”Arriving today by 8 PM” means

 

Yes, "by" is used to mean, no later than 8. They might arrive a bit earlier.

from: https://hinative.com/en-US/questions/15405462

you look busy 和 you seem busy 的差別在哪裡？

 

Well, the same when the person is in front of you. It's different when you don't see the person. Text message for example, you seem busy is ok. But you look busy is not because you can't see the other person.

from: https://hinative.com/zh-TW/questions/599496

Let's start 和 Let's get started 的差別在哪裡？

 

They mean the same thing.

Ex:

"Okay class let's get started."
or
"Okay class let's start."

fast和quick，quickly的區別

 一、詞性上面的區別：

fast既是形容詞，也是副詞。quick是形容詞，它的副詞形式是quickly。

二、fast和quick，quickly都翻譯成「快速」，但是它們強調的地方是完全不一樣的。

1）fast表示物體的運動速度很快，強調的是「速度」。比如：一輛汽車在快速行駛；一個人在快速奔跑。在此時，我們不能使用quick來表達。

例如：It is a fast train. 它是一輛速度很快的火車。（強調的是「速度快」）

You walk very fast. 你走的很快。 （強調的是「速度快」）

She loves fast cars. 她喜歡時速很快的車。（強調的是「速度快」）

(Not: She loves quick cars. )

2）quick，quickly表示動作需要在很短的時間內，甚至是比計劃時間更短的時間內，快速完成。也就是說，quick強調的是「時間」，因為時間來不及了，所以動作要以「比正常快的速度」來完成（有一種被催促的感覺在裡面）。

例如：We need to have a quick chat before themeeting . 在開會之前，我們需要抓

緊時間聊一下。（強調的是「時間緊迫」）

We just need a quick answer . （強調的是「短時間內給出回答」）

(Not: We just need a fast answer.)

We should do it as quickly as possible. （強調的是以「儘可能短的時間」快

速完成。）

原文網址：https://kknews.cc/education/nqjj6l2.html

“What do you do?” or “What is your job?”

 When someone asks you “What do you do?“, they’re asking about your job. In English, people don’t actually say “What is your job?“. Instead they say “What do you do?“ and the correct response is “I’m a/an + a job title”.

Examples:

• I’m an English teacher.
• I’m a dentist.
• I’m a lawyer.

“What is your job?“ is still used in English textbooks, but in real life native English speakers almost never say that. They will mostly say:

• What do you do?
• What do you do for a living?
• What do you do exactly?

from: https://learnenglishwithdemi.wordpress.com/2016/01/02/what-do-you-do-or-what-is-your-job/

What's the difference between “have you seen?” and “have you ever seen?”

 Ever means 'at any time'.

So,

“Have you seen?” is said when you are asking someone if they have seen a particular person or thing in a specified short period of time maybe this hour or this day.

While, “have you ever seen?” is spoken when you are asking someone if they have seen a particular person or thing at any time maybe even once in their whole life.

For example:

• Have you seen Claire? I thought she was waiting for me at the bus stop.

• Have you ever seen a flying UFO? I thought they only exist in fiction.

• Have you seen my dog? I am looking for him for the past hour!

• Have you ever seen my dog? He's really cute!

from: https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/502746/whats-the-difference-between-have-you-seen-and-have-you-ever-seen

Which one is correct, “It's seems to be” or “It seems to be”?

 “It seems to be” is correct. This is immediately clear if you consider what “It’s” means in the other choice. “It’s” is a contraction of “It is”. Using this in the first sentence would result in “It is seems to be” which is obviously incorrect. So the correct sentence is, “It seems to be”.

It's vs It

 

it VS. this Vs. that

 It seems that it depends on context. If we are around with the ability to point on the object, meaning that we see it, then we can use "this" or "that" depends on the distance. But if we don't see it at all, we use "it".

"I came home" vs "I went home."

 It depends on where home is relative to where you are speaking.

If you are at home when you say this, you normally use "I came home" but if you are not at home, you say "I went home".

Welcome to the forum.

"Be used to" 和 "Be accustomed to" 的差別在哪裡？

 “to be used to” is much more common

“to be accustomed to” sounds a little more formal and is less common

It rains hard 和 It rains heavily 的差別在哪裡？

no difference , it rains hard is more common.

 

Do you speak English? VS Can you speak English?

 I'd prefer 'Do you...?' instead of 'Can you...?'. It just sounds more polite.

accompany 和 company 的差別在哪裡？

 

company - noun
Accompany - verb

He is good company. You should accompany him to the show.

