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Easily confused pairs

二/两 èr / liǎng Chinese has two number twos Read the 2 printed on a sign and it comes out 二; put two of something in your palm and count them, and it becomes 两. Chinese 5 uses

会/能/可以 huì / néng / kěyǐ Three locks on the same door marked can One door labelled I can, with three locks on it. 会 opens with what you have learned, 能 with what your body and your day allow, 可以 only when someone else turns the key. Chinese 5 uses

想/要/打算 xiǎng / yào / dǎsuàn Want to, going to, planning to — how far your feet have moved Measure the distance from your head to your feet. 想 never leaves your head, 要 has your hand already out, 打算 has the route drawn on paper. Chinese 5 uses

一点儿/有点儿 yìdiǎnr / yǒudiǎnr Move a bit from the front to the back and a complaint turns into a request One tiny grain. Hold it out and ask for it and you get 一点儿 after the adjective; find it already stuck to you and grumble, and you get 有点儿 in front. Chinese 5 uses

就/才 jiù / cái 就 and 才 don't measure time. They measure your expectations A ruler of time with one tick on it: the point where you expected things to land. Finish before that tick and you get 就; land past it and you get 才. Chinese 5 uses

还是/或者 háishi / huòzhě Hold the question mark at the fork and you get 还是 You are standing at a fork. Hand the question mark to the other person and it's 还是; say either road is fine and put the question mark down, and it's 或者. Chinese 5 uses

从/离 cóng / lí 从 is where the line starts; 离 is the gap between two dots 从 marks the dot a line sets off from. 离 marks the empty space measured between two dots that both stay put. Chinese 5 uses

对/给 duì / gěi 对 turns your face; 给 puts something in a hand 对 is your body turning to face someone. 给 is something leaving your hand and arriving in theirs. With 对, nothing changes hands. Chinese 5 uses

太/很 tài / hěn 很 is not very — it is a stand that props the adjective up A gauge with a needle. 很 is only the stand that lets the needle rest somewhere on the dial; 太 is the needle shooting past the red line and taking your feelings with it. Chinese 5 uses

不/没 bù / méi 不 is a door you closed; 没 is a footprint that was never made 不 is you pulling a door shut. 没 is looking back down the road and finding no footprints. 不 is about intent; 没 is about traces. Chinese 5 uses

make/do meɪk / duː Make leaves something behind; do clears something away An empty hand that suddenly holds a new thing is make; a pile of waiting work getting smaller one item at a time is do. English 5 uses

say/tell/speak/talk seɪ / tel / spiːk / tɔːk Say, tell, speak, talk — how far the words travel Words leaving your mouth and hanging in the air is say; the same words flying across and landing in someone's ear is tell; a mouth simply working in a language is speak; two mouths passing words back and forth is talk. English 5 uses

see/look/watch siː / lʊk / wɒtʃ See arrives, look turns, watch follows An image landing in a still eye all by itself is see; head and pupils swivelling to settle on one spot is look; eyes travelling with something that keeps moving is watch. English 5 uses

hear/listen hɪə / ˈlɪsn Sound arriving, and an ear leaning in Waves of sound rolling into a still ear on their own is hear; a head tilted and a hand cupped behind the ear, pulling the ear toward the sound, is listen. English 5 uses

borrow/lend ˈbɒrəʊ / lend Which hand the thing ends up in A pencil crossing the desk into your own hand is borrow; the same pencil leaving your hand for the hand opposite is lend. English 5 uses

bring/take brɪŋ / teɪk Toward where you are, or away from it Something coming through the door into the room you are standing in is bring; the same thing carried out of that room and off down the corridor is take. English 5 uses

come/go kʌm / ɡəʊ Why "I'm coming" and not "I'm going" when someone calls you Feet gathering toward where the speaker or the listener stands is come; feet moving off from that spot to somewhere else is go. English

few/little fjuː / ˈlɪtl Few and little — picked up one by one, or poured A handful of things you can pick up and count one at a time is few; a thin layer of something you pour is little. English

some/any sʌm / ˈeni Some is what your hand finds; any is your hand feeling around Knowing there is a mass in the box and scooping a handful out is some; lifting the lid and groping around to see if there is anything at all is any. English

much/many mʌtʃ / ˈmeni Counted on your fingers, or read off a gauge Things sitting apart, so your finger can tap them one at a time, take many; one connected mass you have to hold against a gauge takes much. English 5 uses

will/be going to wɪl / biː ˈɡəʊɪŋ tuː Will is decided now; going to is already rolling A decision made in the very second you speak, an arrow leaving your hand, is will; a train already on the rails and starting to roll is be going to. English 5 uses

used to/would ˈjuːst tuː / wʊd Used to is one old photo; would is a stack of them A scene that shows in the old photo and not in today's one is used to; the same scene shot season after season, a stack of photos, is would. English

other/another ˈʌðə / əˈnʌðə Another is one more; the other is the one left One more of the same thing set down beside what is already there is another; when you pick up one of a pair, the one still lying there is the other. English 5 uses

in/on/at ɪn / ɒn / ət A point on the clock, a square on the calendar, a month as a tub The single point the hands touch on a clock face is at; laying a plan on one square of the calendar is on; putting something inside the tub of a month or a year is in. English 5 uses