Common mistakes

The other day I asked you to write some sentences that included ten specific words I gave you. Some of you have made the same type of mistakes, so here's a little explanation of some of them:

AFFECT is a transitive verb. Something affects you, not to you.

RESEARCH is used in the context of science, social studies, etc. In the case of police work you speak of investigation. Research is uncountable; it has no plural. You can say a piece of research, but only if you really need to: some fantastic research, a remarkable piece of research. You do/carry out research into something.

DIET: to go on A diet; to be on A diet. Don't forget the article.

AWAKE can be a verb, but that's not what I was interested in. The usual verb is wake (up), and AWAKE is more commonly used as an adjective.

TAKE LONG:                 + infinitive

•  It won't take very long to finish that = no llevará mucho tiempo, no se tardará... (impersonal)
• It won't take you very long to finish that = no tardarás...                

Something is STRESSFUL when it makes you feel STRESSED.

To be in a good / bad MOOD = estar de buen/mal humor (transitorio; con BE IN A ...) Different from to have a bad temper (tener mal carácter)

MEAL is not FOOD. Most people have three or four meals every day: breakfast, lunch, etc.