Upgrade your English: 12 Confusing Advanced Adjectives

Hi. I'm Rebecca from engVid. In this lesson, you will learn the

exact meanings of twelve advanced adjectives in English.

Now, even though there are twelve, these are actually six

pairs of adjectives, and they're often confused because they

either sound the same or they look the same, and so they can

be confusing for those reasons. Okay? Now, here, we're just

going to look at these twelve. Even though these are important,

and these are advanced, and a wonderful way to upgrade your

vocabulary — but if you're really interested in correcting

these kind of errors in vocabulary, grammar,

pronunciation, or anything else — then please do check out my

course: "Correct Your English Errors in Ten Minutes a Day". I

will leave a link to that in the lesson description. And, there,

we actually correct more than 120 different errors,

step-by-step, in grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, and

all kinds of areas. Okay? So, check that after the lesson.

Okay? So, now, let's get started with today's lesson. So, what

we'll be doing is we will be focusing on three different

areas. First of all, yes, like I said, the meaning: Which word

should we be using for that particular sentence? Second,

we'll be looking at different ways in which we can use each of

these words. So, that's called "collocations". So, make sure

that you stay after this board for our second board, where you

will learn exactly how to use these in many different

situations. Okay? So, you'll really master this vocabulary;

you won't just tell the difference — you will know how

to use it in many different situations, and with different

expressions. All right? And along the way, we'll also check

the pronunciation. Okay? All right. So, let's get started.

Number one: "Many people are concerned about the economic

situation" or "about the economical situation". All

right? So, what is the correct word here? Now, you could do

this in a few ways. If you like — I'm standing to the side — and

you could pause the video, and you could go through them all,

mark down which one you think is the correct answer, and then

join me after that; or you can stay with me, and we'll do it

together. All right? So, let's go through the first one again:

"Many people are concerned about the economic" or "economical

situation". Which is the correct word to use in that context:

"economic" or "economical"? Okay? So, the correct one is

"economic". All right? "the economic situation". So,

"economic" has to do with the economy; with money, business,

trade. I'm going to explain each of the correct answers, and the

other ones also. The others are also correct words; they just

have a different meaning. Going to explain each of them in

detail, so you understand exactly; but first, let's

understand in general. Okay? So, when we say: "the economic

situation" — "economic" relates to the economy; and "economical"

relates to something else, which we will look at, which has to do

with how you save money. All right?

Next, let's go to number two: "Be careful. The storm is

imminent" or "eminent". What's the right word there? Which one

do we want? "The storm is imminent" or "The storm is

eminent"? So, here, this is wrong; and this is correct.

Okay? So, what does that mean? In case... perhaps you know

these words — okay? — perhaps you've heard them before, and

you might get confused; or perhaps you've never heard of

some of these — and that's okay, too. It's an opportunity to

learn them. So, when we say that something is "imminent", it

means it's about to happen. Okay? It's usually talking about

something a little bit negative or a little bit dangerous. All

right? So, it's the storm. Okay? The storm, the hurricane, the

tornado is imminent; it's about to happen, so be careful. All

right? That's the correct word here. "Eminent" has a completely

different meaning. It means famous, well-known; and we'll

look at all of that soon.

Number three: "Could you please connect me to the personal

department" or "to the personnel department"? So, what's the

correct word there: "the personal department" or "the

personnel department"? Okay. So, here, this is kind of in a

business context, right? Perhaps somebody's looking for a job,

and they want to speak to which department? Do you know? All

right? So, the correct answer is: "personnel". Okay? "the

personnel department". So, "personnel" has to do with

staff, with HR, human resources, manpower, workforce. Okay?

That's the word you're looking for. And see the pronunciation?

"Personnel". All right? We'll go over the pronunciation as well,

later. This: "personal" means something private, something

individual; has a completely different meaning. Okay? And,

again, when we see the expressions with which we can

use each of these words, you'll understand exactly how to use

each one, and you'll feel... you'll be able to use them.

First of all, use them, in case you're not using them already;

and second, use them correctly, in the right context. Okay?

Number four. Are you ready? "The rain was continuous, with no

break for six hours" or "The rain was continual, with no

break for six hours". This is a really advanced word. Okay?

