Ambi (on both sides): ambidextrous, ambivalent, ambiguous

Anti (against): antidote, anti-social, anti-national

Auto (self): autobiography, autocrat, automatic, autograph

Bene (well): benediction, benevolent, benefit

Bi (two, twice): bilateral, bigamy, biweekly, bisect

Circum (around): circumference, circumnavigation, circumstance, circumscribe

Co (with): cooperate, coordinate, co-existence, coalition

Contra, counter (against): contradict, contravene, controversy, counteract, counterbalance

De (down): dethrone, defame, demoralize, denationalize

Demi (half): demigod

Dis (apart): disconnect, discord, disorganize, dispassionate

Extra (beyond): extraordinary, extravagant, extraterritorial

Hyper (over): hypercritical, hypersensitive, hypertension

Mono (alone): monogamy, monopoly, monotheism, monotony

Non (not): nonviolent, nonsense

Omni (all): omnipresent, omnipotent, omnivorous, omniscient

Poly (many): polygamy, polytheism, polysyllabic

Post (after): post-war, post-script, post-mortem

Pre (before): pre-war, precaution, premature, prefix, prehistoric

Pro (for): pro-American, pro-communist

Pseudo (false): pseudo-classic, pseudonym

Re (again): return, refund, revive, research

Semi (half): semicolon, semi-final, semi-formal, semi-official

Sub (under): subconscious, sub-human, sub-caste, subordinate, subjugate

Super (over): superman, supernatural, superhuman, supervise, surpass, surcharge, surplus

Trans (across): trans-Atlantic, transcribe, transcend

Tri (three): tricolor, trinity, triangle

Ultra (beyond): ultramodern, ultraviolet

Un (not): unnatural, unbalanced

If something is as hard as nails, it is very strong. If somebody is as hard as nails, they tend not to feel sympathy or other positive emotions.

Be hard on something

To be hard on something is to cause damage to it.

To do something the hard way

To do something the hard way is to have a bad experience doing something.

Give someone a hard time

To give someone a hard time is to be unpleasant to him or to criticize him a lot.

He always gives his employees a hard time.

Hard at it

To be hard at it is to do something in a fast way.

Hard to take / swallow

When something is hard to take or swallow it is difficult to accept or deal with.

Her mood swings are a bit hard to take at times.

Learn the hard way

To learn something the hard way is to learn how to do something by making a lot of mistakes.

No hard feelings

This is an expression you use for telling someone that you are not angry with them after an argument.

Take a hard line

To take a hard line is to deal with someone or something in a strict way.

Bring down (= reduce)

The government has vowed to bring the prices down.

The opposition accused the government of doing nothing to bring down the prices of essential commodities.

Go down = decrease

Prices of digital cameras have gone down dramatically over the last couple of years.

Cut down = reduce the value of

We must cut our spending down.

Knock down = cause to fall from an upright to a lying position

She was knocked down by a bus.

Go down = go to a less important place or position

They have gone down to the country for a holiday.

Put your foot down = insist

Cool down = relax

Cool down. We have got nothing to worry about.

Jane was really upset and angry that it took me a while to cool her down.

Calm down = make less excited

I calmed the children down with a story.

Turn down = reduce volume

You had better turn that music down before Dad gets angry.

Water down = reduce the strength of something

You need to water down your argument.

The railway is perhaps the most popular means of communication.

Few means of transport are available on the island.

By all means

This expression is used to give permission to do something. It expresses ideas such as ‘of course’ and ‘it is all right to…’

‘Can I borrow your car?’ ‘By all means.’

‘By all means buy a new camera, but don’t spend more than 300 dollars.’ (= It is all right to buy a new camera, but …)

By all possible means does not mean the same as by all means. It has a similar meaning to ‘at any cost’.

We must prevent this by all possible means.  (= We must prevent this at any cost.)

By no means

By no means has a similar meaning to ‘definitely not’.

‘Is this all you want?’ ‘By no means.’ (= No, I want more.)

Columbus was by no means the first person to discover America. People had been living there long before he ‘discovered’ it.

By means of (= through)

I opened the tin by means of a tin opener. (= I opened the tin with the help of a tin opener.)

By some means or other = somehow or other.

A man of means = a rich man

Live within one’s means = not spend more than one’s income.

I sat alone. (Nobody else was present.)
I went alone.
I did the job alone.
The house stood alone on the hillside.

Alone can follow a noun or a pronoun. In this case it means ‘and no other’.

Smith alone can solve the problem. (= Smith is the only person who can solve this problem.)

To leave / let somebody alone is not to touch or interfere with him / her.

Leave me alone.

Lonely

Lonely is an adjective. It means ‘without companions’. Lonely can also be used to refer to places without many people or which are not often visited.

