Daily Grammar – Week 4

(The meaning of “conclusively” is not “finally” or “at last”. It means “convincingly”, “incontrovertibly” or “decisively”. It cannot be used to replace “in conclusion”, which ends a person’s viewpoint. For “conclusively” to be right, another opinion would be false. For example, “conclusively, the earth is spherical”.)

2. Please, round up your presentation in five minutes. (No)

Please, round off your presentation in five minutes. (Yes)

(To “round up” is to gather scattered elements together the same way a herdsman would round up his cattle or the police would round up criminals, not making them escape. To “round off” is to conclude a speech, a lecture, an argument, etc.)

3. As his former boss, I know fully well that he is dubious and duplicitous. (No)

As his former boss, I know full well that he is dubious and duplicitous. (Yes)

(To “know full well” is a fixed expression, surviving from the period when “full” modified adverbs. As an idiom, it is wrong to attempt inflecting it as “fully” in this context. You can “know/understand perfectly well” but you only “know/understand full well”.)

Did You Know?

The most difficult tongue twister in the English language is “six sick sheikh’s sixth sheep’s sick” and the most mispronounced is “pronunciation”.