Especially 🆚 Specially
Zahraa
Generally speaking, especially and specially are both adverbs and mean ‘particularly’. The preference for using one word instead of the other is down to particular conventions of use rather than any deep difference in meaning. There is little to choose between, examples:
📍I made it especially for Jonathan.
or:
📍I made it specially for Jonathan.
🖇️On the other hand, especially means ‘to single out one person, thing, or situation above all others; above all’ so it would be used correctly in the following sentence, where it would not be appropriate to use specially, examples :
📍He despised them all, especially Sylvester.
📍She loves flowers, especially roses.
📍I am especially grateful to all my family and friends who supported me.
🖇️In the following sentence, specially is correctly used as it means ‘for a special purpose ; to talk about the specific purpose of something', examples :
📍The cake was specially made for the occasion.
📍This kitchen was specially designed to make it easy for a disabled person to use.
📍He has his shirts made specially for him by a tailor in London.
🖇️Especially can also be used to mean ‘for a particular purpose’ example.
📍I bought these (e)specially for you.
✏️With an adjective, they can both mean 'more than normal' but especially is much more common. In informal English, you can use that. For example:
📍This vocabulary isn't especially/specially/that difficult.
✏️Use especially with a noun to mean 'particularly' (or 'more than other things'). It is usually used after a comma.
📍I love watching films, especially/particularly thrillers.
✏️Use specially to mean 'for this particular purpose'. It is often used with a passive verb structure.
📍These houses were specially built for small families.
📍It's Halloween, so I rented this horror film specially (for this occasion).
#Note: We don't usually use especially or specially at the start of a sentence. Instead, use in particular at the start of a second sentence to give a 'more than other things' example.
📍I love watching films. In particular, I really like horror films.