Vocabulary: How to Use ‘Aggravate’ and ‘Annoy’

Can we use ‘bother’ as well?

Richard

As a synonym for “annoy”? Absolutely.

Alex

I am always wondering about the difference between Problem and Issue??
Thank you

A Sucre

Hi Alex, this was an interesting lesson!

How about when you do it on purpose, I mean when you annoy someone deliberately.

Is it possible to say “I aggravated my girlfriend yesterday when I began talking about a close female friend of mine”?

Thanks for everything. Have a nice weekend!!!

Regino

Oh! its really hard to find out which one is annoy and which is aggravate.

Sonia Zaman

I got 10 correct out of 10.Thanks teacher

moon39

Very clear! Thank you

flowernotflower

First comment!!!!!
Dear Alex thanks for the class
Please make a video about ‘would’,would have been,could have been,should have been,would have done(not in conditional)
Eg:I would say,He would say,You would say(Is this unreal ,polite or giving opinion?)
Awaiting your reply

pintuk

Thanks Alex for this helpful video.

fouadsorial

Thanks sir very good lesson, I got 100%.

Abdul Qayum

It’s the very useful lesson for me! I haven’t known these two words before. Maybe it’s because that I feel irritation very rare. )) Thanks!

little snail

Hi little Snail, so you rarely get annoyed/irritated? Mmm …mmm …Yeah … let me see… that’s it!!! It is because you do everything at a snail pace, don’t you?

Regino

Sorry, I did not mean to be rude. I only wanted to share this idiomatic expression.
Have a nice day!!!

Regards

Regino

Oh! It’s okay! :)) Hi Regino! It isn’t annoying me. I just think like a slow snail. ;) Have a nice day too

Katy

little snail

…it did not annoy you, Katy? Well, that makes me feel much better.

See you around and have a wonderful weekend!!!

Regino

Thanks Alex, it’s very useful lesson.

haiderhabeeb

“Aggravate” was my new word. But I got 8 correct out of 10 :) Thank you, Alex :D

Happy04

Hi Alex, this was an interesting lesson!
How about when you do it on purpose, I mean when you annoy someone deliberately.

Is it possible to say “I aggravated my girlfriend yesterday when I began talking about a close female friend of mine”?

Thanks for everything. Have a nice weekend!!!

Regino

Regino, I looked the word up in the Cambridge dictionary and I also found aggravate=annoy, there was an example: ‘stop aggravating me, will you?’
So back to your question, I am very curious what Alex would say.

anina

Because so many people use it in this fashion, it has become more accepted as a synonym for “annoy,” but the original meaning is to make something worse.

Alex

Thanks Anina, you were absolutely right!!!
Alex’s answer confirms yours.

Thanks again for your help.

Have a great day!

Regino

nice lesson

Muslim(Salyaf)

thanx Alex, really you are amazing english

teacher and your lessons are so useful,
I wish If you could make a lesson for some confusing phrasal verbs, such as ” think of , think about” , ” get back, go back, come back”

Marwan.

i am always confuse this word can you explain

james has had

vijay143

Awesome! I noticed that you can also look at it this way:
1. Annoy is always used in regards to a person (you cannot annoy a thing)
2. Aggravate is always used for things (you cannot aggravate a person in the psychological sense). You can only make SOMETHING worse.

Thanks a lot Alex! I wonder if you remember any Polish :)? Best wishes from Poland!

Satya

Wow, I got all the questions. It´s great. Thanks for everthing teacher.

fania12

wow i got 90 marks thanks alex

swati.mishra0211@gmail.com

Nice lesson and explanation. 100%

Marcio Ap. Massarelli

Is the sentence: “She always annoys her friends” acceptable? What sounds more natural in this case: present simple or present progressive?

hiubhp

Hi Hiubhp,. . . if it (annoying people) has become a habit, present tense sounds more natural to me.
Hope it may help.
Regards

Regino

Alex, Thanks a lot for this useful class.Good luck forever.

daffodile

thank you very much , Alex.

