12 Confusing English Adjectives

Hi. I'm Rebecca. Today, you'll learn the difference between twelve confusing adjectives, which are actually six pairs of adjectives, okay?

Some of them sound the same, some of them look the same, however, they're not the same, okay? So, let's make sure that you understand the difference between these twelve very commonly used adjectives. Now, if you enjoy this kind of lesson, then please make sure to also check out my online course.

I'll give you a link to it below. There, we correct over 160 errors, not only in spelling, pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, everything, okay? So, if you're interested, please feel free to check that.

In the meantime, let's get started with our twelve adjectives for today. So, I'm going to read you a sentence, and there are two possibilities. So, think about it.

If you want to pause the video, you can do that. If not, just come along with me. Number one.

Do we say, "The children are eager to open their gifts", or do we say, "The children are anxious to open their gifts"? Which is the right adjective? Okay.

So, the correct one here would be the first one, "eager". So, what is the difference between "eager" and "anxious"? "Eager" is something positive.

When you want to do something and it's something good, it's something you're looking forward to, you're really happy to do that. And "anxious" is when something's going to happen and you're feeling nervous and scared and worried, maybe before an interview or an exam or something like that. But this is not something to feel scared of or nervous about.

"The children are really happy to open their gift. " They're waiting to do that. Or you might be eager to meet someone, an old friend who you haven't seen in a long time.

Okay? So, whenever it's about something good, then we say, "I'm eager to do something", and if you're nervous or scared, then you can say that somebody is feeling anxious about something. Alright?

Got it? Good. Next, number two.

"This course is for advanced students. " Or, "This course is for advanced students. " A subtle difference, small difference, but a really important difference.

Do you know which one is right? So, the correct answer is this one. Okay?

And I can't tell you how many places this mistake is made. Make sure you're not making this mistake. There's a huge difference.

So, the correct answer we said is "advanced", right? So, like we have beginner, intermediate, and advanced level students, right? So, "advanced" with the "d" is talking about the higher level students or the higher level course, correct?

"Advanced" just means - the other word "advanced" just means in - before, before you have to do something. So, for example, you have to pay in advance. You have to pay before you receive delivery, for example, right?

So, that is meaning before something happens, and this is talking about a level of something. Advanced technology, advanced courses, advanced programs, alright? So, make sure you get this right because a lot of people are making mistakes with that, so please be really careful.

They sound almost the same. The spelling makes a huge difference, okay? Number three.

Do we say, "He's a famous, well-respected scientist", or do we say, "He's an infamous, well-respected scientist"? You might have never heard this word before, right? It actually exists in English.

What do you think is the right answer here? So, actually, the answer is this, but let me start by explaining what "infamous" and "famous" mean. "Famous" just means well-known, okay?

In general. A lot of people know that person, okay, or that place or whatever. Usually, here, we're talking about people, but "infamous" means that you're well-known for doing something bad, something really bad, usually.

So, here, we said - we know it's famous and not infamous because we said that this scientist was also well-respected. He's highly regarded. So, he's a famous, well-respected scientist.

He's well-known by a lot of people for good things that he or she has done. "He", in this case, we wrote, but "infamous" would be like a criminal or something like that, okay? Those people are also famous, but we call them infamous.

And the pronunciation is different. This one is "famous". This one gets reduced at the end, so we say "infamous".

Got it? Good. Next, number four.

Wow, a world cruise. I'm envious of you, or I'm jealous of you. What's the difference between envious and jealous?

Any idea? Have you heard these two words before? Okay.

So, here, this person's excited. Wow, a world cruise. And let's say they're a good friend of yours, okay?

And they would say - or they should say - I'm envious of you. Envious and jealous are close, but a little bit technically they're different, okay? Jealous is more negative, envious is more positive.

If I'm envious of you, I'm really happy that you're doing something good or that something good happened in your life, and I wish and hope that I can do something like that, too. This is positive. This is not taking anything away from you.

If I say I'm jealous of you, that's more negative. It's like, hmm, I wish I had that and she didn't have that, or something like that. So, that's not - that's a little more nasty.

Sometimes people use jealous in a general way, kind of as a joke. But technically, as an English student, and someone who wants to really be precise in the language that you use, there - please note that there is a difference, okay? So, you want to say the positive one, I'm envious of you, and not really I'm jealous of you, because jealous has the negative connotation.

Okay, number five. Do we say this cream is effective at treating sunburn? Or do we say this cream is efficient at treating sunburn?

What is sunburn? Sunburn is if somebody is out too long in the sun and their skin becomes like really sore and red and it hurts a lot. That's sunburn, okay?

