owe own No one owes you a living. Nessuno ti deve pagare da vivere. – Saying ✓ You still owe me fifty euros, remember? ✗ You still *own* me fifty euros, remember? Mi devi ancora cinquanta euro, ti ricordi? If you owe someone something, you are “in debt” to them. This can be money or something “abstract” like… Read More »
vote for someonevote someone Vote for the man who promises least; he’ll be the least disappointing. Vota l’uomo che promette di meno; sarà il meno deludente. – Bernard Baruch ✓ Who are you going to vote for? ✗ Who are you going to *vote*? Chi voterai? ✓ I’m going to vote for the Labour party/candidate. Voterò il partito/candidato… Read More »
advice ≠ avviso advice = consiglio avviso = announcement, note, notice, notification, warning … Wise men don’t need advice. Fools won’t take it. I saggi non hanno bisogno di consigli. Gli idioti si rifiutano di accettarli. – Benjamin Franklin ✓ We’ve put a notice on the garage door asking people not to park in front of it. ✗… Read More »
home vs. house Home sweet home. Casa dolce casa. – Traditional saying ✓ They have a very nice house. ✗ They have a very nice *home*. Hanno una casa molto bella. ✓ The Earth is our home. ✗ The Earth is our *house*. La terra è la nostra casa. The difference between home and house is probably best… Read More »
consider consider as If people buy my books for vanity, I consider it a tax on idiocy. Se le persone comprano i miei libri per vanità, lo considero una tassa sulla stupidità. – Umberto Eco ✓ I consider him a friend. ✗ I consider him *as* a friend. Lo considero un amico. In English, we don’t use the… Read More »
news notice No news is good news. Nessuna nuova, buona nuova. – English proverb ✓ We’re still waiting for news on his condition. ✗ We’re still waiting for *notice* on his condition. Aspettiamo ancora notizie sulle sue condizioni. News is information about a recently changed situation or event. (The word news, like information, is always singular and uncountable.)… Read More »
try prove First, I’m trying to prove to myself that I’m a person. Then maybe I’ll convince myself that I’m an actress. Prima, sto cercando di dimonstrare a me stessa di essere una persona. Poi forse mi convincerò di essere un’attrice. – Marilyn Monroe ✓ I tried to convince him. ✗ I *proved* to convince him. Ho provato… Read More »
foreign strange England and the English as a rule, they will refuse even to sample a foreign dish, they regard such things as garlic and olive oil with disgust, life is unliveable to them unless they have tea and puddings. L’Inghilterra e gli inglesi, di regola, si rifiutano addirittura di assaggiare un piatto straniero, guardano cose come l’aglio… Read More »
since until We can never obtain peace in the outer world until we make peace with ourselves. Non possiamo mai ottenere la pace nel mondo esterno finché non facciamo la pace con noi stessi. – Dalai Lama ✓ Until last year she was in good health. ✗ *Since* last year she was in good health. Fino all’anno scorso… Read More »
hear from someone hear someone Hey, you must be doin’ good, ’cause I never hear from you. Ehi, tu sì che vai bene, perché non ti sento mai. – Elia Kazan ✓ Have you heard from Kevin recently? ✗ Have you *heard Kevin* recently? Hai sentito Kevin ultimamente? If you hear from someone, they contact you (for example… Read More »