53. Enough
• Incorrect: He was enough foolish to trust her.
• Correct: He was foolish enough to trust her.
• Incorrect: If I were enough rich, I would buy a new car.
• Correct: If I were rich enough, I would buy a new car.
The adverb enough comes after the adjective which it qualifies.
52. End and finish
When followed by a direct object, finish means complete.
• I have finished my job. (= I have completed my job.)
• You never let me finish a sentence. (= You never let me complete a sentence.) Finish can be followed by an -ing form.
• Have you finished writing that novel? When followed by a direct object, end means stop.
• They have decided to end their affair. (NOT They have decided to finish their affair.)
End cannot be followed by an -ing form. When they are not followed by objects, end and finish have similar meanings.
• When does the concert finish/end?
51. Elder and eldest
• Incorrect: He is elder than me.
• Correct: He is older than me.
• Incorrect: He is the eldest man in the village.
• Correct: He is the oldest man in the village. Elder and eldest can be used to talk about the order of birth of the members of a family. Note that they are only used before nouns.
After a verb we use older or oldest. • My elder/older brother is a writer. • His eldest/oldest son is in the Army. • He is older than me. (NOT He is elder than me.
Elder and eldest can’t be used in the predicative (after a verb) position.)
46. Double negatives
Never use a negative verb and a negative qualifier (e.g. nothing, hardly, scarcely, nobody etc.) together.
• Incorrect: I haven't nothing to prove.
• Correct: I have nothing to prove.
• Incorrect: Alice can't hardly wait until her birthday.
• Correct: Alice can hardly wait until her birthday.
• Incorrect: There wasn't nobody at the door.
• Correct: There was nobody at the door.
47. During and for
During is used to say when something happens.
For is used to say how long it lasts.
• Incorrect: I was in France for the summer.
• Correct: I was in France during the summer.
• Incorrect: I was in France during two months.
• Correct: I was in France for two months.
48. Each and every
Use each and every together only if you want to convey very strong emphasis.
• Incorrect: Each and every person wore a hat.
• Correct: Each person wore a hat.
• Correct: Everybody wore a hat.
49. Each other and one another
In modern English each other and one another are used in the same way. One another is preferred when we are making general statements.
• They have stopped talking to each other/one another. Both expressions can be used in the possessive form.
• They would sit for hours listening to each other's / one another's tales.
50. East, eastern, north, northern etc.
The words east, west etc., are used for clearly defined places. The words eastern, western etc., are used when we are talking about vague areas.
Compare:
• The northern part of the country is hilly.
• The north side of the house has four windows.
Capital letters Capital letters are used at the beginning of East, Eastern, North, Northern etc., when they come in official place names.
• South Africa • the Middle East
• North Korea
In other cases these words begin with small letters.
• The sun rises in the east.
• He came from the west.
45. Do and make
Do is sometimes confused with make.
Make is used to talk about building or creating.
• Let's make a cake.
• I once made a toy train.
Do is sometimes used instead of make. This is common when we want to sound casual about a creative activity.
• 'What shall we eat?' 'Well, let me do an omelette.' (More casual than ‘Let me make an omelette.’) Common fixed expressions with do and make Both do and make are used in some common fixed expressions.
Do good, harm, business, one's best, a favor, sport, exercise, one's hair, one's teeth, one's duty, 50mph etc.
Make a journey, an offer, arrangements, a suggestion, a decision, an attempt, an effort, an excuse, an exception, a mistake, a noise, a phone call, money, a profit, a fortune, love, peace, war, a bed, a fire, progress etc.