But anyway, do we say this cream is effective or this cream is efficient? What do you think? Okay.

So, the correct answer here is effective. What's the difference? Effective means that something produces the results that you want, okay?

It works, basically. Efficient means that it produces the results in a smart way by saving time or money or resources or something like that, okay? So, here, what we really wanted to say is this cream works.

It's good, and it's good at treating sunburn. So, we need to say it's effective at treating sunburn. We're not trying to say it saves time or money or resources.

We're just trying to say it works. It produces the results we're looking for, okay? This is an important difference and it comes up a lot, especially in business context, in the working world, okay?

Make sure you understand the difference between these two very, very commonly used words. Next, number six. It was sensitive to charge your phone before the storm.

Or, it was sensible to charge your phone before the storm. What do you think? I think the words really sound kind of close.

Very different meaning, alright? Ready? So, it was sensible to charge your phone before the storm.

Alright, so what's the difference between these two words? Sensible, think of it this way first. Sensible has to do with your head, and sensitive has to do with your heart, kind of, okay?

So, sensible means, oh, that was a good idea, it was a good judgment, a good decision, you know? When we think of these things sort of as coming from our brain or our heads, so that's sensible. Sensitive means it comes from your heart, it means you care about others, you understand them, you understand what they need and what they might want.

You're sensitive to their needs, okay? It's more like coming from your heart. Usually, it's a positive, okay, that you care about other people and your understanding of what they need.

Sometimes, sensitive can be a little bit negative, that is, oh, he's oversensitive or she's oversensitive. Like, they're very, kind of, they feel hurt very easily when somebody says something, okay? But, in general, if somebody doesn't say oversensitive, then if they're sensitive, that's a good thing, okay?

Alright. So, let's just repeat the words for pronunciation one more time, and then we'll do a little bit of a quiz. First two.

Eager, anxious. Good. Advance, advanced.

Good. Famous, infamous. Remember that change in pronunciation.

Envious, jealous. Effective, efficient. Good.

Sensitive, sensible. Okay? Got them?

Good. Try to say them out loud, too. You know, it really helps a lot, especially when you're working on your pronunciation.

But now, let's make sure you've mastered the correct meaning of these words with a little, short quiz. So, are you ready? Let's begin.

Number one. Do we say, "She's very sensitive to the needs of others. " Or do we say, "She's very sensible to the needs of others.

" Which is correct? Okay. I heard you.

You're right. It's the first one. She's very sensitive to the needs of others.

Remember what we said? Sensitive has more to do with the heart, and sensible has more to do with the head. Number two.

Do we say, "The advanced students are in another class. " Or, "The advanced students are in another class. " This time, it's the second answer.

Advanced. Okay? So, remember, advanced.

Beginner, intermediate, advanced, with the "d". Okay? Not advance.

Number three. "She felt eager before the job interview. " Or do we say, "She felt anxious before the job interview.

" What do you think? The correct answer is, "She felt anxious", nervous, scared, frightened, a little bit. Okay?

Before the job interview. So, remember, eager is positively waiting for something, or feeling good before something happens, and anxious is feeling nervous, scared. Okay?

So, this one's more positive, this one is more negative. Number four. Do we say, "They are famous gangsters.

" Or, "Infamous gangsters. " Gangsters means criminals, robbers, like that. What's the right answer?

So, we would say, "In perfect English, they're infamous gangsters. " Okay? Number five.

"Be careful, he's a very envious person. " Or, "Be careful, he's a very jealous person. " What do you think?

So, the correct answer is jealous, because remember, we said jealous is the more negative side of it, envious is the positive side of it. And here, we said, "Be careful", so we're warning somebody, okay, about something bad, about protecting themselves from something negative. So, we said, "Be careful, he's a very jealous person", not envious.

Okay? Next. "The new light bulbs are more efficient.

" Or, "The new light bulbs are more effective. " What do you think? I know this one, like, you have to sort of think it through sometimes, right?

I know. But we want to communicate the idea that they might use less resources, fewer resources, less money, things like that, less energy. So, therefore, what's the right answer?

"They are more efficient. " Okay? Remember, efficient is producing results, the results that we're looking for with less resources, being smarter at producing the results that we want.

And effective is just that it produces the results that we want. Alright? So, I hope that you've enjoyed this process of improving your English by clarifying the meaning of these 12 important adjectives.

Alright? And as I said, if you'd like to continue to upgrade your English and enjoy yourself in the process, please check out my online course. I think you will be able to do both of those things.

Improve your English, plus have fun. Alright? And in the meantime, go ahead and do the quiz on engVid, and that will help you even more.

Alright? Take care. Thanks so much for watching.

Bye for now.