Have to and Must

My experience as a teacher of English as a foreign language has taught me that how to use ‘have to’ and ‘must’ causes quite a few problems, so here is a quick guide on the subject. I usually break it down as follows:


Use ‘have to’ for outside forces:

Difference and Similarity Between Grateful and Thankful

The main difference between grateful and thankful is that grateful puts more emphasis on the action to show gratitude while thankful is merely the expression of gratitude or appreciation through words.

Helping each other is one of the divine characteristics of being human. It shows one’s ability to understand another person’s situation and his or her generosity. Hence, the one who gets benefitted feels a sense of gratitude towards the one who helped him/her. Grateful and thankful are two similar terms that express this sense of gratitude.

Clean, Wash, Clean Up, & Wash Up

Clean Vs. Wash
Cleaning is a more general action, meaning to remove the dirt from something – for example, you clean your glasses by wiping them with a cloth. To clean can also refer to removing items that are out of place – for example, if you clean your room, you put things away in their proper places.

Washing is a specific type of cleaning that uses water, usually by totally covering something in water – for example, you wash your hands by using water and soap. You also wash the dishes, wash your face, and wash your hair in the shower.

We can talk about washing our clothes, but it’s more common to use the expressions “do the laundry” or “do the wash.” The machine that washes our clothes is called a washing machine. And the place where you take your car when it’s dirty is called a “car wash.”

Sometimes cleaning does involve water. If you clean the bathroom, you might clean the floor by mopping it using water.




Finally, clean can also be an adjective, meaning “without dirt” – we can say “the bathroom is clean” and “my hands are clean” after we have cleaned the bathroom and washed our hands.

Wash Up, Clean Up, Clean Out, Clean Off
What about phrasal verbs with wash and clean?

We can use wash up to refer to washing one’s hands and face – ex) if your kids have been playing outside, you might ask them to wash up before dinner. Sometimes wash up is also used for washing the dishes after a meal. Ex) if you are having lunch at someone’s house, you might offer to help wash up afterward.

We often use clean up to talk about cleaning messes completely. If you spill juice all over the table, you would need to clean up the juice. Sometimes clean and clean up can be used interchangeably – your mother could tell you to “Clean your room” or “Clean up your room.” When talking about the mess itself, though, we usually use clean up – ex. Clean up the sauce you spilled on the stove.

Clean out can be used for cleaning the inside of space, and clean off can be used for surfaces. You would clean out your purse, and clean off the table if there are papers and books covering it.

There’s also a slang meaning for clean up – to get a large profit (a lot of money), often in a short time period. If your son is selling ice-cold lemonade on a very hot summer day, and he sells $500 in two hours, you could say “He really cleaned up!”




There’s a slang meaning for clean out that is also related to money – it refers to causing someone to lose or spend all their money. If you had a savings account with $2,000, but then you need car repairs costing $1,800, you could say “Those car repairs cleaned me out.”

Finally, we have a more informal meaning for the expression “washed up” or “all washed up” – it means someone or something is no longer successful or useful. If there’s an athlete who used to be at the top of his sport, but now he is getting older and failing to win competitions, you could describe him as “all washed up.” Note: this is negative and would be rude to say directly to someone.

Different from, different to or different than?

from English Grammar Today




The adjective different means ‘not the same’. When we compare two or more items, it is usually followed by from. We also use different to, especially in speaking:

Adam is so different from/to his brother.

This house is very different from/to your last one.

In American English, it is also common to say different than:

This tea tastes very different than the one I usually drink. (or … very different from/to the one I usually drink)

In British English, people often say different than before a clause, but many speakers consider this to be incorrect:

His accent is different now than before he went to Australia. (or … different now from before he went to Australia.)

Down, Downwards or Downward?

Down
We use down mostly as a preposition or adverb. It means ‘in or moving to a low or lower position or level’:

We ran down the hill like two little children.
Jamie, put that vase down! You’ll break it!

We can also use down to mean ‘towards the south’, ‘generally in the south’, or ‘towards the place where a river meets the sea’:

When you were living in Spain, did you ever go down to Granada?
We went on a cruise down the Nile for seven days. It was fantastic.

