STOP confusing these words! Especially or Specially? Assure or Ensure? (+ Free PDF & Quiz)

Hello everyone, and welcome back to English  with Lucy. Today, I'm going to help you out  

with some doubts. We are going to talk about five  pairs or trios of very confusing English words,  

pairs of words that native speakers  struggle with too. Words like especially  

and specially, why are they so similar? Accept  and except. Assure, ensure, insure, inquire,  

enquire. Which ones do we use? I'm going to tell  you. Before we get started, I would just like to  

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Right, let's get started with the confusing  words. And to make this even easier for you,  

I have created a PDF worksheet. We've got  all of the words, their pronunciation,  

all of the information from the video, plus some  additional activities as well. Do bear in mind,  

this is a two-part video. You can also find  the second part in the description box. But  

the order doesn't matter. So the first one  we have, especially and specially. Especially  

means more with one person or thing than with  others, or more in particular circumstances  

than others. In my opinion, it's quite a hard  word to define. It's easier if you see it  

used in a sentence. For example, I love Seville,  especially in the spring. So I love Seville in  

general, but I love it even more in the spring.  Or, baby animals are cute, especially puppies.  

So I think all baby animals are cute, but  I really think that puppies are so cute,  

maybe that little bit more cute, that  little bit cuter. Now, specially means  

for a particular purpose or a particular person.  An example, I made this cake specially for you.  

Now, here's the complicated bit. In British  English, we tend to use the two interchangeably.  

It can be really hard to hear the difference when  people speak. Specially tends to be less formal.  

And I think that part of the reason for this is  because it sounds like you are lazily dropping  

a syllable. I made this cake specially for you.  It almost sounds like someone's trying to say,  

especially for you, but they're dropping a  syllable. And actually, I would be inclined  

to say, I made this especially for you. And  that is something that you will hear a lot  

in British English. I made this cake especially  for you. I made this cake specially for you.  

So in general, in American English, they  differentiate between these words more. And  

in British English, we just use especially  in formal situations and specially in less  

formal situations. But really, it does depend on  the person and what they have grown up hearing.  

Number two, we have loose and lose. So there's  a big pronunciation difference here. Well,  

I say big. It's very subtle, but it is quite  important. Loose with the s at the end, and lose  

with z at the end. But they are minimal pairs.  They only differ in one sound, that final  

phoneme z, s. Loose is an adjective meaning  not tight or not securely fixed. For example,  

I need to go to the dentist because my tooth is  loosed. It's not securely fixed into my mouth.  

Or I lost weight and now my clothes are  loose. They're not tight. They are loose.  

Now, to lose is a verb, meaning to  not be able to find something, or  

to fail to keep something as well. Examples, go  to the dentist before you lose your loose tooth.  

Before you lose (verb), your loose (adjective),  tooth. Or she wants to lose weight to make her  

clothes loose. She wants to lose (verb) weight to  make her clothes loose (adjective). It is very,  

very common to see people misspelling  these words and using the wrong one,  

so don't beat yourself up about it. I know I  say this a lot, but seriously, it's just not  

the end of the world. We will understand what  you're trying to say. Number three, we have  

accept and except. So with a, accept, we  use the schwa, accept. And with e, except,  

we use an e sound, except. Now in general, in  British English and modern received pronunciation,  

you will hear people just using the schwa for  both, except, except, except, except. When you  

speak quickly, you often find yourself using the  most convenient or efficient way of pronouncing  

something. So the schwa gets used a lot. Now, I'm going to use a and e for emphasis so that  

you know, which word I am referring to. Accept  is a verb, but except is usually a preposition  

or conjunction. It is sometimes a verb and I will  touch on that later. But accept as in to accept  

is to agree or to receive something if offered.  An example, I will not accept your apology,  

or I hope they accept the proposed changes.  Now let's look at except with the E,  

except. It generally means apart from or  excluding or with the exception of. An example,  

I study every day except Sundays, or we look  exactly the same, except my hair is darker.  

