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.