Change Of Tenses
The first verb in a sentence establishes the tense of any verb that comes later. If you begin writing in the past, don’t change to the present. Similarly, if you begin writing in the...
Category: Grammar
Care About vs. Care For vs. Take Care Of
I don’t care what happens. ‘You have put on a lot of weight.’ ‘I don’t care.’ Before an object, we use care about. But note that about is usually dropped before a question word...
Can vs. Could
We use can to say whether situations and events are possible theoretically. Glass can be blown. Can gases freeze? We use could to talk about past possibility. It was a place where anything could...
By vs. With
By and with can both be used to say how somebody does something, but there is an important difference. By refers to the method; with refers to the tool. He killed the spider by...
But vs. Though vs. Despite vs. In Spite Of
All of these words show contrast. But and though are conjunctions. They are used to join two clauses together. In spite of and despite are prepositions. They are followed by a noun or an...
But As A Conjunction
As a conjunction But, as a conjunction, is used to join contrasting ideas. Their front door was open, but nobody was at home. The rope was thin but it was strong. He is hardworking,...
Bring vs. Take
Bring is used when something is being moved towards the speaker. Bring me that book. Take is used when something is being moved away from the area of the speaker. Take that paper with...
Both vs. Both Of
Both means the one and also the other of two persons/things etc. I want both books. Both shirts are good. Both and both of Before a noun with a determiner (the, this, my, your,...
Born vs. Borne
The passive form of the verb born (be + born) is used to talk about coming into the world at birth. He was born to poor parents. I was born on a Friday. She...
Big vs. Large vs. Great
Big and large are used mostly with concrete nouns – the names of things you can see, touch etc. They have a big/large house in the city. Great is used mostly with abstract nouns...