with other inclined places like  hills and slopes. And last one now,  

number 5—'Sorry, I couldn't _ you; I had my  earphones in.' Is it 'hear' or 'listen to'?

It should be 'I couldn't hear you'. The  earphones blocked the sound of your voice. Right,  

let me know your score out of 5. That's it for  today, I hope the lesson has cleared up lots  

of doubts. I've included lots more interesting  bits of information about these verbs,  

and another quiz in the PDF, so  don't forget to download it—the  

link is in the description box. I will  see you soon for another lesson. Muah!