 Students asked me about these confusing English words from espressoenglish.net. There are a lot of words in English that seem to be the same, and in fact, they are very similar, but we use them in different ways. Here are five pairs of words my students have asked me about. To learn more, check out my e-book on 600-plus confusing words. Click on the link in the video for more information. Let's look at deem and regard. There's not much difference in meaning between deem and regard. Both mean that something is considered or believed to be a certain way. In fact, the dictionary gives regard as, as one of the definitions for deem. Note that the word deem doesn't use as. For example, this restaurant is deemed excellent. This restaurant is regarded as excellent. In some cases, deem can imply pronouncing a judgment like a decision, which is stronger than regard. For example, if you say the results were deemed inaccurate, it means they were examined and decided to be inaccurate. If you say the results were regarded as inaccurate, it means many people believe they are inaccurate, but it still might be possible that they're not. Another common question is about the words elder and older. Elder and older mean the same thing, but older is much more common. You can say, John is my elder brother, but it's more common to say John is my older brother. Elder can only be used with people, never objects, and it is most often used with relatives. My elder brother, my eldest daughter, etc. It can only be used before the person, as in the example of elder brother. But never say he is three years elder than me. That's not possible. You need to use older. He is three years older than me. If in doubt, just use older because it's more common and can be used in more situations. The word elder can also be a noun referring to older people. For example, in my culture, we always respect our elders. Elderly people and the elderly can also be used to talk about older adults in general, usually 70 years old or more. These terms are more polite than saying old people. Loyal and faithful. Both loyal and faithful describe someone who is devoted to a person, country, cause, or belief, and who can be trusted and relied upon. There are some situations in which we tend to prefer one over the other. We tend to say a person is loyal to their country or company if they have always supported it and acted in its best interests. You can also describe a friend as loyal if he or she has been a good and supportive friend for a long time. The opposite of loyal is disloyal. We tend to use faithful when talking about romantic partners. Someone is faithful to their romantic partner if they have never cheated. That means kissed or had sex with someone else. When someone has cheated on their romantic partner, we can say they were unfaithful to their husband or wife or boyfriend or girlfriend. Another question is about the words crush and squeeze. Both crush and squeeze refer to applying pressure to something. However, squeeze is a lighter pressure and crush is so much pressure that it damages the object. When I go to the supermarket, I might squeeze fruit with my hand to see if it's ripe. When giving someone a hug, you squeeze their body with your arms. Pressure is applied, but no damage is done. On the other hand, crushing involves damage or destruction. If I run my car over an object, that object would be crushed. If a giant rock falls on my hand and crushes it, it causes serious damage to my hand. In the picture, you can see a nut that has just been crushed by the hammer. Finally, let's look at joke and prank. A joke is verbal. It is a story or a question and answer that is supposed to be funny. Comedians tell jokes and try to make the audience laugh. A prank involves action. You set things up to put another person in a funny or embarrassing situation. An example of a prank might be switching the push and pull labels on a door so that people can't figure out how to open it. A prank can also be called a practical joke. I hope you can now understand the difference between these confusing words. If you're wondering about the difference between other confusing words, you might find the answer in my e-book, 600 Plus Confusing English Words Explained, where I've gathered the most common confusing words that English learners tend to make mistakes with. Click on the link in the video for more information and to see some free samples from the e-book.