Download Confusing pairs 3 Libres Savoirs Confusing pairs (3) 1 – To imply

Confusing pairs 3 Libres Savoirs
Confusing pairs (3)
1 – To imply / to implicate. It is easy to confuse these two, especially as the French bears strong resemblance to
the second verb (impliquer, or s’impliquer). However, it is rarely used, because it is pejorative : e.g;” he was
implicated in a sinister bribery scandal”. “S’impliquer” is better rendered as “ to be involved in” or “to commit
oneself to something”.
“To be involved in something” is to take part in something, whether willingly or accidentally: you can be
involved in an accident, or you can be constructively involved in humanitarian work, or in voluntary action.
2 – To find, to found and to fund. These are all legitimate English verbs, but they have different meanings! The
first involves discovering something, the second is about the foundation of a dynasty, or a foundry, or a
foundation, the third means to finance. The past participles should be known (found/founded/funded)
3– By and from. There is a difference between, “the book is from a woman I know” and “the book is by a woman
I know”. In one case the woman has sent it, because FROM is about origin, or provenance. BY is used for the
agent of an action, as it is in the passive form. We then have to say: “this poem is by Oscar Wilde” or “the
painting by Rembrandt is in the Louvre” when we talk about authorship.
4- For / during. ‘For’ is used to indicate how long something lasted e.g “his illness lasted for 2 weeks”; or: “I
went on holiday for a whole month”. ‘During’ indicated that something happened within a period. Thus you can
say: “during his illness, the Doctor came to see him three times”, or “ it was during my holidays that I broke my
leg”.
If you wish to insist on the fact that something lasted from the first to last moment you can say throughout.
Eg. “ throughout the day he felt sick” (= all day), or “he kept coughing throughout the play and we could not
hear what was said”
5. Same and like. Identity and identical items: the normal construction is “A is the same as B”. Even in the
negative form, you keep this structure: “C is not the same as D”.
This should not be confused with the structure: “yards are different from meters” or “a meter is longer than a
yard”
In the same way, when you say “he works as a doctor”, it means this is his identity, it is not an imitation, it
means he IS a doctor!
This should not be confused with resemblance only: for example “ he looks like his brother”, “ he works like a
Roman”… in this case, the person is NOT a Roman!
Observe the constructions “It is a good likeness” (= it is a good portrait, it resembles the original) , or “he
assembled like with like” (= he put together things that were similar), or “ they are alike” ( = they appear, they
seem to be, similar)
6. To tell/ to say. There is a slight difference in meaning: to say is very general, it means to utter words. To tell is
usually directed at someone, even when you tell a story, or when you tell someone what to do. Notice this
reflects on the form: e.g. “he told me what to write”, “he told us an incredible story about elephants”, “the
assistant was clearly told what to do” (= he was instructed).
7 - To make a difference/ to discriminate. “To make a difference to something” implies there is an influence, and
the outcome is somehow modified e.g. “His presence made a real difference to the tone of the debate”. On the
other hand, to discriminate is not always negative, since it means to be able to tell what differences exist, or to be
able to see nuances (NOT the same as “ faire la différence….”). Thus you can say “ dogs can discriminate
moods by means of their sense of smell” or “it is sometimes difficult to discriminate between shades of blue or
green”. Or “some languages do not discriminate between present and future”.