Common Mistakes : Admire

Admire – Verb

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BAD: One hour is not long enough to admire all the exhibits

GOOD: One hour is not long enough to see all the exhibits

BAD: I enjoyed admiring all the old buildings

GOOD: I enjoyed looking at all the old buildings

Do not use admire when you just mean ‘see’ or ‘look at’. Admire means ‘look at someone or something with a strong feeling of pleasure’. This meaning of admire is found mainly in novels and tourist brochures: ‘Come and admire the magnificence of the Niagara Falls.’ Rupert was sitting outside on the verandah, admiring the many jewels in the night sky

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BAD: Although it was a sad film, I admired it very much

GOOD: Although it was a sad film, I enjoyed it very much

BAD: Everybody admired your talk because it was lively and interesting

GOOD: Everybody enjoyed your talk because it was lively and interesting

Do not use admire when you mean ‘enjoy’. Admire means ‘have a very high opinion of someone’: ‘I’ve always admired people who think for themselves.’ Lewis was probably best known and admired for his work on medieval literature