Taleb Batis

Excellent lesson as always. I like these English lesson especially those with Alex.

Oliverone

fantastic lesson.

Nicholas Giuliani

Thank you for this lesson…I like Your teaching Mr.Alex….

rakulrc

Thank you very much , mr.Alex.

mohmmad nori

Thanks Alex for this lesson.
For me, the most difficult part of it is still the right pronunciation of the word “aggravate”.
So difficult….!

byte

Hi Alex, thanks for a good lesson ;). I recon you should be more enthusiastic ;)

anina

HI ALEX ! Thank you for this lesson

Hakam Namer

Thanks teacher. It is really useful lesson. So now, I can use those words correctly.

nguyenxuanphuc37

10 out of 10 :)

koubalondon

could someone here to tell me how to respond to comments, please?
i’ve tried but couldn’t find out how!!!

koubalondon

When you mouse over the comment, a link that says “Reply to this comment” should show up! If it’s not working for you, let me know what browser you’re using or if you’re looking at it on your phone!

engVid Moderator

Thank you, Alex! Very thorough explanation!

melony

I like your lesson Alex. Thanks a lot.

kmdt

I got 10 correct out of 10.

yrttt6501

Hey plz help me.video is not opening in Pakistan.I missed all the lesson.plz kindly tell me how to get this video means how to open it. :(

nisha abrar

10/10 Thank you Alex!

lionnv

Before I watched this video, I got 8 out of 10, but after this lesson, I’ve got 100% and known the difference between ‘Annoy’ and ‘Aggravate’. Thanks Adam! ;-D

Matilda03

Did ou take the quizz first and then watched the video? That’s not a bad idea! Next time I’m gonna try it out.

Have a nice day!!!

Regino

…correction: “Did YOU take the quizz . . .”

Sorry, we all make mistakes from time to time.

Regards

Regino

To: EngVid Moderator.

I use SAFARI on MacBook Pro.
I have checked again, but still can’t see reply!!!! i can just leave comment on main page.
Thank you in advance for your help

koubalondon

Thanks, Alex.

Simple and useful

kishtuki

thank u so much =)

sami45

Thank you, teacher. Good lesson, go on so :-)

zioramon

Luckily not a problem for spanish speakers like me, since we have “agravar” which means exactly the same.
Anyway, thank you for these great videos!

eskimo.boy

Excellent!! Thanks so much!!! I was getting injured by this!!! =)

wesleycv

Thank you very much Alex, you´re the best.

Manuelcruz

Thank my Teacher .. I got 10/10

tdawelbeit

thanks for your way really i am getting better

mohamed abdellatef17

Very nice stuff.

dmsilv

Great lesson!The difference between languages is interesting, on portuguese language, it is very simple, it is not a confusing words.
Regards

henri

Very exaustive lesson. Many thanks

Franca

English is a confusing language, isn’t it? Mandarin is plain and simple as Japanese, Swahili, Bedouin, etc.
Come on! Even Portuguese is not a very simple language.
Spanish is a very simple language when you heard speak it a “giri”.
Low German, middle German, etc. is easier than English.
Polish is the easiest language ever. And yanks speak a perfect English.
I can see the future. All of us will speak in Chinese.
The easiest language ever.

aroibas

Thank you teacher. I used dictionary to find the meaning of “aggravate” and I also misunderstand the meaning of it. Thank to your helpful lesson, now I understand it clearly. I’m looking forward to watching your next lesson. Thanks

trangpnguyen

Great lesson Alex, thank you!

buyeromanya

Thanks for your clear explanation.

jueshengqiu

you are a perfect teacher!!! thank youuu!!

ecetanem

Thanks a lot for your help Sir. I make out the lesson perfectly. hope you be successful in your career.

Kamiran

Thanks alex , i understood the lesson

Muyashi

Thank you alex.

