Confused and Misused Words - Passed v Past

Passed (verb) – past simple and past participle of pass

Ø      Daniel was delighted when he passed his driving test.

Ø      When I asked to speak to Gary, Tim passed (= gave) the phone to me reluctantly.

Ø      To be honest, we were a little worried about the exhibition yesterday. Fortunately, the evening passed (= went by) without any great disaster.

Past

1.  referring to time

Ø     In the past decade, I’ve travelled to more than 15 countries.

2.  referring to position

Ø     I live on Kings Street, just past the elementary school.

Ø     Sally was so engrossed with a workout that she completely missed us as she jogged past us at the park.

Grammar - Personal Pronouns as Subjects and Objects

Compiled from Grammar Builder Book 3

The rules are:

1. Pronouns are used replace of a noun so that we do not have to repeat the noun.

Ø       The new oven is small and compact. It has many features too.

2. Singular pronouns replace singular nouns and plural nouns replace plural nouns.

Ø      The air stewardess (singular subject) smiled at me. She then served me some coffee.

Ø      Eric and Annie (plural subject) were busy. They were painting their house.

3. Pronouns used as the subject of a sentence must exist in the subjective form. Similarly, pronouns used as the object of the sentence must exist in the objective form.

Ø      We (subject) searched high and low (= everywhere) for it (object).

Ø      Gina told us (object) what happened.

Ø      He (subject) bought me a beautiful watch.

Compiled from Grammar Builder Book 3

Homophones- Least v Leased

Least (adverb, determiner, pronoun) – less than anything or anybody else; the smallest amount or number.

Ø      John was the least likely (= the most unlikely) of the five to in the singing competition.

Ø      The tsunami struck when people least expected it.

Ø      I like the purple dress least of all. (= I dislike the purple dress the most of all)

Ø      He’s the uncle Jessica likes (the) least. (= He's the uncle Jessica dislikes the most)

Ø      No one believed Jeff was telling the truth, least of all (= especially not) the police.

Leased (verb) – rented to

Ø      Many of the houses here have been leased to the students of that university.

Homonyms - Cast (As a noun and verb)

1.   (noun and verb) – actor

Ø     The cast (noun) of this movie consists of an impressive list of actors.

Ø     He’s often cast (verb) as a villain as he plays the role so well.

2.   (verb) – to send a light/shadow in a particular direction

Ø     The tree cast a shadow over the intruder’s face, making it almost impossible to make out his facial features.

3.   (verb) – to look, glance or smile

Ø     Sally cast a cheeky smile in Gary’s direction before walking away.

Ø     Daniel cast a quick glance into the rear mirror before switching lanes.

4.   (verb) – vote

Ø    All the votes in the election have been cast and everyone is eagerly awaiting the results.

5.   (verb) – magic

Ø     The wicked witch cast a spell on poor Tim and he turned into a cat.

Proverbs and Sayings - Beauty Lies in the Eyes of the Beholder

Meaning – different people have different tastes (used to refer to a person’s physical appearance).

Ø      Opinions will always differ where physical appearance is concerned. For instance, some men like petite women whereas other men may be in favour of curvy women. It’s like they say, beauty lies in the eye of the beholder.

Synonyms - Fair

   Meaning – just, impartial, unbiased

Ø      The judge’s sentence was just given the circumstances.

Ø      Daniel’s friends like to confide in him as he always tries to give impartial advice.

Ø      I like Rotten Tomatoes’ for its unbiased movie reviews.

Common Idioms - To Burn the Midnight Oil

Meaning – To work late into the night

Ø      I always advise my students to revise consistently instead of burning the midnight oil a week before their examinations.

Ø      Sam has been burning the midnight oil for the last few weeks in order to meet the project deadline.