Hey buddies! hoy os traemos una recopilación de confusing words in English, o lo que es lo mismo, palabras que a menudo solemos confundir por diferentes razones al utilizarlas en inglés, en esto somos expertos los hispano hablantes y aunque no todos, algunos de estos errores son muy Typical Spanish, por eso que esperamos que podáis empezar a corregirlos hoy mismo.

Are you ready? Let’s go!

Between – among

Utilizamos between cuando hablamos de dos elementos o de elementos claramente separados.

E.g.
The cabinet is between the desk and the door.
I can’t see the difference between the real and the fake shoes.
The negotiations between the government and the institutions went well.

Usamos among cuando hablamos de más de dos elementos que forman parte de un grupo.

E.g.
You can find first editions among his books.
It was not easy to decide among the candidates.

During – for

Podemos utilizar during para referirnos al tiempo o momento en el que se desarrolla una acción.

E.g.
They went to Greece several times during the summer.
What happened during your absence?
I fell asleep during the film because it was boring.

Usamos for para indicar un periodo específico de tiempo.

E.g.
They went to the beach for the summer holidays.
I was working on it for 3 days.
He lived in San Francisco for ten years.
Last night I slept for nine hours.

Expect – hope – wait

Para indicar que creemos o esperamos que algo pase utilizamos expect.

E.g.
We expect to move to our new home next month.
The company expects good results.
I didn’t expect to pass the exam.

Para indicar que nos gustaría que algo pasase, o para indicar deseos usamos hope.

E.g.
I hope we can meet soon.
We hope you enjoy your stay.

Para indicar que nos referimos a tiempo de espera utilizamos wait.

E.g.
She was waiting for my answer.
Don’t worry, I’ll wait for you.
They are waiting to know his decision.

For – since – ago

Usamos for con un periodo de tiempo.

E.g.
I have worked here for 3 years.
We have been married for 5 years.

Usamos since con un punto determinado en el tiempo.

E.g.
I have worked here since 2015.
We have been married since 2013.

Usamos un periodo de tiempo + ago (normalmente en pasado).

I started working here 3 years ago.
We married 5 years ago.

Fun – funny

Utilizamos fun para decir que algo nos hace sentir bien, nos lo pasamos bien.

E.g.
We had a great fun at the concert.
Have fun on your trip!

Utilizamos funny para decir que algo o alguien es divertido, nos hace reír.

E.g.
He’s a very funny guy, always telling jokes.
We watched a comedy that was really funny.

Puedes ver estos usos con más detalle aquí.

Hear – listen to

Hear se usa para referirnos a la capacidad de oir.

E.g.
Sorry, I can’t hear you very well, could you speak up?
They didn’t hear what he was saying.
Did you hear that noise?

Listen to se usa para referirnos a escuchar, prestando atención.

E.g.
Have you listened to her interview?
I listened carefully to every word he said.
Were you listening to me?
I enjoy listening to podcasts.

Lend – borrow

Usamos lend para dejar prestado algo a alguien.

E.g.
At the library they lend books among other things.
Could you lend me 10€? I forgot my wallet.
If it helps, I can lend you my notes.

Usamos borrow para tomar prestado algo de alguien.

E.g.
I went to the library to borrow some books.
She always borrows money from her friends.
Could I borrow your notes?

Little – few

Little se usa con sustantivos incontables (en singular), al igual que much.

E.g.
There was little space to park.
At the end of the month I have little money to spend.
We have little time before the meeting.

Few se usa con sustantivos contables, al igual que many.

E.g.
I just moved here, I know few people.
We have few books that talk about history.
They stayed in the island for a few days.

Si utilizamos A little / A few significa que es suficiente, si no utilizamos «a» consideramos que no es suficiente y nos gustaría que fuera diferente.

E.g.
There was a little space to park our compact car.
You only need a few good friends.
It was a little time but we finally finished it.
At the end of the month I have little money to spend.(I would like to have more)
I just moved here, I know few people. (I would like to know more people)

Look at – see – watch

Cuando miramos algo prestando atención usamos look at.

E.g.
Come and look at this photo she sent me.
Look at those children flying a kite!

Cuando tenemos la capacidad de ver algo usamos see.

E.g.
I saw Jim at the shopping centre.
Can you see the difference?
She didn’t see the motorbike coming.

Cuando vemos algo prestando atención, normalmente durante un periodo de tiempo, usamos watch.

E.g.
I don’t really like watching news on tv.
They were watching a video of a cat on the internet.

Nice – sympathetic

Usamos nice para referirnos a alguien que es simpático, amigable. También podemos utilizar kind, friendly en este sentido.

E.g.
I get along with my colleagues, they are all very nice / kind.
He is a nice person, he always tries to help you.

Usamos sympathetic cuando nos referimos a cualidades como la compasión, o la solidaridad en una persona.

E.g.
As a nurse, you need to be a sympathetic person to take care of patients.
They were sympathetic when I explained my family situation.

Person – people

Person se utiliza en singular para referirse a una persona. (persons existe pero su uso es muy formal y no es muy frecuente)

E.g.
Jake is a very nice person.
She’s the person I most admire.

People se utiliza para referirnos a más de una persona en plural.

E.g.
They are all really good people.
There were many people at the trade fair.
Four people were interviewed for the job position.

Rob – Steal

Ambos significan robar, pero se utiliza rob para referirse al lugar o la persona.

E.g.
An old lady was robbed at the entrance of the building.
The gang robbed several banks in three months.

Se utiliza steal para referirse al objeto.

E.g.
He stole my wallet.
They stole all their money and valuables.
Our car was stolen during our absence.

Say – tell

Al hablar de lo que dijo otra persona (estilo indirecto), usamos say something to someone / say to someone something.

E.g.
She said (to us) that the event was cancelled.
I said (to them) that I didn’t like their ideas.
He said (to me) I wasn’t right.

o bien, tell someone something

E.g.
She told us that the event was cancelled.
I told them that I didn’t like their ideas.
He told me I wasn’t right.

Puedes ver más sobre say – tell aquí.

Sensible – sensitive

Usamos sensible como adjetivo para indicar sentido común, razonable.

E.g.
I think he is a sensible person, we can trust him.
It was the most sensible decision.

Usamos sensitive para indicar sensible, con respecto a emociones o a un tema delicado.

E.g.
You need to be careful with your words, they are very sensitive people.
Politics and religion are very sensitive issues.
I’m very sensitive to children in need.

Travel – trip – journey

Travel se puede usar como verbo o como sustantivo para referirse a viajar y a viaje en general. (también en expresiones como travel insurance, travel arrangements).

E.g.
I love to travel around the world.
He likes to talk about his travels.
We always travel with a travel insurance.

Trip se usa para referirnos a un viaje en concreto (puede ser de corta duración)

E.g.
They went on a day trip to visit the island.
How was your trip to Italy?
It’s our first trip overseas.
We had a fantastic trip to Hawaii.

Journey se usa para referirnos a la duración del viaje, del trayecto en sí.

E.g.
It’s a 3 hours journey from here.
We had a long journey by flight to go to Australia.

Bueno pues ésta es sólo una recopilación de algunas confusing words o palabras que nos resultan confusas en inglés, no están todas, hay listas mucho más amplias y las descripciones en cada una de ellas son breves para entender la idea en general, aunque en algunos casos hay más matices que los que presentamos aquí, sirva como advertencia 😉

Si te has quedado con ganas de más, puedes leer también nuestro post 30 errores comunes en inglés que no debes cometer más.