Even more English words that are easy to confuse.

Altogether/ All together:

Altogether is an adverb meaning completely or entirely:

This year’s rainy season has been altogether too wet.

Health Ministry officials say Thailand is now shifting its strategy from efforts to control the disease to trying to eliminate it altogether.

The words all together mean that something is collected or assembled in one place:

The alumni were all together in the auditorium.

A Thai dinner is typically eaten all together: appetizers, soup, main courses, and dessert.

His Majesty decided to close Royal Pages College and King’s College and merge them all together with Royal Pages College in Bangkok in 1926.

Bad/ badly:

Bad is an adjective. It usually appears after verbs such as to be, to feel, to seem, or to become:

We feel bad that Duanphen failed her midterm exam.

Many people believe that durian smells bad.

The weather was good, but became bad.

Badly is an adverb that appears after different verbs. In addition to meaning to do something in a bad way, it can also mean very much:

The students prepared badly for the exam.

Duanphen badly needed to pass the midterm exam.

The Thammasat University Cheerleader squad performed badly at the competition.

Note that it would be wrong to write:

We feel badly that Ngam-Chit failed her midterm exam.

Because to feel badly suggests that we do not know how to feel and so, lacking the skill of feeling, we do it incorrectly. Instead we should just say we feel bad.

Incredible/ Incredulous:

Incredible means so unlikely that it seems impossible to believe. It can also mean unlikely in the sense of extraordinary:

Pakpao came to the office today with an incredible new hairstyle.

The Emerald Buddha is an incredible tourist attraction for Thailand.

Phairoh’s excuses for failing her midterm exam were really incredible.

Incredulous refers to someone who cannot believe something. Instead of the thing itself being impossible to believe – or incredible – incredulous refers to the effect it has on someone else:

When Saengdao told her friends that she was going to marry the K-pop superstar Kwon Ji-Yong, they were incredulous.

Waan was incredulous when she found out how much money her brother had spent on video games this year.

Incredulous at predictions that they would not win, the Thammasat Football Club trained for the important match.

Passed/ Past:

Passed is the past tense form of the verb to pass. Past means before the present time. It would never be correct to say:

Sroy past along Happy Songkran greetings to Samorn.

Instead, this should always be:

Sroy passed along Happy Songkran greetings to Samorn.

The following sample sentences use pass, passed, and past correctly:

I want to pass my driver’s license exams here in Chiang Mai.

In the past, caravans that passed traded silks, wood, tobacco and opium.

Chiang Mai relies heavily on its past, and a thriving handicraft industry.

In her will, Jao Dara Rasamee passed her property to her descendants.

Family recipes are passed down from one generation to the next.

Assure/ Ensure/ Insure:

To assure people means to give them confidence and remove any doubts they might be feeling:

Taxi van drivers operating at Suvarnabhumi International Airport assured travelers today that they will not stop their services.

Phueng assured her roommates that although she had failed the midterm exam, she would certainly pass the final.

The foreign exchange student was assured by Waen that if she felt hungry late at night, the 7/11 store would always be open for business.

To ensure is to make certain. If you ensure something, you are guaranteeing it:

BITEC offers a comprehensive range of products and services to ensure your event runs smoothly and successfully, making your guests feel valued.

Bumrungrad International Hospital works with international pharmaceutical companies to ensure quality medical care.

Our aim is to ensure that all our guests have an enjoyable time.

To insure means to take out an insurance policy on someone or something. Insure is a much less common verb than assure or ensure, and only occurs in the context of discussions about the insurance industry:

General information is available about how to insure a foreign car in Thailand.

Complement/ Compliment:

The word complement can be a noun or a verb, meaning something that completes or goes well with something else:

How does the BTS SkyTrain complement Bangkok’s mass transit infrastructure?

Bangkok will greet a new Sikh centre to complement the only gurdwara in the Thai capital after more than 100 years.

Thailand has palm-lined beaches, limestone islands, lush mountains, ethnic minority villages, and—as the perfect complement to Bangkok—the picturesque northern cities of Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai.

The word compliment can also be a noun or verb, meaning an expression of praise or to congratulate someone for something:

To compliment somebody, say: “That dress looks nice on you.”

What’s the nicest compliment anyone has ever said to you?

Surprisingly, all of them said I needed to compliment people more when they did their jobs well,” Buppha explained.

Precede/ Proceed

To precede means to come before something else:

To dial a mobile in Thailand an 8 must precede the city code.

Integration had a chance to precede democratization, subduing the political significance of ethnicity.

In general, trade liberalization should precede financial liberalization.

The word proceed means to begin or continue some kind of action:

Thailand will proceed with its latest petroleum exploration and production bidding round despite domestic opposition to the plan.

All ships should proceed with caution, especially small boats in the Andaman Sea.

Rent a car in Bangkok and proceed to explore the city in the comfort of your own vehicle while visiting the city’s numerous temples.

Advice/ Advise

Advice is a noun referring to suggestions or ideas about what might be done:

Chiang Mai Business serves foreign and Thai-based clients who need legal advice.

Before you visit Thailand, visit TripAdvisor for the latest info and advice, written for travelers by travelers.

Financial advice for Expats based in Thailand.

Advise is a verb meaning to give advice, offering suggestions or recommending what to do:

We advise against all tourist and other non-essential travel to these provinces.

We continue to advise Australians to exercise a high degree of caution.

Our team of professionals can advise you on what structure is best suited for your needs.

(all images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)