Flu ~ Flue

flu ~ flue ~flew:

[all three words have the same pronunciation, as in ‘flu’]

laid up with flu

“Flu”, for the right pronunciation, please click here, is the shortened form of ‘influenza’, which is ‘a highly infectious viral disease which causes fever and sever body pains with running nose, occasionally with cough’,

The “swine/pig flu”, “bird/avian flu”, “(man flu)”, etc. are more serious than the ‘common flu’.

e.g.

During monsoon season, most people suffer from flu.

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cross-section of a flue

“Flue”, for the right pronunciation, please click here, is ‘a metal pipe or tube through which smoke or hot air passes up from a boiler or oven, or a fire place to a chimney’,

e.g.

Oil furnaces need strong metal flues which are easy to install.

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the bird flew away

“Flew”, for the right pronunciation, please click here, is the past tense form of the verb word ‘fly’:

fly – flew – flown – flying

which means ‘to go into the air; float in the air, like a bird’,

e.g.

My pet parrot flew away when I left its cage door open.

‘Fly’ as a noun is a very small, most common, but harmful insect.

Common Errors:

She thought she had caught a flu. [wrong]

She thought she had caught flu/caught the flu. [right]

However, ‘catch a cold/caught a cold’ or ‘catch cold/caught cold’ is acceptable, though there is some difference between ‘catch a cold and catch cold’: The expressions mean something different: To catch a cold is to catch the disease. To catch cold, or to take cold is to stay out too long in cold weather and spend a long time shivering afterwards, which experience may cause you to catch a cold, but not necessarily.