Common Mistakes
COMMON MISTAKE: ACCURATE
I hear these mistakes all the time:
– I dress accurately!
– I am an accurate person
But our “accurate” doesn’t really correspond to the Russian “аккуратный.”
Our “accurate” means that you are or that something is precise, not careful or orderly.
– An accurate machine
– An accurate description
– The figures concerning the low levels of British education are accurate.
– Her novel is an accurate reflection of life spent with sheep in Wales.
– We hope to become more accurate in predicting the emotions of sheep.
So we would say:
– I dress properly, neatly etc
– I am an attentive person / I pay attention to detail etc
We CAN say: I am quite accurate when taking measurements (accurate when DOING smth)