A lonely village

When you are feeling lonely, you are feeling sad because you are alone.

I like to be alone for short periods, but after a few days I will start feeling lonely.

The special variety of English used in writing newspaper headlines. In the following examples, the first form illustrates headline language and the second form ordinary English.

PM to visit India (Headline)
The Prime Minister is going to visit India. (Ordinary English)
President denies allegations (Headline)
The President has denied the allegations (Ordinary English)

Homograph
One of two or more words of different meaning which are spelled in the same way. Homographs may be pronounced the same or differently.
For example, bear (the name of a large animal) and bear (the verb) are homographs which are pronounced identically.

Homonym
A term including both homophone and homograph.

Homophone
One of two or more words of different meaning which are pronounced in the same way. Homophones can have same or different spellings.

Hyphen
The punctuation mark (-) which is shorter than dash. A hyphen must be used within a compound modifier. Examples are: blue-eyed boy, green-eyed monster, a ten-year-old boy, a salt-and-pepper beard

The hyphen may optionally be used in a compound word which would be difficult to read without it.
Examples are; living-room, bus-driver.

A hyphen is also used after a prefix.

Post-war
Mini-computer

Bear has two past participle forms: born and borne. When referring to the birth of a child, born is used in the passive sense of ‘brought into this world’.

A baby girl was born to Alice.

Borne is used in the active sense of ‘given birth to’.

James is delighted that his wife Alice has borne him a daughter.

In the sense of carry and endure, the past participle is always borne.

The prize was borne away by team Liverpool. (NOT The prize was born away by team Liverpool.)

The arches have borne the weight quite satisfactorily.

Bid has two forms of the past tense and past participle: bade, bidden and bid, bid.

The forms bid / bid / bid are used only in the case of offering a certain price at an auction.

He bid $2000 for the painting. (NOT He bade $2000 …)
He had bid $2000 for the painting, but he couldn’t get it because somebody else made a higher bid.

In all other senses, bade and bidden are used.

I bade him a sad farewell.

The verb lie should not be confused with the verb lay. Lay means to place or put down.

The minister laid the foundation stone of the super specialty hospital.
The goose laid a golden egg.
Mother has laid the table.

To lie means to rest.

I would like to lie in the sun this morning.
While lying in bed, I had an idea.

As he was efficient he was promoted.

If something is effective, it has the desired result.

Those pills weren’t effective. My headache isn’t any better.

Especially and specially

Both especially and specially can often be used with the same meaning.

It is not especially good. OR It is not specially good.

Especially can mean ‘above all’.

I do a lot of gardening, especially on Sundays.

I like all kinds of fish, especially salmons.

Specially can mean ‘for a particular purpose’.

These skirts were specially stitched for me.

Especially goes after a subject.

All of us like football. My father, especially, goes to as many football matches as he can. (NOT Especially my father …)

Ever, yet and already

These words have different meanings. Ever means ‘at any time in the past’.

Have you ever been to New Zealand? (= At any time in the past)

Yet refers to time around the present.

They haven’t arrived yet.
Have you been to New Zealand yet?

Already means ‘earlier than expected’.

I have already been to New Zealand. (The trip has taken place earlier than expected.)

Do you need anything else? (= Do you need anything more?)
Why can’t you behave like everybody else?

Else can also mean ‘more’ after words like who, what, why, when, where, how, whatever, wherever etc.

What else did you get for Christmas?
What else have you got to do?
Whatever else he may be, he is not a writer.

Note that else comes immediately after the word it modifies.

What else do you want? (NOT What do you want else?)

Else has a possessive form: else’s

You are wearing somebody else’s coat.

Or else can mean ‘otherwise’ or ‘if not’.

Run, or else you will miss the bus. (If you don’t run you will miss the bus.)

Or else can also be used as a threat.
You had better stop hitting me, or else!

Elsewhere means ‘in, at or to some other place’.

If you are not satisfied with our services, go elsewhere.

Compare:

The eastern part of this country is barren. (NOT The east part of this country is barren.) (Here we are talking about less definite areas.)
The kitchen is in the east side of the house. (More natural than ‘The kitchen is in the eastern side of the house’)

Place names

In place names the words east, eastern etc are used with no difference in meaning. It is usually a matter of custom.

With some place names North, East etc are used.

North America
South Africa
North India
South Korea

With some place names northern, eastern etc are used.

Western Europe
Western Australia
Northern Hemisphere

Capital letters

The words east, west, south and north begin with capital letters when they are used in official place names.

The Middle East (NOT The middle east)
North America (NOT north America)

In other cases, we begin these words with small letters.

The sun rises in the east.
He came from the west.