'Arise' means 'begin', 'appear', 'come to one's notice'. It is used mostly with abstract nouns as subjects.
A discussion across about the best way to pay.
I'm afraid a difficulty has arisen.
'Rise' usually means 'get higher', 'come/go up'.
My hopes are rising.
What time does the sun rise?
Prices keep rising.
Note that we usually say that people get up in the morning. 'Rise' is only used with this meaning in a very formal style.
'Arise' and 'Rise' are irregular verbs:
(a)rise (a)rose (a)risen
1. Typical mistake: S/he appears very angrily today.
'Appear' has two meanings, and the grammar is not the same in the two cases.
a. It can mean 'seem'. In this case, it can be used with adjectives, but not adverbs.
S/he appears (to be) very angry today.
S/he appears quite normal.
'Appear' can be followed by a noun (subject complement), but we very often use 'appear to be' in this case.
S/he appears (to be) a very religious person.
b. The other meaning of 'appear' is 'come into sight' or 'arrive'. In this case, adverbs are used, not adjectives.
S/he suddenly appeared from under the bed.
S/he often appears unexpectedly and invites himself to lunch.
2. Note that 'appear' is one of the verbs (like 'be', 'seem') that can have 'there' as an introductory subject. The construction is usually 'There appears to be...'
There appears to be a misunderstanding.
There appears to be no point in our continuing.
'Appear' is not usually used in progressive tenses.
1. 'Anyway' most often means 'what was said before does not matter'.
I can't remember when Shakespeare died. Perhaps it was in 1614 or 1515 - anyway, I know it was around then.
'What about going out this evening?' - Oh, I don't know. I've got a bit of a headache. And anyway, Tomas's coming to see me, so I ought to stay in.'
2. Do not confuse 'anyway' and (in) any way (= any method'). Compare the following:
Can I help you in any way?
S/he wasn't very polite, but anyway, I helped her/him.
1. 'Any' can mean 'it doesn't matter which'.
Come and see me any time.
Take any card.
Think of a number - any number you like.
2. 'Any...but' means 'any...except'.
I'll go to any restaurant but that one.
3. In relative sentences, 'any' is usually followed by 'that', not 'which' or 'who'.
Borrow any book that interests you.
4. In questions and negative sentences (and with 'if'), 'any' can be used as an adverb with comparatives, and with 'different'.
Is she any better?
I can't go any further.
If I were any younger, I'd fall in love with you.
I don't think you look any different from how you did last year.
'No' can also be used like this, but not 'some'.
Note also the expressions 'any/no good', and 'any/no use'.
'Was the film any good?' - 'No good at all.'
'Is it any use talking to him?' - 'It's no use at all.'
'And' is used to connect expressions that are grammatically similar, for example:
Nouns: bread and butter
Verbs: They and danced all night.
Clauses: I went home, and Mary stayed at the station.
When there are more than two expressions, we usually put 'and' only before the last one.
Bread, butter and cheese
They drank, sang and danced all night.
I went home, Linsay went with me, and Mary stayed at the station.
When expressions are joined by 'and', we often put the shortest first.
big and ugly cup and saucer
Some common expressions with 'and' come in a fixed order which cannot be changed.
hands and knees (Not: knees and hands) Knife and fork
bread and butter men, women and children fish and chips
When adjectives are used before a noun, they are sometimes joined by 'and' and sometimes not, depending on the type of adjective. For instance, we say 'a big black insect', but 'a black and yellow insect'.
When two expressions are joined by 'and', words which come in both expressions (e.g. articles) can often be left out in the second expression. For instance, the bread and (the) butter, in UK and (in) USA.
1. Compare the following:
a. S/he was sitting between Bunna and Vitou.
I saw something lying between the wheels of the train.
Cambodia lies between Thailand, Vietnam and Lao.
b. We found a little house hidden among the trees.
S/he was standing laughing among a crowd of journalists.
We say that something is 'between' two or more objects, people, countries and so on when we see the surrounding objects and so on separately, there are not very many of them, and each one is clearly distinct from the others.