In informal situations, we can use down to talk about a quick trip to a destination which we consider to be less central than where we are. In this meaning, we can use it with or without to. Without to is less formal:

I’m just going down (to) the shop. Do you want anything?
Are you going down (to) the golf club tonight?

Down can also mean ‘along’. We can use it with from:

Mila’s office is just down the corridor, second door on the left.
They live just down the street from our house.

A good dictionary will tell you more meanings of down, especially when it is used as part of a phrasal verb.




Downwards, downward
Downwards is an adverb. It means ‘movement towards a lower position’:

The garden slopes gently downwards in the direction of the river.
Could you point the reading lamp downwards? It’s shining in my eyes.

In American English, downward (with no final -s) is used as an adverb:

Since the nineteen-seventies, our country has really taken some steps downward.

In British English, downward (with no final -s) is normally only used as an adjective:

The statistics for violent crimes have shown a downward trend in the last two years. (The numbers have gone down.)

Bring, take and fetch

from English Grammar Today

Bring
Bring means moving something or someone. The movement is either from where the listener is to where the speaker is, or from the speaker to the listener.

Bring is an irregular verb. Its past tense and -ed form are both brought.

In both of the following examples, the speakers are seeing things from A’s viewpoint – things will move to the place where A is:

Beside or besides?

Beside
Beside is a preposition. It means ‘at the side of’ or ‘next to’. It is rather formal:

He would like to take a photograph of us. Would you come and sit beside me?

There was a small table beside the bed, on which there was a book.



Besides
Besides is a preposition or a linking adverb. It means ‘in addition to’ or ‘also’:

What other types of music do you like besides classical?

As a linking adverb, we usually put a comma before and after besides in writing:

I don’t think going for a walk is a good idea. It’s quite cold, and, besides, it’s getting late and we don’t want to be out in the dark.

‘Who’ or ‘whom’?

There’s an ongoing debate in English about when you should use who and when to use whom. According to the rules of formal grammar, who should be used in the subject position in a sentence, while whom should be used in the object position, and also after a preposition.

Almost or nearly?

We use almost and nearly to refer to the progress of things, especially if we are measuring and counting things. In these examples, almost and nearly can both be used:

[someone has been running five miles on a running machine in a gym]

Don’t give up! You’re almost there.

It’s time for bed. It’s nearly 10 o’clock.

Their CD has sold almost 90,000 copies in the last week.

Nearly all my friends were in the photograph.

We also use almost and nearly with extreme adjectives such as perfect, impossible or frozen:

That guy is almost impossible.

The chicken is still nearly frozen. I thought you’d taken it out of the freezer.

We use almost (but not nearly) to soften statements:

I almost wish I hadn’t offered to pay his fine.

We use almost before any and before negative words such as no, none, never, nobody, nothing. We don’t use nearly in this way:

[describing computer software which traces the history of towns]

Using this special software, you can find the history of almost any building.

They’ve almost no confidence that they can use the new phone properly.

She almost never raises her voice.

Not: She nearly never raises her voice.

from English Grammar Today

Also, as well or too?

Also, as well and too are adverbs and mean ‘in addition.’

Also

Also is commonly used in writing, but is less common in speaking. Also occupies different positions in a sentence.

We use also in front position to emphasize what follows or to add a new point or topic:

It’s very humid. Also, you can easily get sunburnt.

[on the telephone]
OK, I’ll phone you next week and we can discuss it then. Also, we need to decide who will be going to Singapore.

Alone, lonely, or lonesome?

 Alone or lonely?

Alone is an adjective and an adverb meaning that no other person is with you. When we use alone as an adjective, it never comes before the noun (predicative adjective):

She was alone when she heard the sad news. (adjective)

It’s impossible to discuss as a committee. The chairman alone will decide. (adverb)

Did they travel alone or did they take the children with them? (adverb)

Do you live alone? (adverb)

Lonely means that no other person is with you and that you are sad and unhappy as a result. We may choose to be alone but generally we do not choose to be lonely:

Without her friends, it was a long and lonely journey.