Baijali

Hi Alex; I’m very surprise that people can indifferently use the two words the meaning of each one seeming obvious and I’ve never thought they could have been taken as synonyms. I see that in English, to annoy means only to irritate. In my language, French, it also means to bore (oneself or someone else): ‘he is really boring that girl’, in French you would say ‘he is annoying that girl” in other words ‘he is making her bored’. In both languages, to aggravate has the very same meaning, making things worst. So I do not really understand how the use of two words can give rise to confusion. Thanks.

patple13

Corrected;
Hi Alex; I’m very surprised that people could indifferently use the two words, the meaning of each one seeming obvious. I’ve never thought they could have been taken as synonyms. I see that in English, “to annoy” only means “to irritate”. In my language, French, it means “to bore” (oneself or someone else): “he’s really boring that girl”; in French you would say “he is really annoying that girl” in other words “he is making her bored”. In both languages, “to aggravate” has the very same meaning, making things worst. So I do not really understand how the use of the two words can give rise to confusion. Thanks.

patple13

I got only 90%..

abribashful

so aggravate and exaggerate are something alike

xenovobez

Nope, aggravate is something like adding the problem to make it more serious or severe while exaggerate is to enlarge beyond bounds, i hope im right hehehe

bregette1999

I think aggravate means to add to the problem. Isn’t right professor?

Preta

I was out for a while, but now I am back. I think I have missed a lot… I love your way of teaching, Alex: clear, simply, patient… Thank you very much.

Sally S

hi sir….plz help me becoz i could not watch the video…..it give the option “The server refused the connection.”…..

yaqub khan

Perfect score again… This site is so awesome!!!! million thumbs-up to people behind this website….

bregette1999

Hi, alex. Thank you for one more very useful video. Sorry for make a comment off-topic, but I have a such doubt and I didn’t find a lesson about that here. My question would be about the difference between the expressions “figured out”, “wondering” and “thinking”. Could you, please, help me with this? Which situation should I use each one of them? I think I’ve made mistakes with this expressions… Thank you for read my comment ;)

I’m looking foward to your response. All the best (and sorry for any english mistake that I made here)

Joel Cavalcanti

How many sounds are there in English?
a) 44 : or b) 47

Sabuhi

Thank you for the lesson Alex!
May I use tease as a synonymous of annoy?

Reiskleiton

Thank you for the very useful lesson Alex.I got only 60% can I Improve or not?

pantsitu

yes I got 100%

pantsitu

I totally understand the lesson ….thank u so mch sir…

Umu Idil

I got 10/10 thanks)

karinka

I never know the word ” aggravate” before. Thank you very much. The lesson was clear and I got one more word in my vocabulary …hehe

Nittaya

I got 10 correct out of 10.Thanks teacher

Wael Rashed

Aggravate is a new word for me.

Thank you Alex, What an interesting lesson

abdul algarayen

great 10 out of ten. thanks teacher.

MARACAY

I got 9 correct out of 10.
Thanks teacher Alex so much

trongtruong.pvpnt2

This was interesting lesson Alex, thank you very much))

Dmitriy Rodin

Hi,Alex thank for this wonderful lesson.I scored 90.

chisengakunda@rocketmail.com

Hi, Is the sentence below correct please?
the hotel overlooked the beach and just a short walk away.

Ali7171

i got 70.thank Sir.

thiorofina

i understood, my scores are 90 poit

nhattrung

Hi Alex,
thanks a lot for your useful lesson.
I increase my vocabulary :)
take care

cep62

Hi Alex, my question is not about lessons, I just wonder if you can still speak polish fluently? Do you use it often? Do you go back to Poland every year? I am from Hungary:) Sorry my question is not about these lessons:) You have great explanations!

foldesanett

I think native Spanish speakers wouldn’t have trouble with “aggravate” because in Spanish we have the same word with the exact (and correct) meaning. It is “agravar/aggravate”

Se agravó la situación.
The situation was aggravated.