We say that something is 'among' a mass, a crowd, or a group: a collection of things when we do not see separately.
We prefer 'between' when we want to say that there are things, or groups of things, on two sides:
A little valley between high mountains.
2. Words like 'divide' and 'share' are followed by 'between' when we use several singular nouns.
He shared his property between his wife, his daughter and his sister.
I divide my time between teaching, writing and lecturing.
With plural nouns, 'between' and 'among' are both possible.
S/he divided his money between/among his five sons.
We always talk about the difference 'between' things.
What's the difference between a crow and a rook?
3. 'Among' can be used to mean 'one of', 'some of' or ' included in'.
Among the first to arrive was the Fantasian ambassador.
S/he has a number of criminals among his friends.
I'm alternately happy and depressed.
It may have been because of the weather, or alternately it may have been the result of indigestion.
'Loudly' is used (like 'loud') to talk about the strength of a noise. The opposite of 'loudly' is quietly'.
When they are arguing, they talk so loudly that the people in the next flat can hear every word.
'Aloud' is often used with the verbs 'read' and 'think', to say that words are spoken, not just 'said' silently in the head.
S/he has a very good pronunciation when s/he read aloud.
'What did you say?' - 'Oh, nothing, I was just thinking about.'
1. 'Nearly' and 'Almost' have similar meanings, and in many cases the can both be used without much difference. Usually, 'almost' is used to mean that something is a little 'nearer' than 'nearly'. E.g. So at 12:15 we might say 'It is nearly lunchtime', and at 12:27 'It's almost lunchtime'.
We are nearly there. We're almost there.
S/he is nearly six feet tall. She's almost six feet tall.
I nearly as clever as you. I am almost as clever as you.
I nearly fell off my bike. I almost fell off my bike.
2. Typical mistakes:
My aunt's got a strange way of talking. She nearly sounds foreign.
It is nearly incredible.
I nearly think you're right.
Our cat understands everything - he's nearly human.
In these sentences, we are not talking about progress towards an end (people do not get more foreign; cats do not get more human), or about thinks that are easy to measure. In cases like these 'almost', not 'nearly', is used.
Our cat understands everything - he's almost human.
I almost think you're right.
It's almost incredible.
My aunt almost sounds foreign.
In that long dress she looks almost graceful (Not: ...nearly graceful).
Note that 'nearly' is not often used with 'never', 'nobody', 'no-one', 'nothing', 'nowhere', 'no' and 'none'. Instead, we used 'almost', or we used 'hardly' with a non-negative form.
Almost no money hardly any money
Almost nobody hardly anybody
Almost never hardly never
Typical mistakes:
The sat reading the all time.
I've lived here my all life.
Whole London was burning.
She drank the whole wine.
These two words are easy confuse, perhaps because their pronunciations are similar.
1. 'Whole' and 'all' are often used with the same meaning. However, the word order is different. 'All' come before an article, possessive or other 'determiner'; 'whole' comes after articles, ete. Compare the following:
All the time the whole time
All my life my whole life
All this confusion this whole confusion
Note what 'whole' cannot be used with a singular noun if there is no article or other determiner. You can say 'The whole city was burning, but not 'Whole London was burning.'
2. With plural nouns, 'whole' and 'all' have different meanings. 'Whole' mean 'complete', 'entire'; 'all' has a similar meaning to 'every'. Compare the following:
All Indian tribe suffered from white settlement in America (= Every Indian tribe suffered...).
Whole Indian tribes were killed off (= Complete tribes were killed off; nobody was left alive in these tribes).
3. 'Whole' is not used so often with uncountable nouns and cannot be used with mass nouns. You can say 'all the money', or 'all the wine', but not 'the whole money' or the 'the whole wine'.
4. The expression 'the whole of' can be used with singular words instead of 'whole'. 'The whole of' comes before articles, possessives, etc.
The whole of the time The whole of this confusion The whole of my life
