actual

Use the word "actual" to say that something is true or real, not imagined or fake.

• The game was played with actual money, not fake money.
• The woman on the plane was helped by an actual doctor.
• If this had been an actual emergency and not a drill, you would have been told where to go.
• What is the actual value of that gold necklace?
• Is that an actual gun he’s carrying?
• This website was created by an actual English teacher.

  Is that an actual gold tooth?

The word "actually" is a popular adverb that is used to emphasize a real situation.

actually (ak’ chu wul lee)

• That man is actually planning to climb the side of that skyscraper.
• I thought this was going to be easy, but it’s actually a lot of work.
• The meeting was planned for an hour, but it actually lasted much longer than that.
• We were actually surprised that Jeremy finished all of his courses with good grades.
• No one expected Carolyn to move to Europe, but she actually did it.
• Jose’s English is actually improving after coming to this website.

Click here to go to the Word of the Day page.

Date of publication: August 31, 2016