12 Confusing English Verbs

Hi. I'm Rebecca from engVid. Today, we'll look at 12 verbs which are often confused

by English learners. Perhaps you have some of these issues as well, and we're going to

find out in a minute. So, today, you'll have a chance to understand clearly the meaning

of these six pairs of verbs, some of which are actually opposites, so you really need

to know the difference and make sure you're not using the wrong one, and some of them

are similar. They're close, but they have different meanings. So, let's understand exactly

what they are because they also happen to be very commonly used words, everyday words.

All right? So, you really want to make sure that you're using them correctly. So, let's

get started.

All right. So, I have six sentences on the board with the verbs that we're looking at

today. So, let's read it, and you tell me which is the right verb to be using in that

context. All right?

Number one. Do we say, "Please bring this over there." or do we say, "Please take this

over there." Which one is correct? Do you know? Are you sure? Okay? So, if you like,

you can stop the video and, you know, look at all of them, write them down somewhere,

and then join me, or let's just do it together. All right?

So, in this case, the correct verb to be using is, "Please take this over there." Okay? Why?

What's the difference between "bring" and "take"? Well, there are many ways to understand

some of these verbs, okay? Like, this one and also another one. I'm going to give you

in this lesson the most basic explanation so that you will know, you know, at that level,

at a basic level, not make any serious mistakes at all, and get the basic idea. Now, some

of them can be used in a little more advanced way. Don't worry about that. First, master

these basic usages and the basic meaning. All right?

So here, you can think of it like this. Bring this over here, or take this there. Okay?

Bring it here, take it there. All right? So, in this case, we had the word "there", so

we need to say, "Please take this", "Please take this away from me", not towards me, away

from me, "Please take this over there." All right? If it was here, then it would have

been, "Please bring this over here." Okay? So that's the most fundamental basic way in

which you can learn that one, but remember, you may be... You may hear it being used in

slightly different ways as well. Okay.

Number two, "Did you hear that sound?" or "Did you listen that sound?" Which one is

correct? So, here, we should say, "Did you hear that sound?" Okay? Not "listen". Why?

Well, these two, "bring" and "take", were opposites. Okay? Here, they're similar, but

there is a difference. When we hear something, it just means that some auditory information

is coming in through our ears. Okay? We're taking in information through our ears. We

can hear it. Okay? We're not trying to, it's just we can hear. For example, you can hear

the birds, or you can hear a siren, a fire alarm, things like that. You hear them, you're

not trying to, you just hear them. Okay? So that's the word "hear". "Listen" means paying

attention to what you hear, so it's different. So, for example, "Please, can you be quiet?

I'm just trying to listen to the news." Okay? Listen to the news, you listen when someone

is speaking because you're paying attention to the sound that is being produced. Okay?

So, "hear" is just taking in the sound, "listening" is paying attention to that sound. Alright,

next. Do we say, "Please remember me to call John" or "Please remind me to call John"?

These are also similar. What's the right word that we need here? Which one do we need? We

need, "Please remind me to call John." Okay? So, what's the difference here? So, here,

the difference is when you remember, to remember just means to not forget. Okay? So, "I need

to remember to do something", "You need to remember to do something", "I need to remember",

"I need to not forget", "You need to not forget". Okay? But when you remind, you tell someone

else or you help someone else not to forget. That's the difference. So, if I'm afraid that

I cannot remember, I might not remember something by myself, I might ask you, "Hey, could you

please remind me", you tell me not to forget, "to call John". Okay? That's the difference

there. So, remind someone else, and usually the person remembers by themselves. Okay?

That's it. Now, I just want to go back for one second to number two. There was another

reason why "listen" was not correct here. Because if we said, "Did you listen?" we have

to say "listen to". Okay? If you're paying attention, you need to say, "Listen to the

music", "Listen to the news". But with here, we don't need to use any preposition. Alright?

So, remember that point. Let's go to number four. Do we say, "Could you borrow me your

book?" or "Could you lend me your book?" Which is the right answer there? Okay? So, the correct

one is, "Could you lend me your book?" So, what's the difference between "borrow" and

"lend"? Very commonly used words, right? We need them kind of very often. So, the difference

is this. Let's put it this way. So, let's suppose I go to the library, I borrow a book,

means I take something temporarily from the library, and the library lends me the book.

The library gives me something temporarily. Okay? So, someone lends something, someone

gives something temporarily, and another person takes something temporarily or borrows something.

Alright? For example, also, we could think of a bank, right? The bank lends money, gives

money temporarily, the customer borrows money temporarily. Okay? So, think of those examples,

like a library, a bank, and you will remember this word, but it can also be like someone

says, "Hey, can I borrow your pen?" Right? Or your book. Or, so if the person says, "Can

I borrow your book?" you say, "What are you doing? You are lending that." Alright? Good.

