Fun or Funny?
When do we use the words "fun" or "funny" when speaking English?
In teaching English language to students in many countries around the world I have found a series of mistakes that are made no matter where you are from.
One of those mistakes is when to use the word "fun" and "funny" when describing something.
Basically these are the general rules:
- Fun = when you enjoy yourself and have a good time
- Funny = it makes you laugh
In just about every class I do I always ask as an icebreaker: what did you do last weekend? My students are use to this and even though this may seem boring and routine, it does get the students thinking about what they did on the weekend and also the vocabulary they will need to tell me.
Almost every time my newer students will use the word "funny" to say they had a good time doing something on the weekend.
- I went to the cinema it was fun - meaning i enjoyed it!
- I went to the cinema, it was funny - meaning the movie I saw was funny and it made me laugh!
The examples above are both correct when seeing a movie or going to the cinema. But I often hear: we went to dinner and it was very funny. It's true dinner can be funny if you laughed but when the students are asked: do you mean it was funny and you laughed or do you mean mean it was fun and you enjoyed yourself? They always self correct and say... I mean it was fun.
So the question to ask yourself is this: did I enjoy myself - meaning I had "fun" or what we did made me laugh - meaning it was "funny"!
If you would like me to send you a copy of my Fun and Funny worksheet just send me a message.
Have a great day... Coach Brian
5. Juli 2018
