call Call (with no object) can mean 'telephone'; in British English it can also mean 'visit'. This sometimes causes confusion. 'Alice called whileyou were out.' 'You mean she came round or she phoned?' close and shut 1    use Close and shut can often be used with the same meaning. Open your mouth and closet'shutyour eyes. I can't close/shut the window. Can you help me? The shop closes/shuts at five o'clock. 2    past participles The past participles closed and shut can be used as adjectives. The post office is closed/shut on Saturday afternoon. Shut is not usually used before a noun. a closed door (not a shut door)       closed eyes (not shut eyas) 3    cases where close is preferred  We prefer close for slow movements (like flowers closing at night), and close is more common in a formal style. Compare: As we watched, he closed his eyes for the last time.       Shut your mouth! We close roads, railways etc (channels of communication). And we close (= 'end') letters, bank accounts, meetings etc. cloth and clothes Cloth (pronounced /kk>9/) is material made from wool, cotton etc, used for making clothes, curtains, soft furnishings and so on. (In modern English, it is more common to say material or fabric.) His suits were made of the most expensive cloth. A cloth is a piece of material used for cleaning, covering things etc. Could you pass me a cloth? I've spilt some milk on the floor. Clothes (pronounced /klau(5)z/) are things you wear: skirt, trousers etc. Clothes has no singular; instead of a clothe, we say something to wear or an article I a piece of clothing. I must buy some new clothes; I haven't got anything to wear. contrary 1    on the contrary and on the other hand In modern English on the contrary is used to contradict - to say that what has been said is not true. If we want to give the other side of a question, we use on the other hand, not on the contrary. Compare: 'I suppose the job wasn't very interesting?' 'On the contrary, it was fascinating. I loved it' The job wasn't very interesting, but on the other hand it was well paid. (not ... on the contrary, it was well paid.) 2    contrary and opposite We usually use opposite, not contrary, to talk about contrasting pairs of words. 'Short' is the opposite of tall', and also of long'. (not ... the contrary of tall'...)   control The word control is a 'false friend' for people who speak many languages of European origin. In English, control generally means manage, direct, not check or inspect. Compare: -    The crowd was too big for the police to control. {=...to keep in order.) The police were checking everybody's papers. (not ... controlling everybody's papers.) -    I found the car difficult to control at high speeds. I took the car to the garage and asked them to have a look at the steering. (not ... to control the steering.) Note, however, that the noun control is used with the meaning of 'inspection point' in expressions like passport/customs control. country 1    countable use Country (countable) = 'nation', 'land'. Scotland is a cold country.       France is the country I know best. How many countries are there in Europe? 2    uncountable use Country (uncountable) = 'open land without many buildings'. / like wild country best. With this meaning, we cannot say a country or countries. My parents live in nice country near Belfast, (not ... in a nice country...) The expression the country (the opposite of the town) is very common. We live in the country just outside Manchester. Would you rather live in the town or the country? dead and died Dead is an adjective. a dead man Mrs McGinty is dead. That idea has been dead for years.   Died is the past tense and past participle of the verb die. Shakespeare died in 1616. (not Shakespeare dead...) She died in a car crash, (not She is dead in...) So far 50 people have died in the fighting. Note the spelling of the present participle dying. different 1    modifiers Different is a little like a comparative: unlike most adjectives, it can be modified by any and no, little and not much. I hadn't seen her for years, but she wasn't any different. 'How's the patient, doctor?' 'No different.' His ideas are little different from those of his friends. The new school isn't much different from the old one. Quite different means 'completely different' (see 467.4). I thought you'd be like your sister, but you're quite different. Unlike comparatives, different can also be modified by very. She's very different from her sister. 2    prepositions From is generally used after different; many British people also use to. In American English, than is common. American football is very different from/to soccer.  (US... different from/than soccer.)   Before a clause, different than is possible in British English. The job's different than I expected. (or ... different from/to what I expected.) doubt Clauses after the verb doubt can be introduced by whether, if ox that. Economists doubt whether interest rates will fall in the near future. I doubt if she'll come this evening. The directors doubt that new machinery is really necessary. In an informal style, some people use no conjunction. I doubt we'll have enough money fora holiday. After negative forms of doubt, we use that. I don't doubt that there will be more problems. dress 1    noun The countable noun dress means an article of women's clothing (it goes from the shoulders to below the hips). This is the first time I've seen you wearing a dress. There is also an uncountable noun dress (not used with the article a/an). It means 'clothing', 'clothes'. It is not very common in modern English, and is used mostly to talk about special kinds of clothing (for example national dress, evening dress, battledress). He looks good in evening dress, (not ... in an evening dress.) 2    verb: putting clothes on The verb dress can be used to talk about putting clothes on oneself or somebody else. Undress is used for taking clothes off. It only takes me five minutes to dress in the morning. Could you dress the children for me? I'm going to undress in front of the fire. In informal English, it is common to use get dressed to talk about dressing oneself. Get dressed and come downstairs at once! Put on and take off are generally used when clothes are mentioned. Iputon a sweater when I got up, but it was so warm that I had to take it off again. Can you take John's boots off for him?                                 ~                         3    verb: wearing clothes To say what somebody is / was wearing on a particular occasion, we can use the form be dressed in (note the preposition). / didn 't recognise him because he was dressed in a dark suit. (not ... dressed with... or ... dressing in...) She was dressed in orange pyjamas. Be wearing is also very common in British English; have on is more usual in American English.