How should one use “especial” and “special”? What is the difference?
I think that they are quite the same . But “especial” is more common than “special” and usually means " in particular" . " Special " usually means "for a particular purpose " and is often followed by a past participle
That’s odd. In the BNC (corpus.byu.edu/bnc/x.asp) special + verb comes out at 284 times per 1m words. “Especial + verb” comes out at only 1 time per 1m words.
In speaking , English use “especial” more often than "special "
But the BNC, a collection of native speaker speech and writing, disagrees with you.
Thanks, but how do we use each one?
Can you give us some examples?
In my opinion, ‘special’ means ‘not ordinary or usual, but different in some way and often better or more important’.And ‘especial’ is more commonly used with the form of ‘especially’ and here is some examples of the use of it:
Being distinctive: as a: directed toward a particular individual, group, or end b: of special note or importance : unusually great or significant c: highly distinctive or personal : peculiar d: close, intimate e: specific, particular <had no especial destination in mind
And this is about ‘special’:
1: distinguished by some unusual quality; especially : being in some way superior
2: held in particular esteem
3 a: readily distinguishable from others of the same category : unique b: of, relating to, or constituting a species : specific
4: being other than the usual : additional, extra
5: designed for a particular purpose or occasion.
It’s my own opinion.What about you?What do you think about them?
uhm… I think we really need help from an expert. Where are you now, Alan? 
Hi Molly,
As a rule of thumb, they’re interchangeable.
The best way to make a clear distinction is probably by looking at adverbial use of these adjectives:
You can buy the article at a specially reduced price.
as opposed to
We have reduced the article especially for you.
Apart from this aspect, ‘especial’ is used in a more formal context.
Prior to the visit of the president, the staff gave especial attention to the decorations.