Could I borrow your pen? 和 May I borrow your pen? 哪一句比較有禮貌呢?

 A：在英文中，有幾種句型可以表示禮貌性請求。在此我們將討論最常見的以 “I” 和以 “you” 作主詞的禮貌性請求。首先來看以 I 當主詞的禮貌性請求，如 Could I borrow your pen (please)?；May I (please) borrow your pen? (注意：please 可以放在句末或主詞後面)。這兩句都意為「我可以借你的筆嗎?」，而且禮貌程度等量齊觀、不相上下。不過，要注意的是，在禮貌性請求中，could 係表示現在或未來的意義，並非過去的意義。此外，我們亦可使用 Can I borrow your pen?，但 Can I 係用於非正式場合，尤其是用在說話者對他或她相當熟識的人提出請求的場合。一般通常認為 Can I 的禮貌程度略低於 Could I 或 May I。事實上，Might I 也可以表示禮貌性請求，如 Might I borrow your pen?，但 Might I 係用於非常正式且講究禮貌的場合，所以它的使用頻率比 Could I 或 May I 低很多。

對於以 I 當主詞的禮貌性請求，一般典型的回應是 “Certainly”、”Yes, certainly”、”Of course”、”Yes, of course” 或 “Sure” (非正式)。吾人亦經常使用動作來回應禮貌性請求，如點頭、搖頭或只是「嗯」(uh-huh) 一聲。

refuse 和 reject 和 decline 和 turn down 的差別在哪裡？

 

Refuse is when someone offers you something.
Reject is this or when you disagree with an idea (e.g. ideology, dissent).
Decline is when you refuse an offer e.g. of work, or a proposal of any kind.
Turn down is to decline.

"He refused to take the money"
"She rejected the idea"
"I declined the proposal"
"I had to turn down the offer"

I will busy tomorrow. 和 I will be busy tomorrow. 的差別在哪裡？

 

The verb in this sentence is the verb 'to be'. Tomorrow is a term used for future tense therefore the verb 'to be' must be conjugated in the future tense which is 'will be'. In the first sentence the verb is absent.

Second sentence is correct.. First one is not correct.

What's the difference between "near" and "nearby"?

 

Question

What's the difference between near and nearby?

Answer

This is a great question. It's also a hard one to answer in brief terms, but I’ll do my best!

Near and nearby are both synonyms for close. However, there are three clear and important differences in their meaning and use:

1) The first difference is that near is often used as a preposition, but nearby can never be properly used as a preposition. Furthermore, when near is a preposition, it doesn’t simply mean close, it means close to, as shown in this example:

• I left the box near the door. [near means close to (the door)]
• I left the box nearby the door. [You may hear someone say this occasionally, but it is not considered correct.]

2) The second difference is that near can mean close in time (=soon), as well as close in distance, but nearby cannot, as shown below:

• Summer is drawing near. [near=close in time]
• May is nearby.  [nearby cannot mean close in time]

3) The third difference is that nearby can appear either before or after a noun that it describes, but near can normally appear only before the noun, and even then, only when referring to time.* Here are some examples:

• We slept at a nearby motel. [nearby + noun]
• We slept at a motel nearby. [noun + nearby]
• I hope to visit you in the near future. [near + noun, and near=close in time]
• I hope to visit you in your near home. [near cannot  be used before a noun to refer to distance]

*There is one exception to this near + noun restriction: It’s perfectly acceptable to use near + noun when referring to distance in a sentence that contrasts near with far, as in this example:

• The near side of the garage needs a paint job, but the far side looks okay.

`everyone' and `everybody'

 1 `everyone' and `everybody'

You usually use everyone or everybody to refer to all the people in a particular group.

The police had ordered everyone out of the office.

There wasn't enough room for everybody.

There is no difference in meaning between everyone and everybody, but everyone is more common in written English, and everybody is more common in spoken English.

You can also use everyone and everybody to talk about people in general.

Everyone has the right to freedom of expression.

Everybody has to die some day.

After everyone or everybody you use a singular form of a verb.

Everyone wants to find out what is going on.

Everybody is selling the same product.

2 referring back

When you are referring back to everyone or everybody, you usually use they, them, or their.

Will everyone please carry on as best they can.

Everybody had to bring their own paper.

3 `every one'

Don't confuse everyone with every one. You use every one to emphasize that something is true about each one of the things or people you are mentioning.

He read every one of her novels.

She thought about her friends. Every one had tried to help her.

