cost/price/value/worth
cost = the amount of money which you have to pay for something (it is preferable when referring to services, jobs to be done, etc.)
Your car will be serviced at a cost of &200.
price = the amount of money which you have to pay for something (it is preferable when referring to particular objects)
What's the price of this radio, please?
value = the amount of money that something is worth
Our house has a market value of &600,000.
worth = the financial (also practical or moral) value of something
The insurance company agreed to pay the car's current market worth.
valuable/invaluable/precious/priceless/valueless/worthless
valuable = worth a lot of money; very important and/or useful
My uncle owns some valuable antiques and jewellery.
This documentary provides valuable information on recent trends in medicine.
invaluable = very valuable; extremely useful (not the opposite of valuable)
The stay in England proved to be an invaluable experience for my daughter.
precious = rare and worth a lot of money; important and not to be wasted
The thieves managed to steal all the precious jewels from the museum.
Drinking water is a precious commodity in some parts of the world.
priceless = extremely valuable or important (not the opposite of precious or valuable)
This museum contains a priceless collection of antiques.
We have just learnt some priceless information.
valueless = without value or worth (the opposite of valuable)
This picture is a fake, not the original. It's completely valueless.
worthless = valueless, useless
Our research proved to be worthless. We achieved no results.
hire/rent
hire = to pay money to borrow something for a short time (in British English)
We have hired a car for the weekend.
rent = to regularly pay money to use something for a longer period; to make a single payment for the use of something for a short time (in American English)
I don't own this flat - I rent it from Mr Gordon.
I want to rent a mountain bike for a two-day trip.
The owner of a thing can hire it out, rent it (out) or let it (out).
Do you hire out skis in this resort?
We rent (out) rooms to students during the school year.
We've let our house to some Italians for the summer.
save/spare (money)
save = to set money aside in order to buy something
I'm saving for a new car.
spare = to have money available after/before essential payments
I don't earn much and I can only spare &10 a week for my hobbies.
We can use these verbs to speak about time as well.
Let's take a taxi to save time.
Could you spare a minute to help me?
grateful/thankful
grateful = used to express people's reactions to kindness, favours, etc.
I'm very grateful for your help.
thankful = used to express people's feelings of relief after unpleasant situations, or feelings of pleasure after something good has happened
I'm thankful that the exams are over.
flammable/inflammable/non-flammable
flammable = that can burn easily
Put out the cigarette! There are highly flammable liquids stored here.
inflammable = flammable (especially in British English, it is not the opposite of flammable)
You can't smoke at petrol stations - petrol is inflammable.
non-flammable = not likely to burn easily (the opposite of flammable and inflammable)
Firefighters have to wear a non-flammable uniform.
loudly/aloud
loudly = in a way that makes a lot of noise and can be easily heard (the opposite of quietly) (In informal language loud is often used as an adverb as well.)
The music was playing so loud/loudly that I didn't hear my mobile ringing.
aloud = in a voice that other people can hear (not silently)
Let's read aloud so that I can check your pronunciation.
silent/quiet
silent = not speaking
We remained silent just looking into each other's eyes.
quiet = making little noise
She crept in as quiet as a mouse.
In some cases the two adjectives are interchangeable:
The streets were quiet/silent and deserted.
My sister is a quiet/silent type of person. (= she doesn't speak much)
Linguistics uses the technical term silent letter. It is a letter in a word that is written but not pronounced, as in half, bomb, sword (BrE) / sword (AmE), etc.
sound/noise
sound = something we can hear
We could hear a distant sound of church bells.
noise = an unpleasant and/or disturbing sound (can be countable or uncountable)
Don't make a noise. I'm trying to study here.
Try not to make so much noise. I'd like to make a phone call.
