List P

List P

palate, palette, pallet PALATE = the top part of the inside of
your mouth
PALETTE = a small board with a hole
for the thumb which an artist uses when
mixing paints
PALLET = a platform used to lift and to
carry goods
partake or participate? PARTAKE = to share with others
(especially food and drink)
PARTICIPATE =tojoininanactivity;
to play a part in
They PARTOOK solemnly of lamb, herbs
and salt.
Will you be able to PARTICIPATE in the
firm’s pension scheme?
passed or past? Use these exemplar sentences as a guide:
You PASSED me twice in town
yesterday.
In the PAST, women had few rights.
In PAST times, women had few rights.
Iwalk PAST your house every day.
peace or piece? There were twenty-one years of PEACE
between the two wars.
Would you like a PIECE of pie?
pedal or peddle? a PEDAL = a lever you work with your
foot
PEDDLE = to sell (especially drugs)
peninsula or
peninsular?		 PENINSULA isanounmeaninganarrow
piece of land jutting out from the
mainland into the sea. It is derived from
two Latin words: paene (almost) and
insula (island).
Have you ever camped on the Lizard
PENINSULA?
PENINSULAR is an adjective, derived
from the noun:
The PENINSULAR War (1808–1814) was
fought on the Iberian PENINSULA
between the French and the British.
Note: It may be useful in a quiz to know
that the P&O shipping line was in 1837
The Peninsular Steam Navigation Company
(it operated between Britain and the
Iberian Peninsula). In 1840, when its
operation was extended to Egypt, it
became the Peninsular and Oriental Steam
Navigation Company (hence P&O).
personal or personnel? Sarah has taken all her PERSONAL
belongings with her.
She was upset by a barrage of PERSONAL
remarks.
All the PERSONNEL will be trained in
first aid.
Write to the PERSONNEL office and see
if a vacancy is coming up.
(Note the spelling of personnel with -nn-)
Note: Personnel Officers are now often
called Human Resources Officers.
perspicacity or
perspicuity?		 PERSPICACITY =discernment,
shrewdness, clearness of understanding
PERSPICUITY = lucidity, clearness of
expression
possible or probable? POSSIBLE = could happen
PROBABLE =verylikelytohappen
practical or
practicable?		 A PRACTICAL person is one who is good
at doing and making things.
A PRACTICAL suggestion is a sensible,
realistic one that is likely to succeed.
A PRACTICABLE suggestion is merely
one that will work. The word ‘practicable’
means ‘able to be put into practice’. It
does not carry all the additional meanings
of ‘practical’.
practice or practise? Use these exemplar sentences as a guide:
PRACTICE makes perfect.
An hour’s PRACTICE every day will yield
returns.
The young doctor has built up a busy
PRACTICE.
In the examples above, ‘practice’ is a
noun.
You should PRACTISE every day.
PRACTISE now!
In these examples, ‘practise’ is a verb.
precede or proceed? PRECEDE =togoinfrontof
PROCEED = to carry on, especially after
having stopped
principal or principle? Use these exemplar sentences as a guide:
Rebuilding the school is their PRINCIPAL
aim. (= chief)
The PRINCIPAL announced the results.
(= chief teacher)
His guiding PRINCIPLE was to judge no
one hastily. (= moral rule)
program or
programme?		 Use PROGRAM when referring to a
computer program.
Use PROGRAMME on all other occasions.

fairly, quite, rather and pretty

1. Fairly modifies adjectives and adverbs. It is not very strong:
if you say that somebody is “fairly nice” or “fairly clever”, she will not be very pleased.

  • “How was the film?” “Fairly good. Not the best one I’ve seen this year”
  • I speak Greek fairly well – enough for most everyday purposes.

2. Quite is a little stronger than fairly

  • ” How was the film?” “Quite good. You ought to go”
  • He’s been in Greece for two years , so he speaks Greek quite well.

Quite can modify verbs

  • It was a good party. I quite enjoyed myself.

3. Rather is stronger than quite. It can mean “more than is usual” , “more than was expected” or  “more than is wanted

  • “How was the film?” “Rather good- I was surprised”
  • Maurice speaks Greek rather well. People often think he’s Greek
  • I think I’ll put the heating on. It’s rather cold.

Rather can modify verbs

  • I rather like gardening.

4. Pretty is similar to rather. It is only used in informal English

  • “How are you feeling?” “Pretty tired. I’m going to bed”

5. Note

  1. The exact meaning of these words may depend on the intonation used
  2. Quite is not used very much in this way in American English
  3. We put quite and rather before a/an
  • It was quite a nice day.
  • I’m reading rather an interesting book

Have -Take – Pay

Have

Note that these verbs collocate with have rather than any other verb (e.g. get or make).

collocation example
have an accident Mr Grey had an accident last night but he’s OK now.
have an argument / a row We had an argument / a row about how to fix the car.
have a break Let’s have a break when you finish this exercise.
have a conversation/chat I hope we’ll have time to have a chat after the meeting.
have difficulty The class had difficulty understanding what to do.
have a dream/nightmare I had a nightmare last night.
have an experience I had a frightening experience the other day.
have a feeling I have a feeling that something is wrong.
have fun / a good time I’m sure you’ll have fun on the school trip.
have a look The teacher wanted to have a look at what we were doing.
have a party Let’s have a party at the end of term.
have a problem / problems Ask the teacher if you have problems with the exercise.
have a try/go I’ll explain what to do and then you can have a go/try.

Pay

collocation example
pay attention You must pay attention to the teacher.
pay a compliment I was trying to pay her a compliment but she misunderstood.
pay your (last) respects At a funeral people pay their last respects to the person who has died.
pay tribute [formal] When Jack retired, his boss made a speech paying tribute to all he had done for the company.