Next. So, these are actually also... These are opposites, here. Right? So, you want to

make sure that you don't mix them up because the meaning is completely different.

Number five. Do we say, "When are you coming here?" or "When are you going here?" What

do you think? So, the correct answer, in this case, is "coming". Okay? This is another one

of those pairs of words which has a basic meaning and then a more complex, advanced,

nuanced meaning. I'm giving you the basic meaning now. The basic meaning is you would

say to somebody, "Come here" or "Go there". Okay? Come here, go there. So, in this case,

it's here, right? So, "When are you coming here?" Or you would have to say, "When are

you going there?" Okay? At the basic level, again. So, that's something that you can use

to remember. And again, this has slightly opposite meanings, so be careful.

Next. Do we say, "I spent a lot of money on my car because I love cars." Or does this

person say, "I wasted a lot of money on my car because I love cars." Which word is correct?

"Spent" or "wasted". And what's the difference? Okay? In this case, the correct answer is

"spent", not "wasted". Okay? So, these are sort of shades of meaning, so they're kind

of similar. So, what is the difference? Well, we spend money... To spend money or time or

resources just means to use it. So, the feeling is more neutral or positive. Okay? The person

is not unhappy about it. They just spent money. Okay? Let's say. In this case, the person

is actually happy about it because he says or she says, "I spent a lot of money on my

car because I love cars." So, they're happy; they're not unhappy about anything. But if

somebody said, "I wasted", "to waste" means to use too much money or too much time or

too many resources. Or let's say that you bought something and then it broke the next

day. All right? Because it's useless; it was really bad quality. Then you would say, "I

wasted my money because that product was no good." All right? But in this... And that's

a negative feeling. When we say, "We wasted our time. I went there, but it was no use.

I didn't get my work done. I wasted my time." Okay? Or, "I wasted my money or any other

resources." So, "wasted" definitely has a negative meaning, and "spend" is a neutral

or a positive meaning. All right? So, those are the words for now, and then we're going

to practice a little bit so you can master them.

By the way, if you want to make these kind of very important small corrections to improve

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you can make, like we did here. All right?

Number one, what do we say? Could you ____ me to call home? Which of these is correct?

Could you remind me? Okay? Remember, to remind means to tell... Help someone else not to

forget. To remember means not to forget. Okay? So, could you remind me to call home? All

right? Good.

Number two, the university ____ textbooks. Think about it. The university lends textbooks.

Who borrows the textbooks? The students, right? The students borrow textbooks, and the university

lends textbooks. The university gives temporarily. The students borrow, take temporarily. All

right? Excellent.

Number three, I'm _____ to the news. What's that? I'm listening to the news. Right? Listening,

paying attention, not just hearing, not just bringing in information through your ears,

but actually paying attention to that. That's where they're saying, "Shh, I'm listening.

I'm listening to the news." Also, listening to, remember? Good.

Number four, could you ____ this file to the HR department? Could you take, right? Could

you take this file to the HR department? HR, Human Resources Department. So, you're asking

the person to take it there, not bring it here, but take it there. Take it somewhere

else. Take it away. Okay? So, that's the correct answer there.

Number five, _____ here. I want to show you something. _____ here. I want to show you

something. So, what do you say? Not _____. Which verb do we use? We say, "Hey, come here.

Come here. I want to show you something. Look at this beautiful butterfly, or flower, or

whatever." Okay? So, "Come here." Because otherwise it would be what? "Go there." Those

are the basic explanations of those two words. Remember, there are other ways in which you

might see this word and this one, four and five, being used, but learn the basics so

that you won't get those mixed up. All right?

Next, number six, don't _____ your money on that movie. It's really bad. Don't - what's

more likely to be used here? Don't waste your money. Right? Don't waste your money because

if you spend your money, it's like it's useless. It's - there's no point. You won't get any

joy or happiness or anything from watching that movie, so it's like your money has gone

down the drain. It's wasted. All right? You didn't just spend it. If you spend, sometimes

you're very happy that you spent money on something, but when you waste something, then

you're not happy because it was useless, or it was bad, or it broke, or something went

wrong. All right? So, here you've reviewed just 12 of the most common mistakes that happen

with verbs, and as I said, if you enjoyed this kind of exercise, which is very useful

because you really don't want to make these kind of basic level mistakes. You want to

know clearly what very common verbs are being used and how to use them. So, please check

out my course, Correct Your English Errors, in 10 minutes a day, and you will be able

to make what I call in this course small changes for big results. All right? Thanks very much

for watching. Bye for now.