Vocabulary commentary II

a) Study the definitions of the words with similar meanings and think about their proper Russian equivalents.

1. Historic / historical

historic – [adj]

important in history, or likely to be considered important at some time in the future

In London you can see a lot of areas of special architectural or historic interest.

historical – [adj]

connected with history or with the past; connected with history as a subject of study; used for describing someone or something as they really existed in the past; historical research / evidence / traditions / novel

The painting depicts an actual historical event.

Note: a historic event – an event which is well-remembered; a historical event – an event which took place in history.

2. Leave / abandon

to leave – [v]

to go away from a person or a place

The ship left before dawn. My secretary has threatened to leave.

to abandon – [v]

to leave a person, especially someone you are responsible for; to go away from a place, especially because it is difficult or dangerous to stay there; to stop doing smth. or being involved in smth. because there are too many problems and it is impossible to continue; to leave something in a place, especially because you are in a hurry or are trying to escape

His mother abandoned him when he was five days old. After 20 lessons I finally abandoned my attempt to learn to drive. The stolen car was abandoned only five miles away.

3. Coast / shore / beach / seaside

the coast – [n, singular]

an area of land beside a sea, used to talk about a country or a large part of a country

We were driving along the Californian coast, from San Francisco to LA. She lives in a small village on the south coast of England.

the shore – [n, singular]

the land along the edge of the sea or along the edge of the lake

We could see a boat about a mile from the shore. They stayed in a hotel on the shore of Lake Geneva.

a beach – [n, C]

an area of sand or small stones beside a sea or a lake

I like the kind of holiday where I can sit on the beach for a week and do nothing.

the seaside – [n, singular]

a place by the sea, especially a holiday resort

When I was little we used to go to the seaside most weekends.

4. Repair / fix / decorate / redecorate / renovate / restore / maintain / mend

to repair – [v]

to mend smth. that is broken or damaged

Little seems to have been done to repair the bridges.

repairs – [n, C, usually plural]

work that is done to fix smth., an act or result of repairing smth.

How much will the repairs cost?

to fix – [v]

to repair smth. that is broken or not working properly, especially a machine

The radio isn’t working – can you fix it? I have to get my car fixed.

to decorate – [v]

(BrE) to put paint or paper on the walls of a room

We decorated the kitchen last week.

to redecorate – [v]

to paint a room again or put new wallpaper on the walls

The paint on the wall in the cellar has chipped off, you should redecorate it.

to renovate – [v]

to make something old look new again by repairing and improving it, especially a building

The old hospital needs renovating.

to restore – [v]

to clean and repair something old and dirty or damaged so that it looks the same as it did originally

The church has now been beautifully restored.

to maintain – [v]

to make regular repairs to the building, road, vehicle etc. so that it stays in good condition

The house is large and difficult to maintain.

maintenance – [n, U]

regular work done to check and repair smth. so that it stays in good condition

Mr. White is responsible for the maintenance of the school buildings.

to mend – [v]

to repair smth. that is broken or not working, or smth. that has a hole in it

When are you going to mend the fence?