Commonly Confused Words Part II

                       

When do we use since and for?

Word	Explanation	Example
since	a point in time (starting time of the action)	He has been playing tennis since four o'clock.
	since 1996
	since Christmas
	since last year
	since my childhood
for	a period of time (how long something lasts)	He has been playing tennis for two hours.
	for three hours
	for a week
	for 10 minutes
	for a long time

look, see or watch

When do we use look, see and watch?

Word	Explanation	Example
look	to pay attention, to try to see what is there; seem	Look at the board, please.
	look up (e.g. dictionary)	You can look up the words in the dictionary.
see	visual impression come to the eyes	Can you see the blue car over there?
	understand	I see what you mean.
watch	look for a time; like to look	He watches TV in the evenings.

life, live or lives

When do we use life and when live, lives?

Word	Explanation	Example
live [lɪv]	to live (verb)	I live in France.
he lives [lɪvz]		Peter lives in Poland.
life [laɪf]	state of living	I read a book about the life of Mark Twain.
lives [laɪvz]	plural of life	Many people lost their lives in the war.
live [laɪv]	not recorded	We watched the live coverage of the Formula I.
	not dead	We really saw a live rattlesnake.

listen or hear

When do we use listen and hear?

Word	Explanation	Example
hear	to be aware of sounds in your ears	I can hear music in Peter's room.
listen (to)	to pay attention to sb./sth. that you can hear	Peter often listens to music when he's at home.