Pretend, Anticipate and Realise — Three Commonly Confused English Verbs Explained with Natural Examples
If you’ve ever mixed up pretend, anticipate, and realise, this episode will help you finally separate them clearly.
Welcome to Episode 25 of No Pressure English — a podcast for intermediate and advanced English learners.
In this episode, we focus on three verbs that many learners find confusing in real conversation — pretend, anticipate and realise. Each of these words has a specific meaning in English that is often misunderstood or mistranslated from other languages. Through clear explanations, key differences and simple everyday examples you can start using immediately, this episode will help you choose the right word naturally and confidently — without overthinking.
What We’ll Focus On::
- Pretend — what it really means in English and how to use it correctly
- Anticipate — the difference between anticipating something and simply expecting it
- Realise — why this verb often surprises learners from other language backgrounds
- The key differences between all three verbs that make them easier to remember
- Simple natural examples you can start using immediately in conversation
- How false friends and mistranslations cause confusion with these verbs
- Why understanding verb meaning in context builds lasting fluency
***To read the subtitles for this episode, click the CC button in the top right corner of the video:
If you liked this episode of the podcast, here are some other episodes that you might find interesting:
https://nopressureenglish.com/podcast/episode-13-common-collocation-mistakes-and-how-to-fix-them/
https://nopressureenglish.com/podcast/episode-10-new-years-resolutions-and-smart-goals/
Some interesting false friends across the globe:
https://www.flexilingo.com/en/blog/false-friends-cognates-english
