Tag Archives: Learning

In The World

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I see this phrase used in many essays where it doesn’t make sense.

Bad Example 1: In the world, there are many people who think pizza is delicious.
Where else would the people be? We don’t care about whether people in space like pizza or not!

Bad Example 2: Right now, there are many problems in the world.
There might be problems on Mars, but there are probably more of them on Earth. This is obvious!

When you write, avoid using “in the world” to refer to a location, unless you want it to be clear that you do not refer to space.

Good Example 1: Your English is the best in the world!
Yes! Your English is excellent – not only in your school, town, or country, but in every country. Here, “in the world” gives us a limitation that emphasizes our idea.

Good Example 2: In the world, people have to worry about gravity, but in space, everything is weightless.

When you write, be clear that you are using “in the world” to show the limits, not the location.

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Building your vocabulary with suffixes and adjectives

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Two useful suffixes that we use with adjectives are -less and -able.

-less means “without …”

  1. Care + less = careless (“without care”) John breaks everything because he is careless. He should work more carefully.
  2. Time + less = timeless (“without time, everlasting”) This style will always be popular. This style is timeless.
  3. Point + less = pointless (“without a point, without a purpose”) That class is pointless. I learned all of it last month.
  4. Pain + less = painless (“without pain or discomfort) My dentist is the best. Even fillings are painless!

-able means “can/be able to…” We can spell it -ible as well, but the rules for the spelling are complex. If you are not sure, check a dictionary.

  1. Move + able = moveable (“someone can move it”) The box is not too heavy. It is moveable.
  2. Do + able = doable (“someone can do it, it is possible”) That plan is doable, as long as we have enough workers. (This is a very casual word.)
  3. Recycle + able = recyclable (“someone can recycle it.”) Did you hear that new technology has made all the parts of this computer recyclable?

There are many more suffixes, but these are two of the most common.