[摘要]下面是最為常見的易混淆的英語詞組，它們是專為那些將英語作為第二語言的學(xué)習(xí)者挑選出來的。
Here are some of the most commonly confused English word pairs. They have been chosen especially for ESL learners.
下面是最為常見的易混淆的英語(精品課)詞組，它們是專為那些將英語作為第二語言的學(xué)習(xí)者挑選出來的。
1.beside / besides
beside: preposition meaning 'next to', 'at the side of'
介詞，意為“緊挨著”“在······旁邊”。
Examples:
例子
I sit beside John in class.
上課時我坐在約翰旁邊。
Could you get me that book? It's beside the lamp.
你能把那本書給我嗎？它就放在燈的旁邊。
besides: adverb meaning 'also', 'as well'; preposition meaning 'in addition to'
副詞，意為“也”“同樣地”；做介詞時意為“除此之外”。
Examples:
例子：
(adverb) He's responsible for sales, and a lot more besides.
（副詞）他負(fù)責(zé)銷售，以及其他許多事。
(preposition) Besides tennis, I play soccer and basketball.
（介詞）除了網(wǎng)球，我還喜歡足球和籃球。
2.clothes / cloths
clothes: something you wear - jeans, shirts, blouses, etc.
你穿的衣物，如牛仔褲、襯衫、上衣等。
Examples:
例子：
Just a moment, let me change my clothes.
等一會兒，讓我先換個衣服。
Tommy, get your clothes on!
湯米，把你的衣服穿好！
cloths: pieces of material used for cleaning or other purposes.
用來做清潔或其他用途的材料。
Examples:
例子：
There are some cloths in the closet. Use those to clean the kitchen.
壁櫥里有一些布。用它們來清潔廚房吧。
I have a few pieces of cloth that I use.
我有一些用過的布快。
3.dead / died
dead: adjective meaning 'not alive'
形容詞，意為“無生命的”
Examples:
例子：
Unfortunately, our dog has been dead for a few months.
不幸的是，我們的狗已經(jīng)去世幾個月了。
Don't touch that bird. It's dead.
別碰那只鳥。它已經(jīng)死了。
died: past tense and past participle of the verb 'to die'
動詞die的過去式和過去分詞形式。
Examples:
例子：
His grandfather died two years ago.
他的祖父兩年前去世了。
A number of people have died in the accident.
許多人在這場意外中喪生。
4.experience / experiment
experience: noun meaning something that a person lives through.
名詞，意為某人經(jīng)歷的某事。
- also used as an uncountable noun meaning 'knowledge gained by doing something'
也可以用作不可數(shù)名詞，表示“通過完成某事而獲得的知識”。
Examples:
例子：
(first meaning)His experiences in Germany were rather depressing.
（第一種）他在德國的經(jīng)歷相當(dāng)凄慘。
(second meaning) I'm afraid I don't have much sales experience.
（第二種）恐怕我的銷售經(jīng)驗不足。
experiment: noun meaning something that you do to see the result. Often used when speaking about scientists and their studies.
名詞，意為為了得到結(jié)果而做的某事。常在談?wù)摽茖W(xué)家及其研究時使用。
Examples:
例子：
They did a number of experiments last week.
上周，他們做了許多實驗。
Don't worry it's just an experiment. I'm not going to keep my beard.
別擔(dān)心，只是個實驗而已。我不打算留胡子。
5.felt / fell
felt: past tense and past participle of the verb 'to feel'
動詞feel的過去式和過去分詞形式。
Examples:
例子：
I felt better after I had a good dinner.
一頓豐盛的晚飯后，我感覺好多了。
He hasn't felt this well for a long time.
他很久都沒有感覺這么好了。
fell: past tense of the verb 'to fall'
動詞fall的過去式。
Examples:
例子：
He fell from a tree and broke his leg.
他從樹上掉下來，摔傷了腿。
Unfortunately, I fell down and hurt myself.
不幸的是，我掉了下來，受了傷。
6.female / feminine
female: the sex of a woman or animal
女人或雌性動物。
Examples:
例子：
The female of the species is very aggressive.
這種雌性生物極具攻擊力。
The question 'female or male' means 'are you a woman or a man'.
這個“女或男”的問題問的是“你是女人還是男人”。
feminine: adjective describing a quality or type of behaviour that is considered typical for a woman
形容詞，用來描述女性常有的特征或行為方式。
Examples:
例子：
He's an excellent boss with a feminine intuition.
他是一位優(yōu)秀的老板，有著女性的直覺。
The house was decorated in a very feminine manner.
這座房子的裝飾非常女性化。
7.its / it's
its: possessive determiner similar to 'my' or 'your'
物主限定詞，類似于my或your。
Examples:
例子：
Its color is red.
它是紅色的。
The dog didn't eat all of its food.
這只狗什么都不吃。
it's: Short form of 'it is' or 'it has'
it is或it has的縮寫形式。
Examples:
例子：
(it is) It's difficult to understand him.
他真是一個讓人讀不透的人。
(it has) It's been a long time since I had a beer.
我已經(jīng)很久沒喝過啤酒了。
8.last / latest
last: adjective usually meaning 'final'
形容詞，常表示“最后的”。
Examples:
例子：
I took the last train to Memphis.
我乘上了去往孟斐斯的末班車。
This is the last test of the semester!
這是本學(xué)期最后一次測驗。
latest: adjective meaning 'most recent' or 'new'
形容詞，意為“最近的”或“最新的”。
Examples:
例子：
His latest book is excellent.