A little memory tip, the EX, ex of except can  be used to remind you that it is excluding,  

ex excluding. Now to except as a verb  with an E is very, very formal and it is  

rarely used. It means to not include something  or someone, you will usually see it in written  

English and I'll explain why. Look at this  sentence. Tours are arranged all year round,  

January excepted. Okay. So it's quite confusing,  if that sentence is said in spoken English.  

January excepted, is January accepted as in  they agree to it? Or is it excepted as in it  

is not included? When you see it written down, you  can see it means that it is excluded. January is  

not included. You won't come across this verb  very frequently. It's just another example of  

English being a pain in the neck. That's an idiom  meaning really annoying for accepted and excepted  

to mean the opposite, but to sound the  same. Oh, it's just so annoying.  

We have number four and this is a trio. We have  assure, ensure and insure, okay. So the last two  

have the same pronunciation ensure, insure. So  let's look at the three to assure with an A, is to  

remove someone's doubts. I assure you that I will  arrive on time. Don't worry, don't have any doubts  

I will arrive on time. To ensure with E N is to  guarantee or to make sure that something happens.  

I need to study to ensure that I pass my exam.  So assure and ensure a very similar, assure with  

an A, to remove someone's doubts and ensure with  E N is to guarantee that something will happen.  

To insure with I N, is to cover someone or  something like a house with an insurance policy.  

An example, the insurance company won't protect  my house against flooding. Now frustratingly  

some policies, some insurance policies also have  assurance policies as well, which just makes it so  

confusing, but let's not worry about that. We  know the basic differences between the three.  

Finally, we have number five, which is inquire  and enquire. The same pronunciation again, they  

have very similar meanings. Well actually they  mean the same thing, but sometimes they're used  

in different situations. So they both mean to ask  someone for information. Now in American English,  

once again, they have made this easier for you.  They tend to favour inquire with I N, so enquire,  

you won't hear it as frequently in general. I'm  having to make a lot of generalisations here.  

However, the UK British English, we just  liked to make everything that little  

more complicated. Traditionally, to enquire  as in E N to enquire simply meant to ask,  

but inquire, I'm just using, in and en for  emphasis so you know which word I'm referring to.  

Inquire was used for formal investigations. So I  would enquire at a tourist information desk to see  

where the best ice cream shop was, but the police  or a court would inquire about something.  

However, nowadays both are used interchangeably.  So people are just using words without knowing  

exactly what they mean, which is fine. I imagine  eventually we will end up just favouring one.  

I wonder if it will be inquire or enquire,  time will tell probably. Right. That's it for  

today's lesson. There is also a part two to this  lesson, which I posted a week before this one.  

In that video, we discuss either or neither  or either or neither, we talk about the  

pronunciation and which one you should use. We  discuss to bring and to take, advise and advice,  

practise and practise, and also effect and affect,  with E and with A. It's a very interesting lesson,  

if I do say so myself, and don't forget, I've made  all of this easier for you. I have created a free  

PDF for you to download. It's got all of these  confusing words, the pronunciation information,  

the clarifications, the examples,  and also some additional activities  

that I think you'll really like. If you'd like to download that PDF,  

all you've got to do is sign up to my mailing  list. The link is in the description box  

and the PDF will be sent straight to your inbox.  Don't forget to check out Lingoda. The link for  

the sprint is in the description box as well.  And you can use my code "WIN7" for 10 euros off.  

Don't forget to connect with me on all  of my social media. I've got my Facebook,  

my Instagram, my mailing list. I've also got my  personal blogging channel where I upload lots  

of subtitled, always fully subtitled blogs. So  you can use them as listening practise, they're  

all about my life in the English countryside.  And I have just released my first ever course.  

It is a British English pronunciation course,  where I teach modern received pronunciation.  

That is my accent. If you are interested in  that, the link is also in the description box,  

as well as a little good surprise. I  will see you soon for another lesson.  

Mwah!