Common problems

Economic vs Economical
The CEO of a multi-million company
asked the consultant for an
economic/economical forecast.
Economic = related to money,
economics or the economy
Economical = cheap, and
inexpensive
The CEO of a multi-million company
asked the consultant for an
economic/economical forecast.
1) An economic plan
2) economic indicators
1) an economical car
2) economical travel
3) an economical plan
Lie / Lay
Lay - is a transitive verb
A transitive verb is a verb that requires a  , which is a
direct object

noun, pronoun, or noun phrase that follows the verb

and completes the sentence's meaning by indicating
the person or thing that receives the action of the verb.
I like melons
That really annoys me
Lay - to put something down
I lay the book on the table
I never laid my finger on animals
Past form of “lay” is “laid”
I laid the book on the table
Lie =  be in or assume a horizontal or
resting position on a supporting
surface.
I lie on the floor to get some rest
Confusing part is here
Past form of “Lie” is “lay”
I lay (lie) on the floor to get some
rest.
Lie in = metaphorical meaning is “to
be located”
Her greatest strengths lie in math.
Fewer / less
Fish, sheep, people
There were fewer people
There were less people
Few - Fewer - with countable nouns
Little - less - uncountable nouns
There were fewer cars
There was less people out there
 10 items or less
10 items or fewer
Because of // due to
Due to is an adjective, and acts an
noun modifier
 Because of is a preposition that acts
as a verb-modifier or clause modifier
Because of rain, they cancelled the
concert.
 Due to rain, they cancelled the
concert. (Grammatically wrong, but
people use it)
X to be due to Y
X is because of Y - awkward
The delay was due to rain
The cancellation was due to heavy
storm
The match was cancelled due to rain
Like vs such as
I love movies like/such as
Spiderman, hulk, and Thor
Like/such as Spiderman, Venom was
also shot in the USA
Use like when you’re comparing
nouns
Use such as when you’re counting
nouns
I like movies such as Spiderman,
hulk, and Thor
Like Spiderman, Venom was also
shot in the USA