"he still young" 和 "he's still young" 的差別在哪裡？

 

The first sentence which is (He still young) is grammatically wrong because there is no verb in this sentence that can describes the person.

But the second sentence which is (He's still young OR He is still young) is grammatically correct. Because it contains the Subject, Verb and Object or Adjective.

Begin 還是 start 呢？

 在表示「開始」的意思時，begin 和 start 為同義詞，可當及物或不及物動詞用，且兩者皆可後接不定詞和動名詞，但 begin 比 start 來得正式。Begin 是個不規則動詞，過去式和過去分詞分別為 began 和 begun。例如：

• Mandy has just begun learning English. (曼蒂剛開始學英文)
• After waiting for about an hour Phoebe was beginning to get angry. (等了大約一小時之後，菲比開始生氣了)
• We started building the house in June. (我們六月份動工興建這棟房子)
• We’ll be starting (the meeting) at 10 a.m. (我們將在上午十點開始 (開會))

Start 亦有「創辦，開辦；(企業或其他機構) 開業，開始營運」的意思 (與 start up 同義)，但 begin 則無這樣的意思。例如：

• Marlon started his own travel agency. (馬龍創辦了自己的旅行社) (正)
  Marlon began his own travel agency. (誤)
• A new restaurant has started up in our community and it’s been going really well. (我們社區有一家新餐館開業，生意真的很好) (正)
  A new restaurant has begun in our community and it’s been going really well. (誤)

Start 還有另一項意思也是 begin 所沒有的，那就是「(機器) 開動，啟動」。例如：

• The car won’t start. (車子發不動) (正)
  The car won’t begin. (誤)
• I’m having trouble starting the printer. (我的印表機無法啟動) (正)
  I’m having trouble beginning the printer. (誤)
• Press this button to start the computer. (按這個鈕來啟動電腦) (正)
  Press this button to begin the computer. (誤)

[NG] What do you want?

 

破解 NG 英文

What do you want?

這句話如果依照中文思考，我們會很單純覺得是「你想要什麼？」，但是在英語母語人士聽起來可不是這樣喔，在不對的情境下或用不對的語氣說出這句話可能會大大冒犯別人。

What do you want?
你以為是：「你想要什麼？」
其實是：「你到底想怎樣！」、「你想怎樣啦！」、「你想幹嘛？」

如果在不適當的時機說出這句話，語氣又拿捏錯誤，對方聽到可能會想說：「是要跟我吵架嗎？」下一秒立刻變臉喔！

這句話在英文中不是不能用，而是使用的時機通常都是在和他人吵架，或是不耐煩、生氣的時候。比如說路上有一個不認識的人一直跟著你、跟你說話，你可以生氣地轉過去跟他說：

What do you want?（你到底想幹嘛？）

或著你很忙碌地在工作，但前男友一直打電話來煩你，你可能會說：

He’s calling again. What does he want?（他又打來了。他到底想怎樣？）

What do you want from me?（你到底想要我怎樣？）

回到情境對話，Amy 遇到客人時，想要問「您需要什麼？」、「您想要什麼嗎？」的情境下就不能使用 What do you want?，而要改成：

Do you need anything?（您需要什麼嗎？）
How can I help you?（我該怎麼協助您呢？）
What can I do for you?（能為您做些什麼呢？）
Would you like some help?（需要協助嗎？）
Can I help you with anything?（能為你做些什麼嗎？）

如果你的職業是客服人員或服務業的門市人員，就特別需要謹慎運用正確的說法。如果不是在和他人吵架，就不要輕易用出 What do you want? 喔！

I don't know vs I know

 I don’t know none of them.我不认识他们中的任何一个。

I don’t know any of them.我不认识他们中的任何一个。

I know none of them.我一个都不认识。

I know any of them.我认识他们中的任何一个。

It doesn’t seem to work. 和 It seems not to work.

 

they both mean the same thing. But,

“ it doesn’t seem to work. “ you are stating that something does not appear to work. and it sounds natural. 👍🏼

“ it seems not to work. “ is not natural. 👎🏼

i hope this helps.

I wish I could 和 I hope I can 有分別嗎？

 最近講過如何用 (wish + subject + past subjunctive) 這種句子結構去表達「對現狀的遺憾」(present regrets)：

http://grammarfun101.blogspot.com/2011/08/i-wish.html 

譬如說： 

I wish I had enough money to buy a Ferrari.
He wishes he owned the cinema so that he couldwatch movies every day.
She wishes the university were in her city.
He wishes he could do something to help the poor.
I wish I had the answer to your question, but I don't.
I wish I knew everything under the sun. 