She says she feels very lonely and depressed living in that big house.

We don’t use lonely as an adverb:

I prefer going to lunch alone.

Not: I prefer going to lunch lonely.

Lonesome

In American English, lonesome means the same as lonely:

If they’re away from home, they get lonesome. (If they’re away from home, they get lonely).

from English Grammar Today

Allow, Permit or Let?

Can You Use the words "Allow, Permit & Let" correctly in sentences?

Allow, permit and let are verbs that all have a similar meaning: ‘give permission or make it possible for somebody to do or have something’.

Permit is more formal than allow. Allow is more formal than let:

The University has established a Museums Committee to permit more formal discussion of common problems amongst its museums.

The plan for Heathrow will allow airport operator BAA to build a third, shorter runway.

Will you let me pay for the meal?

Let me show you how to open it. It’s a bit tricky.

 Permit/allow someone + to do something

We use a direct object + to-infinitive after permit and allow:

[from a newspaper report about a rugby player]

He has not decided yet whether his leg injury will permit him to play this weekend.

I would not allow a child to have a TV or a computer in their room.

Let someone + do something

We use an infinitive without to after let:

[child to parent]

Why don’t you let me go? All my friends are going.

We don’t let employees use the office telephone for personal calls.

Passive with permit and allow

We often use the passive with permit and allow. Permit is often used for official public notices:

Photography is permitted for non-commercial use only.

[talking about a diet]

You’re allowed to eat as much fruit as you like.

We’re not allowed to put posters on the walls.

Warning:

We don’t usually use the passive with let:

The children were allowed to do whatever they wanted.

Not: The children were let do …

 from English Grammar Today

Around or round?

Around or round

Around and round are prepositions or adverbs. We use around and round when we refer to movements in circles or from one place to another. Around and round can both be used. Around is more common in American English. Round is a little more common in speaking:

The earth goes round the sun. (movement in circles)

We spent a very pleasant day walking round the town. (movement from one place to another)
Now they are retired, they are planning a trip around the world.

We also commonly use around and round in phrasal verbs:

Can you pass these application forms around to all the people present?
We spent the whole day moving round some furniture in the bedroom.

Around and round also mean ‘in different places’ and ‘here and there’:

People were panicking and running round and shouting.

A: Where’s Jill?
B: I know she’s around somewhere in the office.

Around can also mean ‘approximately’:

A: How old do you think the castle is?
B: I’d say around 500 years.

ABOVE OR OVER?

Above or over?
from Cambridge Dictionary

When we use above as a preposition, it means ‘higher than’. Its meaning is close to that of the preposition over. In the following sentences, over can be used instead of above:

The waves came up above her head and she started screaming. (or … came up over her head …)

She is a nervous flier. But once the plane got above the clouds, she started to relax. (or … got over the clouds …)

We use above, but not over, to refer to things that are at an upper or higher level:

[a ‘chalet’ is a small wooden building usually found in mountainous areas]

Do they live in that chalet above the village?
Not: Do they live in that chalet over the village?

We usually use above, but not over, when there is no contact between the things referred to. Over or on top of have a more general meaning, and can be used when one thing touches or covers another:

They made her comfortable and put a blanket over her.
Not: They made her comfortable and put a blanket above her.

We normally use over not above with numbers:

I get over sixty emails a day.
Not: I get above sixty emails a day.

If you weigh over 100 kilograms, then you may need to start a diet.
Not: If you weigh above 100 kilograms

Warning:
When we talk about temperatures in relation to zero or (the) average, we use above not over:

It was three degrees above zero.
Not: It was three degrees over zero.

When we refer to temperatures in other contexts, we can normally use above or over:

The temperature is already above 30 degrees. (or … over 30 degrees.)

Typical errors
We don’t use over to mean ‘higher level’.

Most of the race is 500 metres above sea level.
Not: Most of the race is 500 over sea level.

We don’t use above when one thing touches or covers another.

Pour some cream over the tart and serve it warm.
Not: Pour some cream above the tart

We don’t use above with numbers.

Over 100 people complained about the programme.
Not: Above 100 people complained