100 Mistakes #22 - Journey, Trip and Travel

Jeff has just arrived in London.

Me: How was the journey, Jeff?
Jeff: Oh, not too bad. There was a bit of traffic coming into London but apart from that...

Jeff has just been on holiday.

Me: How was your trip, Jeff?
Jeff: Amazing! The temples in Cambodia blew my mind.

Jeff is in an English class.

Me: So Jeff, what do you do in your free time?
Jeff: Well, I enjoy reading, going cycling in the mountains, music - mainly rock - and travel.

- - - - -

In the above examples, journey, trip and travel are all nouns.

journey = from A to B (by train, plane, bus, car etc.)

trip = the journey + everything you did at your destination

travel = the field of interest; the category (in a bookshop, for example)

We don't say the travel or a travel because travel is a category and categories do not have an article: music, rock, travel, psychology, linguistics...

- - - - -

travel is also a verb, so Jeff could say:

I don't like travelling by bus; it makes me feel sick.

trip is a verb too but it means experiencing the effects of psychedelic drugs:

Jeff: Wow, look at the lights. They're like tubes. It's beautiful.
Me: You're tripping, Jeff.

Now over to you:

Which of these is journey, trip, or travel?
(You may have to change the form if it's a verb.)


After the disastrous ________ last summer, _________ is the last thing on my mind.

I wasn't really expecting the _________ to take this long. I thought we'd be there by seven.

I've ________ to over 30 different countries.

I never thought we'd actually get to ride an elephant. This is the best _________ I've ever been on.

I don't like to take too much with me when I _________ .

100 Mistakes #8 - 'fun' or 'funny'?

I went climbing at the weekend and it was funny!

It wasn't 'funny' because funny things make you laugh, and climbing doesn't usually make you laugh.

Yes, but I laughed with my friends.

No, sorry, it still wasn't funny.

Funny = comical or humorous.

Jokes are sometimes funny. People falling over can be funny. Dramatic chipmunk is funny. But going climbing with your friends is not funny.

What was it then?

It was 'fun', or 'a lot of fun'.

Now I'm confused. Is 'fun' a noun or an adjective?

Well, 'fun' started out as a noun, and it's slowly becoming an adjective as well. So that means it can sometimes feel or sound strange when it's used as an adjective.

'It was fun' and 'it was a lot of fun' both sound fine.

But 'It was really fun' doesn't sound right, especially if you compare it to a 'proper' adjective: 'it was really enjoyable'.

And 'This year was funner than last year' doesn't work at all.
The comparative form of one-syllable adjectives is formed by adding 'er' but with 'fun' we have to use 'more' to make it sound ok: 'This year was more fun than last year.'

So it's on its way to becoming an adjective but it hasn't made it all of the way yet.

Note also that 'funny' things are usually 'fun' too, so going to see your favourite comedian will be both funny and fun. On the other hand, 'fun' things are not necessarily 'funny': doing a bungee jump might be your idea of fun but no one thinks it's funny. 

Now, let's go back to 'funny' because I haven't told you the whole story. In addition to 'funny - ha ha', we also have 'funny - strange'.

So when you say "Gary's a funny guy" there are two possible meanings.

1. Gary makes me laugh.
2. Gary is strange.

It's usually obvious which one people mean, because their intonation will sound cheerful for the first and more subdued for the second. But sometimes we need to check which one they meant:

Gary's a funny guy.

Do you mean 'funny - ha ha' or 'funny - strange'?

I mean 'funny - ha ha'.

Note that we always use the same expression  'funny - ha ha'. We never say  'funny - ha ha ha'. That would sound funny (funny - strange.)

Also note that things that are very strange sometimes make us laugh:

Look at that man climbing out of the window! Where's he going? He's... he's not wearing anything... ha ha ha ha ha...

100 Mistakes #7 - 'Responsible' is an adjective

'Responsible' is an adjective, like 'impossible', 'probable', 'flexible', 'likeable', 'horrible'... or any other word that ends in 'ible' or 'able'.

It is impossible to use 'responsible' as a noun in English.

Who is the responsable for authorizing policy decisions?
Who is responsible for authorizing policy decisions?

Notice that in the correct English sentence, there is no 'the' because 'the' comes before nouns, and 'responsible' is not a noun.

In Spanish and French, 'responsable', can be used as a noun. Note the difference in spelling too!

I am the responsible of the Human Resources department.
I am in charge of the Human Resources department.

'In charge of' explains that you are the person who is ultimately responsible for something. Notice that it is always 'responsible for' and never 'responsible of'.

I'd like to speak to the responsible for complaints.
I'd like to speak to the person responsible for dealing with complaints.

"person responsible" = person who is responsible
(We have not suddenly changed the rules for the position of adjectives!)

If you really need to use a noun, you could try 'manager' or 'representative':

I'm applying for the position of Responsable of Sales in Central and Eastern Europe.
I'm applying for the position of Sales Manager for Central and Eastern Europe.

Are you the responsible from the Berlin office?
Are you the representative from the Berlin office?

So the next time you catch yourself saying "the responsible", kick yourself hard in the shins for being so irresponsible.