THE FLATMATES

Language point:
Confusing verbs
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The Flatmates Confusing verbs

You can see this language point online at:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/flatmates/episode110/languagepoint.shtml

Here are some pairs of verbs that you might sometimes find confusing.

Come and go, bring and take

In these pairs of verbs it's important to know if the action is going towards the
speaker (or the person who is doing the action) or listener, or away from him or
her.

come and go
come
move from the speaker's location to the listener's location or from the listener's location
to the speaker's location

Do you want to come and watch TV at my house tonight? (To the speaker's location, at
the speaker's house)

What time did you come in to work this morning? (To the speaker's and listener's
location, at the work place, where the speaker and listener are)

go
move from the speaker's or listener's location to another place

I've got to go to the dentist. (Away from the speaker's location to another place, the
dentist's)

I'm going home now. (Away from the listener's location, to the speaker's home)

bring and take

bring
move something or someone from the speaker's location to the listener's location or
from the listener's location to the speaker's location

Would you bring me a cup of tea please? (To the speaker's location)

I'll bring the kids over to your house later. (To the listener's location, to the listener's
house)

take
move something from the speaker's or listener's location to another place

Will you take this letter to the post office for me please? (From the speaker's location
to another place, the post office)

Khalid took the cat to the vet last week. (From the location of the person doing the
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action to another place, the vet's surgery)

borrow and lend

Both these verbs mean giving or taking something for a short time.

borrow
take something from someone for a short time

Would you mind if I borrowed your pen please?

You can borrow my bike if you like.
The children borrowed books from the library.

lend
give something to someone for a short time
She lent him the DVD but he never gave it back.
The library lends books to children.

say and tell

Both these verbs are used with direct and indirect speech.

say
speak, concentrating on the words someone said and not usually used with an object
pronoun. If we use an object pronoun, we need to add 'to', for example 'say to him'

She said 'Have you met the new boss yet?'

Janet Hall phoned to say she's got a job she thinks I might like.

tell
speak, concentrating on the content or the message of what someone said not
necessarily the exact words that were said. We can use a personal pronoun with 'tell'

He told us that his car was really expensive. (It's not clear the exact words he used but
we know that his car cost a lot of money)

She wouldn't tell me what it was. (We don't know the exact words she used but we
know that Janet wouldn't let Tim know what the job was)

Vocabulary:
did make it
was successful in something (here, going up to the top of the Eiffel Tower)

Did you manage?

Were you able to?

guardian angel
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a spirit who is believed to protect and help someone. Here, Tim means that Janet is like
this spirit

Would you like to try an online quiz about this language point? Go to:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/flatmates/episode109/quiz.shtml

Or you can download the quiz from:

http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/flatmates/episode109/fm_quiz_070904.pdf

For more information about this language point go to:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/radio/specials/1837_aae/page15.shtml

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