他的新書寫得非常棒。
Have you seen his latest painting?
你見過他最新的畫作嗎？
9.lay / lie
lay: verb meaning 'to put down flat' - past tense - laid, past participle – laid
動詞，意為“放下”，過去式為laid，過去分詞為laid。
Examples:
例子：
He laid his pencil down and listened to the teacher.
他放下手中的鉛筆，聽老師講課。
I usually lay my pies on the shelf to cool.
我常常把餡餅放在架子上，讓它變涼。
lie: verb meaning 'to be down' - past tense -lay , past participle – lain
動詞，意為“躺下”，過去式為lay，過去分詞是lain。
Examples:
例子
The girl lay on the bed asleep.
那個女孩躺在床上睡著了。
At the moment, he's lying on the bed.
此刻，他正躺在床上。
10.lose / loose
lose: verb meaning 'to misplace'
動詞，意為“丟失”。
Examples:
例子：
I lost my watch!
我把手表弄丟了！
Have you ever lost anything valuable?
你有沒有弄丟過珍貴的東西？
loose: adjective meaning the opposite of 'tight'
形容詞，意義與“繃緊的”相反。
Examples:
例子：
Your trousers are very loose!
你的褲子太松了！
I need to tighten this screw. It's loose.
我要把螺絲釘擰緊點，它太松了。
11.male / masculine
male: the sex of a man or animal
男人或雄性動物。
Examples:
例子：
The male of the species is very lazy.
這種雄性生物非常懶惰。
The question 'female or male' means 'are you a woman or a man'.
這個“女或男”的問題問的是“你是女人還是男人”。
masculine: adjective describing a quality or type of behaviour that is considered typical for a man.
形容詞，用來描述男性常有的特征或行為方式。
Examples:
例子：
She's a very masculine woman.
她是一個女漢子。
His opinions are just too masculine for me.
他的觀點對我來說太大男子主義了。
12.price / prize
price: noun - what you pay for something.
名詞——你為某物付出的錢
Examples:
例子：
The price was very cheap.
價格非常便宜。
What's the price of this book?
這本書多少錢？
prize: noun - an award
名詞——獎勵。
Examples:
例子：
He won a prize as best actor.
他獲得了最佳男演員獎。
Have you ever won a prize in a competition?
你有沒有在比賽中得過獎？
13.principal / principle
principal: adjective meaning 'the most important'
形容詞，意為“最重要的”。
Examples:
例子：
The principal reason for my decision was the money.
我之所以做這個決定，最重要的原因就是錢。
What are the principal irregular verbs?
有哪些重要的不規(guī)則動詞？
principle: a rule (usually in science but also concerning morals)
規(guī)則（常用于科學(xué)，但也涉及道德領(lǐng)域）
Examples:
例子：
It's the first principle of aerodynamics.
這是氣體力學(xué)的第一準(zhǔn)則。
He has very loose principles.
他的原則彈性很大。
14.quite / quiet
quite: adverb of degree meaning 'very' or 'rather'
副詞，意為“非常”或“相當(dāng)”。
Examples:
例子：
This test is quite difficult.
這次測驗非常難。
He was quite exhausted after the long journey.
長時間的旅行后，他疲憊不堪。
quiet: adjective meaning the opposite of loud or noisy
形容詞，意思與“喧鬧的”“嘈雜的”相反。
Examples:
例子：
Could you please be quiet?!
能請你安靜點嗎？
She's a very quiet girl.
她是一個非常安靜的女孩。
15.sensible / sensitive
sensible: adjective meaning 'having common sense' i.e. 'not stupid'
形容詞，意為“有常識的”，即“不笨的”。
Examples:
例子：
I wish you would be more sensible about things.
我希望，你遇事能夠更明智一點。
I'm afraid you aren't being very sensible.
恐怕你不夠明智。
sensitive: adjective meaning 'to feel very deeply' or 'to hurt easily'.
形容詞，意為“敏感的”或“易受傷害的”。
Examples:
例子：
You should be careful with David. He's very sensitive.
你要小心大衛(wèi)。他非常敏感。
Mary is a very sensitive woman.
瑪麗是一個極易受傷的女人。
16.shade / shadow
shade: protection from the sun, a dark area outside on a sunny day.
在晴天隔絕太陽的蔭涼區(qū)。
Examples:
例子：
You should sit in the shade for a while.
你應(yīng)該到蔭涼處坐會兒。
It's too hot. I'm going to find some shade.
太熱了，我要找個地方乘涼。
shadow: the dark area created by something else on a sunny day.
在晴天，由某物制造出的陰影區(qū)。
Examples:
例子：
That tree casts a large shadow.
這棵樹投下一大片陰影。
Have you ever noticed your shadow getting longer as it gets later in the day?
你注意到影子會隨著天色越晚而拉長嗎？
17.some time / sometimes
some time: refers to an indefinite time in the future
指的是未來一個不確定的時間。
Examples:
例子：
Let's meet for coffee some time.
找個時間一起喝杯咖啡吧。
I don't know when I'll do it - but I will do it some time.
我不知道什么時候會去做——但我會在某個時候去做的。
sometimes: adverb of frequency meaning 'occasionally'
頻率副詞，意為“偶爾”。
Examples:
例子：
He sometimes works late.
他有時候會工作到很晚。
Sometimes, I like eating Chinese food.
有時我喜歡吃中國菜。