Here are some of the most commonly confused English word pairs. They have been chosen especially for ESL learners.

　　下面是最为常见的易混淆的英语词组，它们是专为那些将英语作为第二语言的学习者挑选出来的。

　　1.beside / besides

　　beside: preposition meaning 'next to', 'at the side of'

　　介词，意为“紧挨着”“在······旁边”。

　　Examples:

　　例子

　　I sit beside John in class.

　　上课时我坐在约翰旁边。

　　Could you get me that book? It's beside the lamp.

　　你能把那本书给我吗?它就放在灯的旁边。

　　besides: adverb meaning 'also', 'as well'; preposition meaning 'in addition to'

　　副词，意为“也”“同样地”;做介词时意为“除此之外”。

　　Examples:

　　例子：

　　(adverb) He's responsible for sales, and a lot more besides.

　　(副词)他负责销售，以及其他许多事。

　　(preposition) Besides tennis, I play soccer and basketball.

　　(介词)除了网球，我还喜欢足球和篮球。

　　2.clothes / cloths

　　clothes: something you wear - jeans, shirts, blouses, etc.

　　你穿的衣物，如牛仔裤、衬衫、上衣等。

　　Examples:

　　例子：

　　Just a moment, let me change my clothes.

　　等一会儿，让我先换个衣服。

　　Tommy, get your clothes on!

　　汤米，把你的衣服穿好!

　　cloths: pieces of material used for cleaning or other purposes.

　　用来做清洁或其他用途的材料。

　　Examples:

　　例子：

　　There are some cloths in the closet. Use those to clean the kitchen.

　　壁橱里有一些布。用它们来清洁厨房吧。

　　I have a few pieces of cloth that I use.

　　我有一些用过的布快。

　　3.dead / died

　　dead: adjective meaning 'not alive'

　　形容词，意为“无生命的”

　　Examples:

　　例子：

　　Unfortunately, our dog has been dead for a few months.

　　不幸的是，我们的狗已经去世几个月了。

　　Don't touch that bird. It's dead.

　　别碰那只鸟。它已经死了。

　　died: past tense and past participle of the verb 'to die'

　　动词die的过去式和过去分词形式。

　　Examples:

　　例子：

　　His grandfather died two years ago.

　　他的祖父两年前去世了。

　　A number of people have died in the accident.

　　许多人在这场意外中丧生。

　　4.experience / experiment

　　experience: noun meaning something that a person lives through.

　　名词，意为某人经历的某事。

　　- also used as an uncountable noun meaning 'knowledge gained by doing something'

　　也可以用作不可数名词，表示“通过完成某事而获得的知识”。

　　Examples:

　　例子：

　　(first meaning)His experiences in Germany were rather depressing.

　　(第一种)他在德国的经历相当凄惨。

　　(second meaning) I'm afraid I don't have much sales experience.

　　(第二种)恐怕我的销售经验不足。

　　experiment: noun meaning something that you do to see the result. Often used when speaking about scientists and their studies.

　　名词，意为为了得到结果而做的某事。常在谈论科学家及其研究时使用。

　　Examples:

　　例子：

　　They did a number of experiments last week.

　　上周，他们做了许多实验。

　　Don't worry it's just an experiment. I'm not going to keep my beard.

　　别担心，只是个实验而已。我不打算留胡子。

　　5.felt / fell

　　felt: past tense and past participle of the verb 'to feel'

　　动词feel的过去式和过去分词形式。

　　Examples:

　　例子：

　　I felt better after I had a good dinner.

　　一顿丰盛的晚饭后，我感觉好多了。

　　He hasn't felt this well for a long time.

　　他很久都没有感觉这么好了。

　　fell: past tense of the verb 'to fall'

　　动词fall的过去式。

　　Examples:

　　例子：

　　He fell from a tree and broke his leg.

　　他从树上掉下来，摔伤了腿。

　　Unfortunately, I fell down and hurt myself.

　　不幸的是，我掉了下来，受了伤。

　　6.female / feminine

　　female: the sex of a woman or animal

　　女人或雌性动物。

　　Examples:

　　例子：

　　The female of the species is very aggressive.

　　这种雌性生物极具攻击力。

　　The question 'female or male' means 'are you a woman or a man'.

　　这个“女或男”的问题问的是“你是女人还是男人”。

　　feminine: adjective describing a quality or type of behaviour that is considered typical for a woman

　　形容词，用来描述女性常有的特征或行为方式。

　　Examples:

　　例子：

　　He's an excellent boss with a feminine intuition.

　　他是一位优秀的老板，有着女性的直觉。

　　The house was decorated in a very feminine manner.

　　这座房子的装饰非常女性化。

　　7.its / it's

　　its: possessive determiner similar to 'my' or 'your'

　　物主限定词，类似于my或your。

　　Examples:

　　例子：

　　Its color is red.

　　它是红色的。

　　The dog didn't eat all of its food.

　　这只狗什么都不吃。

　　it's: Short form of 'it is' or 'it has'

　　it is或it has的缩写形式。

　　Examples:

　　例子：

　　(it is) It's difficult to understand him.

　　他真是一个让人读不透的人。

　　(it has) It's been a long time since I had a beer.

　　我已经很久没喝过啤酒了。

　　8.last / latest

　　last: adjective usually meaning 'final'

　　形容词，常表示“最后的”。

　　Examples:

　　例子：

　　I took the last train to Memphis.

　　我乘上了去往孟斐斯的末班车。

　　This is the last test of the semester!

　　这是本学期最后一次测验。

　　latest: adjective meaning 'most recent' or 'new'

　　形容词，意为“最近的”或“最新的”。

　　Examples:

　　例子：

　　His latest book is excellent.

　　他的新书写得非常棒。

　　Have you seen his latest painting?

　　你见过他最新的画作吗?

　　9.lay / lie

　　lay: verb meaning 'to put down flat' - past tense - laid, past participle – laid

　　动词，意为“放下”，过去式为laid，过去分词为laid。

　　Examples:

　　例子：

　　He laid his pencil down and listened to the teacher.

　　他放下手中的铅笔，听老师讲课。

　　I usually lay my pies on the shelf to cool.

　　我常常把馅饼放在架子上，让它变凉。

　　lie: verb meaning 'to be down' - past tense -lay , past participle – lain

　　动词，意为“躺下”，过去式为lay，过去分词是lain。

　　Examples:

　　例子

　　The girl lay on the bed asleep.

　　那个女孩躺在床上睡着了。

　　At the moment, he's lying on the bed.

　　此刻，他正躺在床上。

　　10.lose / loose

　　lose: verb meaning 'to misplace'

　　动词，意为“丢失”。

　　Examples:

　　例子：

　　I lost my watch!

　　我把手表弄丢了!

　　Have you ever lost anything valuable?

　　你有没有弄丢过珍贵的东西?

　　loose: adjective meaning the opposite of 'tight'

　　形容词，意义与“绷紧的”相反。

　　Examples:

　　例子：

　　Your trousers are very loose!

　　你的裤子太松了!

　　I need to tighten this screw. It's loose.

　　我要把螺丝钉拧紧点，它太松了。