B2C1
Formally vs Formerly: Officially or Previously?
Keep formally, meaning in an official or conventional manner, separate from formerly, meaning previously or in the past.
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Common Mistakes
Common English mistakes, explained clearly.
Understand frequent mistakes, why they happen and the natural English to use instead.
CEFR
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Choose the CEFR level that best matches your current English. Some articles are useful across more than one level.
Showing 1–12 of 79 learning articles.
B2C1
Adverse vs Averse: Harmful Conditions or Personal Opposition?
Distinguish adverse effects and conditions from being averse to an idea, risk, or action.
Read guideB1B2
Later vs Latter: Time or the Second of Two?
Separate later, which concerns time, from latter, which refers to the second of two previously mentioned items.
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Breath vs Breathe: Noun, Verb, Spelling, and Pronunciation
Distinguish breath and breathe by grammar and pronunciation, and use related forms such as breathing and breathless naturally.
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Between vs Among: Two Items, Groups, and Individual Relationships
Move beyond the oversimplified 'between for two, among for three or more' rule and choose the preposition by the structure of the relationship.
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Whose vs Who’s: Possession or “Who Is”?
Separate the possessive whose from the contractions who is and who has, with a quick substitution test that works in questions and relative clauses.
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Practice vs Practise: The British and American English Difference
Use practice and practise consistently by understanding the British noun/verb distinction and the simpler American spelling system.
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Emigrate vs Immigrate vs Migrate: From, To, and Movement Between Places
Choose emigrate, immigrate, and migrate by identifying the viewpoint and whether the sentence focuses on leaving, arriving, or movement itself.
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Effective vs Efficient: Getting the Result or Using Resources Well?
Distinguish effectiveness from efficiency in study, business, and academic contexts where both may be true—or only one.
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Adapt vs Adopt: Change Something or Take It Up?
Distinguish adapting something to new conditions from adopting an idea, policy, method, or child.
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Farther vs Further: Physical Distance, Additional Degree, and Real Usage
Learn the practical difference between farther and further while recognising the overlap accepted in modern English.
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Amount vs Number vs Quantity: Countable, Uncountable, and Formal Usage
Distinguish amount, number, and quantity without relying on a simplistic countable/uncountable rule that breaks in real usage.
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