4. Mind vs Matter

Now, we have 2 verbs that can cause a lot of confusion if you mix them up: mind and matter.

I recommend memorising these two phrases together:

• I don’t mind.
• It doesn’t matter.

We normally use “mind” in questions and negatives. “I don’t mind” means “It’s not a problem for me”, for example:

• I don’t mind doing the washing up. (I’m happy to do it.)
• We don’t mind the noise from the traffic. (It doesn’t bother us.)

And in the question form, it can be used to make a polite request.

• Would you mind taking me to the airport?

Notice how we can use a noun or the -ing verb after “mind”.

We also often use “not mind” to say that we are happy with any options offered to us, for example:

• Do you fancy going out for dinner or should we stay in? – I don’t mind. (I’d be happy doing either.)

It’s also very common to use “if” after mind, for example:

• Do you mind if I get myself a drink? – No, of course not, go ahead.
• Do you mind me getting a drink? (more formal)

We often use “matter” to reassure someone that something isn’t important.

• Oh no! I forgot to buy the milk! – It doesn’t matter, we can do without it. 

Rather confusingly, you can also use the expression “Never mind” here with the same meaning!

One final point: don’t mix “I don’t mind” up with “I don’t care”!

If used with the wrong tone of voice, “I don’t care” can make you sound angry or disinterested.

• I don’t mind. (I’d genuinely be happy with anything.)
• I don’t care! (Leave me alone! I don’t want to have to think about this now; I’m too busy!!)

5. Wonder vs Wander

Ok, let’s take a look at 2 verbs with very different meanings that sound ridiculously similar! Wonder and Wander

“Wonder” is a super useful verb which means to ask yourself something you wish you knew the answer to, for example:

• I wonder what Diego’s thinking right now.
• I wonder what Will’s bought me for my birthday.

“Wander” has nothing to do with “Wonder”. It means to walk around a place with no set plan or purpose like:

• We wandered around the narrow streets of Venice for hours.

Or the mega-famous line from the William Wordsworth poem:

• “I wandered lonely as a cloud…”

6. Fall Off/ Over/ Down

I cannot count the times someone has told me they’ve:

• Fallen down their bike (X)
• Fallen over the stairs (X)

It’s time to clear this one up once and for all! We use the verb “fall” when we suddenly drop from the position we are in towards the ground. We have a fight with gravity and gravity wins.

“fall off” can have an object and this object is usually something we’ve been sitting on:

• I fell off my bike/ a horse/ my chair/ the roof.

“fall over” is when you suddenly drop to the ground from a standing or upright position. It doesn’t need an object:

• I fell over and banged my knees.

But it can have one, for example:

• The dog fell over the cliff. 

We can also say that you “fall over yourself to do something”, meaning that you are very eager to do something and you try very hard to do it.

• Everyone fell over themselves to help me when I fell down the stairs at work.

“fall down” is most commonly used for stairs or steps. It can also be used with other inclined objects, like a hill or a slope.

• My brother fell down the stairs and broke his ankle.