牛津高階字典第六版是這樣解釋 "wish" (verb) 這個字： 

"To want something to happen or to be true even though it is unlikely or impossible." 
「希望不大可能的事發生；懷著不可能實現的願望。」

跟 "to wish" 不一樣，"to hope" 的意思是：希望某可能發生的事發生。牛津字典是這樣解釋 "hope" (verb) 的：  

"To want something to happen and think that it is possible." 

因為 "to hope" 是用來表達對可能發生的事的期望，所以 "hope" 之後的動詞我們不用帶有不可能意味(unlikelihood) 的 past subjunctive：


I hope you can come to my birthday party.
She hopes she can go to London this year.
My brother hopes he gets the job. 
I hope I will get a raise next year so that I will be able to afford a new car. 

現在 "to wish" 和 "to hope" 的分別應該很明顯了。

如果你想說「我希望我能飛」，你應該說： 

I wish I could fly. 

而不是： 

I hope I can fly.

【囘應別人“休想”】

1.Over my dead body. - 休想

2.No way！- 沒門兒！

3.Not a chance！- 休想！ 

4.Dream on. - 做夢吧。

5.Don't even think about it. - 想都別想。 

I have long hair VS I have a long hair

 I have long hair. - If you mean that all your hair is long

I have a long hair - If you mean that just one of your hairs is (unusually) long, longer than all of the others (which would be an odd situation, but not inconceivable)

我說了算

 (1) I have the final say. 

(2) I have the final word. 

(3) I make the final decision. 

I have the final decision.

(4) I am the one who makes final decision. 

(5) I am the boss. 

(6) I am the person in charge. 

What is the difference between lack, lack of, lacking, lacking in?

 當 lack 作為一個動詞時，架構是 lack + 缺乏的東西

1. He lacks practical experience.

2. Some students lack confidence when they speak in English.

3. She has the determination that her brother lacks.

---

當 lack 作為一個名詞時，架構則是:

lack of 缺乏的東西

1. He shows a lack of practical experience.

2. Some students show a lack of confidence when they speak in public.

3. The trip was canceled due to a lack of interest.

---

lack 的形容詞形式是 lacking，架構是:

lacking (in 缺乏的東西)

1. He is lacking in practical experience.

2. Some students are lacking in confidence when they speak in English.

3. The book is completely lacking in originality.

4. He was hired as a teacher but was found lacking
smile emoticon
was thought not to be good enough).

5. I feel there is something lacking.* I’m not sure what it is, but I just feel that something missing in my life.

Which is correct to say: "Do you understand" or "Did you understand"?

 It depends on the time frame.

1. If your boss is giving you instructions on a project that he expects you to complete right now, he may ask, “Do you understand?” You may answer, “Sure, boss, I got this. I’ll have this finished by mid-afternoon.”
2. If you screwed up the project yesterday when the boss tried to implemet your work today, he may thunder at you, “Did you understand my instructions yesterday?” You see it all has to do with when the question is asked. It’s a verb tense thing. Hope tjis helps.

English Grammar: The Difference between So & Too

 Too is used for emphasis also, but it means ‘more than needed’ or ‘more than enough.’ It is used to show that something is bad (negative) or that something is over the desired limit. Take a look at these ideas:

1. John is so tall. He plays basketball well. (His tallness is not a bad thing)
2. John is too tall. He cannot sit comfortably on an airplane. (His tallness is a bad thing)

The second sentence means that he is very tall and that is a bad thing. His height is over the limit. He is 2 meters tall. Therefore he cannot fit on an airplane. John is too tall.

Let’s look at more examples.

1. You work so hard. I wish everyone worked like you. :)
2. You work too hard. You should take a break. :(

Again, the second sentence is a negative comment. You are saying that the person works more than enough and should work less.

Because too describes something bad (negative), the below sentences do not make sense.

• • This is too delicious! = This is so delicious.
  • I am too happy! = I am so happy
  • She is too beautiful! = She is so beautiful.

These sentences all describe good (positive) things, so we do not use too.

---

Note: Too is often used in the structure too + adjective/adverb + infinitive

• The pizza is too hot to eat. = (The pizza is too hot. I cannot eat it)
• You are too young to watch that movie. = (You are not old enough)
• I was too tired to do my homework. ( = I didn’t do it. My tiredness was ‘over the limit’, so I slept).
• She ran too slowly to win the race. (= Her speed was too slow; she could not win)
• She speaks too poorly to get a job. (= Her writing is not good enough; she cannot get a job)