|
ESL Forum:
Techniques and methods
in Language Teaching
Games, activities
and teaching ideas
Grammar and
Linguistics
Teaching material
Concerning
worksheets
Concerning
powerpoints
Concerning online
exercises
Make suggestions,
report errors
Ask for help
Message board
|
ESL forum >
Ask for help > mistake for vs mix up with
mistake for vs mix up with
|
apayala
|
mistake for vs mix up with
|
|
Hi, Is there any difference between mistake for and mix up with? For example: "Don�t mistake the red thread for the blue one otherwise your knitting won�t come out right" or is better "Don�t mix up the red thread with the blue one otherwise your knitting won�t come out right" What do you think? I am uncertain which sentence would be more correct, Bruce  Regards, Ana
|
28 Nov 2016
|
|
|
|
yanogator
|
|
Thank you for asking me, personally, Ana, but don �t slight the others, please. To "mistake for" means to think that something is something else. If you mistake the read thread for the blue, that means that you think the blue thread is the red one (maybe in dim light). If you mix up the threads, that means that you have them mixed together, so both are being used, when, perhaps, the intention was to use only one, or only one at a time.
Bruce
|
28 Nov 2016
|
|
|
apayala
|
|
Thank you, Bruce. I guess if we were talking about same colour threads, both white for example but just one on the left and the other on the right, I could use both expressions: Don´t mistake the left thread for the right one or don´t mix up the left thread with the right one. Thanks again and also to everybody Regards, Ana |
28 Nov 2016
|
|
|
yanogator
|
|
Actually, that �s still not right. "Mix up" can mean to confuse or to blend together. In this sentence, you would have to say "Don �t confuse the left thread for the right one", because "mix up" is going to mean "blend together" in this context. Now that I think of it, when it means "confuse", "mix up" is intransitive, and it can use a preposition, but not a direct object. I �m all mixed up today. Are you mixed up about the date of the party? Bruce |
29 Nov 2016
|
|
|
apayala
|
thanks a million again, Bruce! Happy Christmas! Ana |
29 Nov 2016
|
|
|
