Vocabulary

While success and suceso both do ultimately derive from the Latin word successus, their meanings have changed over the millennia.

In English, success is the noun used to describe situations in which some goal has been achieved, or a person has obtained great wealth, respect, awards, etc. Its verb is to succeed, and its adjective is successful.

Success can come with a heavy price.

Despite having an amazing voice, Eva Cassidy was not successful until after she died.

Choose the best option.

Kerry is my next-door neighbor. She live / lives by herself but has many cat / cats. Sometimes, she and I go out with several of our mutual friend / friends, who run / runs a pizza parlor downtown. I’ve heard some people think / thinks she’s lonely, living with all that cat / those cats, but I know she has / have such a busy social life / lives that she doesn’t have time for a boyfriend / some boyfriends. She works with a couple of good friend / friends of hers in a shop in the mall, and makes a lot of money / a lots of money.

These verbs can be very confusing due to their similarities, but they are used differently.

When you end something, you stop doing it, even though it could go on.

I ended the meeting because it was getting late.
Mary has ended her relationship with Bob—it was about time!
I’ll be visiting Taiwan at the end of the month—how exciting!

Have can be confusing because it’s used in two different ways: as an auxiliary verb, and as a main verb.

When it’s an auxiliary verb, it’s part of the perfect, and is followed by a participle. In these cases, it can be contracted.

When it’s a main verb, it’s either followed by its object or a to-infinitive, and cannot be contracted.

Also, be aware that have can be both in the same sentence.

These two words can cause some confusion, but they’re really easy to distinguish.

Half refers to 50% of something:
– I had an apple. I cut it in two equal pieces, and gave one half to my sister and I ate the other half.

Middle refers to the central part of something.
– I’m in the middle of doing a lesson right now.

This is an expression we use when making predictions. If we are very sure of the prediction, we use this idiom to make sure everyone listening remembers that we said it and we said it early.

Easter vacation is coming soon. Mark my words, traffic is going to be terrible!

(It doesn’t have to be a difficult prediction!)

When we have to stay up late at night to finish a big project that’s due the next day, or because we have an exam the next morning, we say that we’re burning the midnight oil.

I’m going to really have to burn the midnight oil tonight if I want to pass my test tomorrow.

Marianne and I burned the midnight oil last night to finish the project on time, and then the boss didn’t even need it today!

These two words can be confusing because they both refer to the end of a series. But they are easy to distinguish.

We use latest to refer to the most recent example of something. There is no implication that there will be no more.

I really like Amy MacDonald’s latest CD—have you heard it?
This is the latest in a series of high-quality beauty products we offer you.

This is a saying people use to express the idea that if you’re not paying attention, you could miss out on something important. It can be used as a joke, or in a more vengeful way. To snooze means to sleep lightly, especially when taking a quick nap or in front of the television.

“Oh no! I forgot to record that movie on TV last night—I was too busy reading.”
“I told you not to forget! Well, you snooze, you lose!”

Did you know that you can use the continuous aspect, in the past or present, to express irritation?

For example, normally we say:

As a boy, Frankie was annoying when he was tired.

Mary always loses things.