There might be some English speakers who also make mistakes

with that particular one. So, do you know: What's the difference?

They sound almost the same, they look almost the same, but there

is a very important difference. So, the correct answer is...

have you chosen? Okay? The correct answer is: "continuous".

Okay? So, "continuous" means that something kept happening;

something continued with no break. Okay? Without stopping.

And "continual" means that something kept happening,

something continued, but there were breaks in the middle. All

right? We'll look at more examples of that on the next

board. Okay. Number five: "That peace deal changed everything.

It was historic", or "It was historical". Which is the right

answer here? So, the correct answer is: "historic". Okay? In

this context, we want to say... because look what it said here:

"That peace deal changed everything. It was historic."

So, "historic" is used to talk about something that happened

either in the past; it could also be in the present, or maybe

even in the future — okay? — but it's something important in

history. Something important. Like here, we said: it changed

everything, so it was obviously a very important peace deal. And

"historical" also has to do with history, but it just means that

it was something that happened in history; in the past. Okay?

It was historical. But this is something important that

happened in history. All right? And, again, we'll look at more

examples so you understand very clearly the difference, and you

don't make this mistake. Okay?

Next, number six: Someone says: "Don't be childish" or "Don't be

childlike". What's the difference? In this case, it's

really important because these are actually opposites. Okay?

This is something positive. Or, sorry. It's the other way

around. "Don't be childish" — this is negative; and this is

something positive. So, when we... the answer here: "Don't be

childish". Okay? So, "childish" is like a child, but in a

negative way. Okay? As we know — we all love children — sometimes

they can be... they can have some negative qualities, right?

They can be stubborn, and they say they want what they want,

and that's being "childish". Okay? And it's in the negative

side of kind of being a child; what goes with being a child.

And "childlike" is actually the positive, wonderful, lovely

qualities of being a child, like being innocent, and trusting,

and so on. All right? So, here, this person is saying: "Don't be

childish." Okay? So, here, that was the correct answer. So,

first, just repeat after me. Ready? Let's repeat the words

first. "Economic", "economical". Good. "Imminent", "eminent".

Okay? Don't worry; we're gonna review the vocabulary and the

meanings, too, but let's just get used to the pronunciation.

"Personal", "personnel". Good. "Continuous", "continual". Good.

Say it aloud. If you're alone somewhere, if you're in a place

where you can speak aloud — always say it aloud; not just in

your mind, especially for pronunciation. "Historic",

"historical". Good. And "childish", "childlike". Okay?

So, perhaps you've understood that well, but let's make sure

you understand them very well, and see the collocations and

expressions in which we can use these advanced adjectives.

Now, let's look at how we can use these words in expressions

or collocations. All right? Let's get started. The first

one: "economic". So, first of all, what does "economic" refer

to? It refers to money, or trade, or industry. All right?

We're talking about the economy. So, here, we could say:

"economic problems", "economic issues", "the economic

situation", "there's an economic crisis". You might also hear

people referring to "an economic slowdown" — that's when the

economy slows down. Okay? Or "an economic collapse" — when it

totally falls. Okay? When something "collapses", it falls;

it's usually... in this case, a very negative thing to happen.

Okay? You want economy to be strong; you don't want it to

fall or collapse. Okay? So, we could use it in that expression.

They also talk about "economic growth". "Growth" is the noun

for "to grow"; or "economic development", which is the noun

of "develop". All right? So, these are some ways in which you

can use that term. Now, let's look at the other one:

"economical". So, "economical" means that it's cheaper to buy

that one; it has better... you get better value for your money.

You can save money, time, resources. When you can do that,

we use the word "economical". All right? So, for example, you

could have an economic... it's "an economical option". Okay?

It's a more economical option to buy, for example, the larger

size cereal than the smaller box of cereal. Okay? Because,

usually, it's a little bit cheaper overall. Right? Or it

might be a more economical option to buy a used book,

rather than a new book sometimes. All right? So that's

the idea of "economical". You could also find that it's an

"economical solution" to buy a certain kind of car where you

better... get better gas mileage. Or it might be a... an

"economical solution" for some people to buy a house outside

the city where it's a little bit cheaper, and you get better

value for your money, than to buy a house in the city. All

right? So, that's the difference between "economic" — to do with

the industry, and money, and the economy — and "economical",

which means you get a better deal for something, for your

money. All right?

