Confusable words accident and incident, as and like

—   Hello, boys and girls! My name is Martin. This is James.

—   Nathaniel is also with us today.

—   Welcome to our grammar lesson!

—   Yesterday we celebrated Lee’s birthday.

—   He invited us to his house.

—   When we got there, we sang the song to our Chinese friend.

Happy Birthday to you,

Happy Birthday to you,

Happy Birthday dear Lee,

Happy Birthday to you!

—   Lee was so happy!

—   Then we started talking about everything.

—   And we would like to show you some piece of our conversation.

—   Guys, did you hear what happened yesterday?

—   No, Lee, we didn’t.

—   Oh, I can tell you. One young man acted as a fool yesterday. He started a race with another driver on purpose. As a result, that driver got into a car accident. Now he is in hospital.

—   Oh my God, Lee. It’s so awful!

—   Yeah, I agree. The situation is terrible, but… Lee, I’m so sorry to tell you that on your birthday, but you’ve made two serious mistakes in your speech.

—   Really? Where?

—   Lee, we cannot say “acted as a child” and “car accident” in this case!

—   Why is that?

—   Well… there is a rule which explains that.

—   Can you tell me about this rule, please!

—   Right now? Lee, it’s your birthday!

—   Yes, right now! It’s my birthday wish.

—   Ha-ha… All right!

Today in the lesson we will:

·        talk about confusable words “accident” and “incident”, “as” and “like”;

And

·        put the knowledge into practice.

—   First of all, we will start with the words: “accident” and “incident”.

—   Let’s talk about the difference between these two words.

—   Oh, I’m so interested!

You may hear the words accident and incident to refer to events in the news.

It’s easy to confuse these words, because they both are translated as “несчастный случай” or “неожиданный случай”. But they are not exactly the same!

Incident is more general, and accident is more specific.

Incident can refer to any event – big or small, good or bad, deliberate or undeliberate. For instance, a bank robbery, a funny situation, an argument between celebrities, etc. We can describe all these examples as incidents.

An accident is a bad event caused by mistake or by chance.

Accidents are always unintentional. They usually result in some damage or injury. For example, a car crash. If some equipment malfunctions in a factory and injures the workers, we also call that an accident. Examples of very minor accidents are when you step on someone’s foot or spill your coffee on someone else. You didn’t want or plan to do it.

All accidents can ALSO be described as incidents – but NOT all incidents are accidents.

If a drunk driver runs his car into a group of people, that is an accident.

The person did not intend to do it. It was caused by alcohol. We can also describe this situation as an incident.

If two people were arrested after fighting in a bar, that is an incident.

We cannot call that an accident, because the fight wasn’t by chance. The men intended to fight.

Now let’s compare two examples.

The police investigated an accident at the mall. One man fell off a ladder.

(In this case we used the word “accident”, because the action was unintentional).

The police investigated an incident at the mall. One man had stolen a gold ring and ran away.

(Here we used the word “incident”, because the action was intentional. The man wanted to do that).

—   Lee, we told you about the difference between the words: “accident” and “incident”.

—   We also discussed what they have in common.

—   Now let’s talk about the words “as” and “like”.

—   Great!

People often confuse “as” and “like” since they are both translated as “такой как” or “так как”. We use these words to compare actions or situations.

For example:

Molly speaks like/as her mother.

Nobody understands Kate like/as her sister.

In informal English people often use “like” instead of “as”.

There are, however, important differences between them.

1. We use “like” to state that someone is very similar to another.

Remember! “Like” is a preposition and should be followed by a noun or a pronoun.

For example:

My dad has been working like a dog all afternoon.

(In this sentence the word “like” is followed by a noun).

Mike looks just like his grandfather.

(In this sentence the word “like” is followed by a pronoun).

2. If we talk about figurative comparison, we need to use “like” instead of “as”.

 For instance:

Barbara sings like a bird.

Ron always sleeps like a baby.

3. When we talk about job or function, we need to use “as”.

For instance:

Veronica works as a school teacher.

My mum uses her old dresses as cloths for dust.

4. We also use “as” with the following constructions: as I said, as you know, as you see, as usual, do as you’re told.

For instance:

Christopher, do as I said, or I will be mad at you!

Marry, as you see, Nick is a very good man!

5. You must be careful! In similar sentences that use “like” and “as”, the meanings of each sentence are very different.

For example:

As your dad, I must warn you to be careful.

(I am your dad. It’s a reality).

Like your dad, I must warn you to be careful.

(I am not your dad, but he and I have a similar opinion. It’s a comparison).

—   Lee, now you know about the difference between the words: “as” and “like”.

—   We also discussed what they have in common.

—   But we would like to check your knowledge.

—   Sure, guys! No problem.

Complete the sentences. Use the appropriate words. Sometimes you can use either.

A. “Like” or “as”.

One.

Let’s check.

Mrs. Mills, as I said, your children had missed their lessons.

Two.

Check yourselves.

Kyle, like your mother, I want to know the story in details.

Three.

Let’s see the right answer.

Kelly, I’m your mother and as your mother I want to know more about your personal life.

Four.

Check yourselves.

Yesterday we watched the news on TV about the ship that sank like a stone.

The following sentences.

Five.

Let’s check.

Mr. Brown works as a doctor in the hospital near his house.

Six.

Check yourselves.

My grandfather swims like a fish. He is a very strong swimmer.

Seven.

Let’s see the right answer.

Robin works like a dog to save enough money for the trip to Canada this summer.

Eight.

Check yourselves.

Like my cousin I’m going to become a policeman.

B. “Accident” or “incident”.

One.

Let’s check.

Here we can use both variants.

George suffered from strong backaches after the car incident or accident.

Two.

Check yourselves.

Yesterday Tyler’s uncle was injured by a stranger. It was a terrible incident.

Three.

Let’s see the right answer.

In this sentence we can use both variants.

John had an accident or incident at work. A crate fell on him and injured his shoulder.

Four.

Let’s check.

The police investigated an incident at the swimming pool. One old man pushed an old lady. As a result, she hurt her arm.

The following sentences.

Five.

Let’s check.

Yesterday all the newspapers wrote about the incident in the bank. One young man stole $2 million.

Six.

Check yourselves.

In this sentence we can also use both variants.

The plot of the book was based on a real incident or accident.

Seven.

Let’s see the right answer.

Jillian told us about an incident in her childhood. She was beaten by her elder brother.

Eight.

Let’s check.

Here we can use both variants.

The police investigated an accident or incident at the cinema. One lady fell off a ladder.

—   Lee, did you understand everything about the words: “accident” and “incident”, “as” and “like”?

—   Yes, I did, guys! Thank you so much. Now I know about the difference between these words and won’t confuse them in the future.

—   Great! We are glad to hear that.

—   That’s all for today, our dear friends.

—   We hope our lesson was interesting and useful for you.

—   See you soon, boys and girls.