You shouldn’t say “to aggravate a person” in Spanish(, neither should English). xD

Easy for us!! =)

Zero10

Yep!!! You’re right. This is not a problem for us.

I thought about it, but it never crossed my mind that I could make a comment on this.

Si, definitivamente esto no representa un problema para nosotros, ¿verdad?

¡Buen inicio de semana!

Regino

THANK YOU ALEX.It was an interesting lesson. In fact i used to make such mistakes.Now thanks to you i will never make such errors <3

thanitarki

thank you, absolutely clear.

abramito11

I LIKE YOUR LESSONS ALEX

nurse

I got 90, thanks for lessons

magas

can we also use tease in situations when we are irriteting someone deliberatly

dilbag italy

Thank you Alex! this lesson was very useful!

wilsonvigil

Good Lesson, but i have to tell you: I get problems with my pronunciation about “aggravate”… I must continue practicing

angie01

Nice I learn what the different now thank Mr.

salems0o

I got perfect score : D

mahalPH

Alex..can you suggest a good technique to preparing for IELTS test…English is my first language.

ruidargul

Thank you.

Nadir

It’s good

ernie tejada

Alex is really a good teacher,thanks Alex !

rue

10 correct … thank you again Alex :)

maged fekry

thumbs up!! 10/10…..that was really useful and informative.

sridhar999

thanks for the informations :)

hamza10zizou

hey Alex, I’m very good in reading and writing but I have a problem with speaking and understanding native speakers… what can I do to improve my speaking and listening skills?

Mahmoud Abu Zaid

Good lesson, as usual. :-)

Fabri

WOW I CAN’T BELIEVE I GOT IT ALL. THAT MEANS THE EXPLANATION OF OUR OUTSTANDING TEACHER MR. ALEX THOUGHT IT SO WELL AND IN UNDERSTANDABLE WAY. THANK YOU SIR ALEX FOR YOUR TEACHINGS. YOU’RE A KIND OF A BIG HELP YOU KNOW.

saaduddin

Thanks so much….You are a excellent teacher!!!
Take care friend!!

IldoSan

Thanks Alex. I am always listening to you with pleasure. But as a French I couldn’t have a problem of misunderstanding with these two words because they looks like two useful French words = ennuyer for to annoy and aggraver for to aggravate.
Thanks a lot for your lessons.

beernaard

That does make it easier. Nice. :)

Alex

9/10. thank you very much.

Soei

No problem! Thanks for watching.

Alex

I got 90. Thank you.

vkachan69

Oh yeah! Got a perfect on this one. Thanks alex.

Ryan18

Formidable lesson! As always.

frarlley

thanks a lot.

vkachan69

I must STRONGLY disagree with Alex on “Aggravate” meaning. He Says that it`s incorrect to use “Aggravate” as synomyms of “to irritate” or “to annoy”. BUT BOTH Oxford and Collin`s dictionaries claim the opposite. “Aggravate”(apart from “worsen”) is a colloquial way of saying “Irritate” or “Annoy” so i don`t see any obstacles not to use it in this way and besides i heard many times people say it in movies and on TV.

KevinKoch

hi alex you are the best for me,i find your section very useful and worth for me.
thank you very much

alisam

Really Really thanks, Sir.Alex
Sire you are really serve the world community.

Modabber

I got 8 correct :) Thanks a lot.

KonstansFaust

10/10
Thank you so much.

philologist95

I got a perfect score, thank you Alex.

ann ann

I heard an executive saying “The best thing we can do is not to aggravate the employees”. Being an employee can be a bad situation, so don’t make it worse, which makes sense :)

zyou

We can aggravate a person who is already in a bad mood :)

zyou

Great work Alex! Thanks!

Jonathas Wilhem

Thank you, Adam for an useful lesson as it usually is. I have a question. If James (from 5-th question) is the worst person in the world, can we really aggravate him, or that would be hard to do?