Now, the next two: "imminent" and "eminent". So, we said that

"imminent" means that something is going to happen very soon,

and usually it's something quite negative. All right? Or

dangerous even. So, we talk about things, like "an imminent

hurricane", or "imminent danger". "Somebody's in imminent

danger. You need to get out of there. The house might

collapse", something like that. Okay? Or "an imminent attack" —

somebody... people are going to attack. So, again: "Be careful.

The attack is imminent" or "an imminent attack". Or "an

imminent disaster", when there are lots and lots of things that

have gone wrong. For example, after a very bad hurricane,

certain areas that are very badly destroyed could be

referred to as "a disaster". Okay? So, "imminent" means that

it's about to happen very soon. The next one: "eminent" —

completely different; no connection at all — it means

that... it's used to refer to usually people who are famous,

admired; respected very, very much. So, really, you could use

it for any kind of professional or person. For example, "an

eminent scientist", or "an eminent historian", "an eminent

artist", or "writer", or "poet". Okay? Anybody, really, in any

kind of profession, who is well-known, and well-respected,

and admired is called "eminent". All right? Good.

Let's go to the next two: "personal" and "personnel". So,

"personal", it has to do with... with me. It's private. It's to

do with the individual. Okay? Anything that has to do with one

individual, that person privately, is "personal". And

the other one is "personnel" — we'll get to that. So, we could

refer to: "That's my personal information", or "my personal

data", or "data". Okay? Or: "That's my personal opinion;

it's what I think." Or: "That's his personal opinion." Doesn't

have to be only about me; it just has to be about one person.

So, "That's his personal opinion". "That's her personal

view". Her view; her opinion, again, on... on a situation, or

something like that. Or: "He's moving to another city for

personal reasons." Okay? For his own reasons, or: "She collected

her personal belongings." They often use this term: "personal

belongings". They... sometimes they make this announcement on a

plane, before you get off: "Ladies and gentlemen, make sure

you take all your personal belongings with you before you

get off the plane." So, "belongings" is just a fancy

word that means all your things. Okay? That's all. Everything;

all the things that belong to you. All right? Those are your

"belongings". So, that was "personal". Next, we come to

"personnel". So, "personnel" refers to the people who work in

a company, or an organization, or an association, or anything

like that. Okay? So, we sometimes call it "the personnel

department". Very often, that "personnel department" is

actually referred to as "HR/human resources". Right? Or

and it's... "personnel" has to do with the staff, the

workforce, the employees who are there, the workers who are

there. Okay? And you could say: "the personnel department". You

could say: "a pers-..." use this to refer to the "personnel

director", or the "personnel manager". Right? "Could I please

speak to the personnel director?" The person in charge

of staff, and stir-... in charge of hiring, training, things like

that — that's the "personnel department". Okay? So, these are

our first six adjectives. All right?

So, now, we have: "continuous" and "continual". So,

"continuous", as we mentioned earlier, is when something keeps

happening or repeats, but there are no breaks; it's

"continuous". Okay? This one is "continual". So, it keeps

happening, but there are breaks. All right? So, if I were to draw

it for you, I would say: "continuous" is like this, and

the "continual" one will be like this. Okay? So, it keeps

happening, but here with breaks; and here without any breaks. So,

we could refer, for example, to "continuous work". All right?

Somebody "worked continuously" for six hours, with no break, or

eight hours. All right? Or there was "continuous noise" — that

means the noise kept happening. All right? There was no stopping

in the mid-... in the middle. Or you could also have "continual

work", which is with breaks. Okay? Or "continual noise",

where there was a lot of noise, but there were some breaks in

between. For example, if somebody was building a

bookshelf upstairs — your neighbour — so maybe they're not

going to keep hammering every minute, but from time to time it

would happen. Okay? That is "continual". Or "continual

complaints" — okay? — from customers; they don't happen all

the time, but they happen every now and then. Okay? Or

"continual traffic". If you look outside, you see "continual

traffic" — there is traffic, then it stops, then there's

traffic again. Okay? That is "continual". In fact, a nice way

to remember the difference between these two words is to

think of... for "continuous", think of like the flow of a

river. Okay? The flow of a river; a river keeps flowing.

