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Earlier, one of my students asked me what the difference is between “find out” and “know”, so I think that would be a good topic for today’s blog entry.

In English, we often have a separate word or expression to talk about the beginning of a situation. For example, first we PUT ON our clothes and then we WEAR them; first we GET a cold and then we HAVE the cold.

Another example of this is “find out” and “know”. First, we FIND OUT some information, and then we KNOW it. So when we talk about the first moment that we learn some information, we must use “find out”, but we can’t use “know” until afterwards. For example:

I found out about the terrorist attack when I watched the news report on TV. I was so shocked!

I knew about the terrorist attack before I watched the news because my friend had told me about it before.

Did you know that ABC Department Store is having a sale this weekend? I just found out today.

A: Did you know that Rachel is going to have a baby?

B: Yes, I know.

A: When did you find out?

B: I found out yesterday when Rachel’s husband told me.

As you can see from the examples, when we use “find out” we usually will say when we received the information. If we don’t say when we received it, the sentence will sound a little strange.

I recently had a request from one of the readers to explain the difference between the words: all, whole and entire. So that’s what I’m going to write about today, but I’d also like to include the words “each” and “every”.

The word “all” is used with countable or uncountable nouns to refer to 100% of many things. For example:

All of my furniture is from Ikea. (uncountable)

I bought all of my plates from ABC department store. (countable)

The words “whole” and “entire” mean 100% of one thing. It is used with countable nouns. For example:

I ate the whole pie by myself. I’m so full right now.

I spent the entire day watching TV and drinking beer. It was great!

The word “each” and “every” are very similar but have slightly different meanings. They are both used with countable nouns. The word “each” focuses on the individual parts that make up a collection of something, but “every” focuses on all the parts that make up a collection of something. For example:

Each of the stamps in my collection came from a different country.

Every stamp in my collection is very valuable.

Each person in my family is very special to me.

Every person in my family can play the piano.

In addition, we use “each” when we want to focus on the differences between things, and we use “every” when we want to focus on the fact that things are the same. For example:

I have many pins in my collection and each one comes from a different country.

I paid over $20 for every pin in my collection.

I hope this is clear to everyone. Please note that when the words “each” and “every” are followed by a verb in the present tense, it must have an “s”. Therefore, “each” and “every” follow the same grammar rules as “he”, “she” and “it”.

There is a common misunderstanding in Japan and Korea (and possibly in other countries as well) about the difference between “until” and “by”, so I’d like to explain the difference today. The word “until” refers to the time when some action stops, but the word “by” refers to a deadline when an action must be stopped. For example:

I worked until 8:00 p.m. last night.

I’m going to keep my part-time job until I graduate from university.

I’ll be in Osaka until Thursday, and then I’ll go back to Tokyo.

You can borrow my CD, but please give it back to me by the end of the month.

This project must be completed by Friday, March 26th.

A: What time do I need to check out of my room by?

B: By 11:00 a.m. please.

We also use “by” in the expression “by the time…” which is similar in meaning to “when”.  For example:

By the time I got to the office, the meeting had already started.

I had already finished my work by the time the boss called me.

Everyone had already started eating by the time I arrived at the restaurant.

By the time you get this message, I will already have left the office.

By the time I’m 50, I will have started my own company.

These last examples are a little bit more difficult because they use more complex tenses (had + pp and will have + pp). If you feel uncomfortable using them, try using the method I explained in my first blog: memorize the examples and then change the small details of the sentences to make new sentences. The important thing is that you don’t think in your native language. If you start thinking in your native language, you’ve changed the sentence too much! Good luck!