Bonus English Lessons

Hello again,

I made a mistake in yesterday’s exercise. Luckily, it’s a mistake you can learn from.

There are two different words, complimentary and complementary.

One comes from compliment – “saying nice things”.

He complimented her on her presentation.

Many people paid him compliments.

One comes from complement – “goes well together”.

This new system complements the existing system, it doesn’t replace it.

The jewellery complemented her dress beautifully.

We make a great team. Our skills complement each other perfectly.

So which form is better to use to mean a *free* drink?

In American English, the answer is clear. It’s a complimentary drink.

In British English, I’ve seen both forms used. Look, for example, at this Web page from a language school in Oxford.

However, I think I was wrong to write ‘complementary drink’. The expression certainly started in the United States and I think that we should use the US form. I’ve checked up in the new Macmillan online dictionary and it says the correct term is ‘complimentary drink’.

I hope you found that useful.