Yesterday, I browsed the user comments on a news website, and noticed that somebody wrote Heads off Judging from the context and the rest of the comment he/she was clearly trying to say Hats off While spelling mistakes happen to all of us, the change of meaning here is particularly dramatic.
Whereas the German word homogen is rather straight forward to pronounce, the English equivalent, homogeneous, is slightly trickier. Oxford English suggests [ˌhɒməˈdʒiːniəs] (British English) and [ˌhoʊməˈdʒiːniəs] (American English), see and listen here. On the other hand, the Longman Pronunciation Dictionary includes the following possibilities: British English: [ˌhɒməʊˈdʒiːniəs] (used by 75% of the speakers) [ˌhoʊməʊˈdʒiːniəs] (used
The adjectives discreet and discrete can easily be confused in writing, for various reasons. First, when typing quickly, the second e may just slip in before the t. Because both words exist, this mistake will not be detected by the spell checker. However, in addition, the pronunciation of discreet and discrete is identical, see here
The words price [praɪs] (listen here) and prize [praɪz] (listen here) sound and look quite similar, but have very different meanings. Therefore, make sure that you do not confuse them when writing about any prestigious prizes you won, for example, in a cover letter for a job application. Since both words exist in the English
Although we all heard about this one in school, the correct use of a and an can cause a lot of confusion. There is a very clear rule when to use a and when to use an. However, this rule seems to be often forgotten or remembered incorrectly. a is used when the following word