Notice or Notify?

Today while teaching online I was helping a student with an email. He had written something like, “If you cannot make this appointment, please notice me.” Oops.

This is a COMMON mistake many native speakers of Chinese make when writing or speaking English. Can you find it? It should read, “If you cannot make this appointment, please notify me.” English is a crazy language.

• “Notice” as a NOUN means an announcement or message, such as “The notice on the wall said “Meeting at 3:00 today.”  Chinese: 公告

• However, “notice” as a VERB means to pay attention to, or to observe.  “Have you noticed how many commercials there are during this TV show?”  “Notice how good study habits usually lead to higher grades.”  Chinese: 注意 or 看到.

• And “notify” means to tell someone something, to make them aware of something.   Chinese: 通知   Example: Please notify me when he returns to the office.  

 If you have found these two words confusing, join the club. I hope this explanation helps.

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