MIND THE TRAP : NORMALLY

In English, normally can only be used to refer to what is (or isn't) the usual, normal situation. Look at the following examples :

You don't normally chew gum. Why are you doing it today ?

I don't normally wear a tie to work, but today I've got an important meeting with a client.

I'm sorry about this - we don't normally have problems with the lift.

Normally cannot be used to express probability as in the French 'il devrait normalement être à l'aéroport maintenant'. In English, we would say : 'He should be at the aeroport by now'.

Equally, we say : 'You shouldn't have any difficulty finding us as we're right opposite the station.'

THE FUTURE OF FINANCE

THIS WEEK'S WORD : HENCE

Hence means 'that's why' or 'which explains'. It is a formal word that is usually found in written English.

Look at the following examples of the usage of hence :

Sales are continuing to fall; hence our decision to lay off 10 members of our sales team.

Global warming is having a serious impact and is even provoking natural catastrophes; hence the need to find more environmentally friendly sources of energy.

INVESTMENT WISDOM

Diseased = suffering from a disease
Livestock = farm animals such as cows and sheep
Unwise = imprudent, a bad choice (the opposite of wise)
Bunch = a group of, a number of (a bunch of flowers; a bunch of people)
Aggregate = to gather together a collection of items
Savvy = knowledgeable about, aware of the area concerned (the opposite of naive)

THIS WEEK'S 'FALSE FRIEND' : EVENTUALLY

In English, we use eventually to mean finally or in the end. Look at the following examples of the usage of eventually :

"It was a tough choice, but eventually we opted for the larger supplier."

"I looked for the file for over an hour, but eventually gave up."

"After failing his driving test several times, he eventually passed after taking more lessons."