Actual Vs Actually

Typical mistakes:

Unemployment is a very actual problem.

The population of Phnom Penh used to be higher than actually.

To talk about things that are going on at the moment, we use, for example, present, up-to-date, current, topical, just now, at the moment, at present.

Examples:

Unemployment is a current problem.

The population of Phnom Penh used to be higher than at present.

Actual and actually are not used in this sense. They mean almost the same as real and really, or in fact, and they used to correct misunderstandings, or to introduce unexpected information.

Examples:

The book says she was 47 when she died, but her actual age was 45.

'Hello, Tom. Nice to see you again.' - 'Actually, my name's Mike.'

'Could I speak to Linsay?' - 'Well, she's on holiday, actually.'

We often use actually in apologies (to 'break news gently').

Examples:

'How did you get on with my car?' - 'Well, actually, I'm terribly sorry, I'm afraid that I had a crash.'

Comments

Across Vs Over

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