Right? It doesn't usually stop. However, traffic — the flow of

traffic is "continual"; the traffic comes up to a point, it

stops, it continues again. "Traffic" simply means all the

cars and trucks on the road. Okay? So, the flow of a river is

"continuous"; the flow of traffic is "continual". All

right. Good.

Now, let's look at these important words: "historic" and

"historical". Okay? A lot of people confuse these, so let's

understand, again. "Historic" is talking about something

important in history, and "historical" is just talking

about something that happened in history; not necessarily

important at all, it's just part of the past. This can actually

be part of the past, or the present, or even the future.

Okay? "It's going to be historic", we could say. "It's

going to be important". Or "It is important". It's historic

now, or it was historic. So, we could talk about a "historic

day", when something happened; a "historic occasion" or "event"

when something happened, a "historic agreement", or a

"historic opportunity or chance to do something". All right? And

on this side, you can... since we're just talking about

something that's connected with the past, but not necessarily

important: It's "historical data", "historical documents".

"Historical novels". Many people write... like to write or read

historical novels that are based on something... a time in the

past. Okay? Or you could look at "historical photos". Okay? Maybe

they're photos from the past; they're not necessarily

specifically important or significant, but they're from

the past, so they're "historical". Or when we talk

about stock prices — the prices of stocks that might go up or

down — we talk about the "historical stock prices". What

happened in the past to a particular stock or share in a

company? Or even exchange rates. Right? The value of the dollar.

What is the historical data behind the exchange rates? All

right? So, that's how you might see "historical" being used or

how you can use it.

The last two: "childish" and "childlike". All right? So,

again, we said "childish" is the... refers to the negative

qualities that a child may have, and "childlike" refers to the

positive qualities that a child... that a person could

have. Now, often, when we use "childlike", we are actually

talking about people who are not children; we're talking about

older people. Okay? Adults, teenagers; not really children,

but we're saying that these people who are no longer

children have a positive quality of a child, for example; or

these people who are grown up have some negative qualities of

a child. So, we could talk about "childish behaviour", "childish

actions", or "childish"... "having a childish attitude

towards something". "Childish", again, the negative qualities —

might be being immature, being selfish, wanting something

immediately, having no patience, things like that. Okay? And

"childlike" are the... "childlike" refers to the

positive qualities that a child has, and therefore that adults

can have; a kind of curiosity, wanting to know about: "Why is

this like this? And why is this like that?" Okay? Children have

that quality, and some adults continue to have those qualities

as they grow up. Or a "childlike love" for something. I remember

that my grandmother used to love ice cream. Okay? So, she had a

"childlike love" for ice cream, and anytime there was any ice

cream, she wanted it. Okay? Or a "childlike joy or delight" in

something. Or you could also have a "childlike trust or

faith" in people, in certain situations, and so on. Okay?

So, those are the last six that we have. So, the ways that you

can use them is to think of some examples of your own, write some

sentences of your own, think of your own life or people that you

know. Are there people you know who are "childish" or

"childlike"? Is there a...? What...? Think of a "historic

occasion" that you know about; think about something that's

"continuous" or "continual". Or some of the other words we

looked at: "economic", "economical" — extremely

important, especially in the professional world, and

especially if you're an economist, but even if you're

just talking about what's going on in the world. Right? You

really want to know the difference between these

commonly-confused adjectives. All right? But take them into

your vocabulary, include them, because they are higher-level,

advanced vocabulary words, so it's good to know them and to be

able to use them in your speaking and in your writing.

And as I said, these are just twelve that we did today, but if

you want to correct your English further, please do check the

link to my course. All right? The "Correct Your English Errors

in Ten Minutes a Day", and there we'll talk... we'll tackle

grammar problems, we'll correct vocabulary issues, collocations,

pronunciation, lots of different areas. Okay? So, check that in

the link, if you're interested. All right? Thanks very much for

watching, and all the best with your English. Bye for now.