Words often Confused
English Grammar
Some words are very similar in spelling, having slightly one or two spellings different but give different meaning and are of different form.
Example:
effect (noun) = produce an effect on … affect (verb) = result of an action
principal (post) = chief of school ………principle (verb) = fundamental truth
practice (noun) = habitual action practise ……. (verb) = carry out an action
Example:
1. Complete the following sentence choosing the correct word in the brackets.
(a) Marry was greatly ……….ed by her father’s death. (affect/effect)
(b) His death had a terrible ……….. on her. (affect/effect)
(c) There were a few ………. sheets of paper on the table. (loose/lose)
(d) He expected to ……… the election. (loose/lose)
(e) My doctor has a private ……. (practice/practise)
(f) Ann must …….. for the exam. (practice/practise)
Answers:
(a) affected (b) effect (c) loose (d) lose (e) practice (f) practise
2. Rewrite the following sentences choosing the correct words from the pair given in the brackets.
(a)Someone rules and regulations will come into (effect, affect) from the coming year.
(b) Your handwriting should be (illegible, eligible)
(c) There were a few (loose, lose) sheets of paper over there.
(d) The students are(taking, giving)the HSEB examination.
Answers:
(a) Some new rules and regulations will come into effect from the coming year.
(b) Your handwriting should be legible.
(c) There were a few loose sheets of paper over there.
(d) The students are taking the HSEB examination.
3. Rewrite tense sentences filling in the gaps with the appropriate words from the brackets:
(a) She hasn’t finished the work…………..(yet/ already)
(b) We must be……….of our country.(pride/proud)
(c) I offered her a cup of tea. But she……….(accepted/refused)
(d) Your ……………..helped me to find a job. (recommendation/accommodation)
Answers:
(a) She hasn’t finished the work yet.
(b) We must be proud of our country.
(c) I offered her a cup of tea, but she refused.
(d) Your recommendation helped me to find a job.
Exercise:
1. Complete the following sentence choosing the correct word in the brackets.
(a) She was … enough to carry an umbrella during the monsoon period.(sensible/sensitive)
(b) Please, could you ….. me your book? (borrow/ lend)
(c) What did you ……. to her. (say/ speak)
(d) He was …….. in the earthquake last year. (died/killed)
(e) She said she was ………. in playing badminton. (interested/interesting)
(f) The thief ……….. the bank. (robbed/stole)
(g) I will ……… for you near the entrance. (expect/wait)
(h) Could you …….. some tea for me? (bring/take)
(i) I am sorry, but your handwriting is ……….. (eligible/illegible)
(j) That man cannot read or write. He is ……… (illiterate/literate)
2. Rewrite these sentences filling in the gap with the appropriate words from the brackets:
(a) Anuradha runs ………….a shop. (stationary/stationery)
(b) Utah is …………mid-west USA.(to/in)
(c) I’m sorry. But your hand writing is ………(eligible/illegible)
(d) His shirt is torn………. he needs a new one. (however/therefore)
3. Rewrite the following sentences choosing the correct word from the pair given in the brackets.
(a) I would strongly ……….you to use the dictionary (advice, advise)
(b) He arrested to see her ……….in the day. (later/ latter)
(c) That man can’t read or write: he is…….. (literate/illiterate)
(d) She said she was………….in playing volleyball. (interested/interesting)
English Grammar
Some words are very similar in spelling, having slightly one or two spellings different but give different meaning and are of different form.
Example:
effect (noun) = produce an effect on … affect (verb) = result of an action
principal (post) = chief of school ………principle (verb) = fundamental truth
practice (noun) = habitual action practise ……. (verb) = carry out an action
Example:
1. Complete the following sentence choosing the correct word in the brackets.
(a) Marry was greatly ……….ed by her father’s death. (affect/effect)
(b) His death had a terrible ……….. on her. (affect/effect)
(c) There were a few ………. sheets of paper on the table. (loose/lose)
(d) He expected to ……… the election. (loose/lose)
(e) My doctor has a private ……. (practice/practise)
(f) Ann must …….. for the exam. (practice/practise)
Answers:
(a) affected (b) effect (c) loose (d) lose (e) practice (f) practise
2. Rewrite the following sentences choosing the correct words from the pair given in the brackets.
(a)Someone rules and regulations will come into (effect, affect) from the coming year.
(b) Your handwriting should be (illegible, eligible)
(c) There were a few (loose, lose) sheets of paper over there.
(d) The students are(taking, giving)the HSEB examination.
Answers:
(a) Some new rules and regulations will come into effect from the coming year.
(b) Your handwriting should be legible.
(c) There were a few loose sheets of paper over there.
(d) The students are taking the HSEB examination.
3. Rewrite tense sentences filling in the gaps with the appropriate words from the brackets:
(a) She hasn’t finished the work…………..(yet/ already)
(b) We must be……….of our country.(pride/proud)
(c) I offered her a cup of tea. But she……….(accepted/refused)
(d) Your ……………..helped me to find a job. (recommendation/accommodation)
Answers:
(a) She hasn’t finished the work yet.
(b) We must be proud of our country.
(c) I offered her a cup of tea, but she refused.
(d) Your recommendation helped me to find a job.
Exercise:
1. Complete the following sentence choosing the correct word in the brackets.
(a) She was … enough to carry an umbrella during the monsoon period.(sensible/sensitive)
(b) Please, could you ….. me your book? (borrow/ lend)
(c) What did you ……. to her. (say/ speak)
(d) He was …….. in the earthquake last year. (died/killed)
(e) She said she was ………. in playing badminton. (interested/interesting)
(f) The thief ……….. the bank. (robbed/stole)
(g) I will ……… for you near the entrance. (expect/wait)
(h) Could you …….. some tea for me? (bring/take)
(i) I am sorry, but your handwriting is ……….. (eligible/illegible)
(j) That man cannot read or write. He is ……… (illiterate/literate)
2. Rewrite these sentences filling in the gap with the appropriate words from the brackets:
(a) Anuradha runs ………….a shop. (stationary/stationery)
(b) Utah is …………mid-west USA.(to/in)
(c) I’m sorry. But your hand writing is ………(eligible/illegible)
(d) His shirt is torn………. he needs a new one. (however/therefore)
3. Rewrite the following sentences choosing the correct word from the pair given in the brackets.
(a) I would strongly ……….you to use the dictionary (advice, advise)
(b) He arrested to see her ……….in the day. (later/ latter)
(c) That man can’t read or write: he is…….. (literate/illiterate)
(d) She said she was………….in playing volleyball. (interested/interesting)
Finding Meanings of Words in Dictionary
Link English
When you want to find out the meaning of a word;
(a) find the correct quarter
(b) fond the correct guide words.
(c) find the headword.
(d) choose the grammatical class e.g. noun (c/unc.)/adj./adv./v./perp. etc.
(e) there may be more meanings, choose the meaning according to your situation or sentence.
Example:
1. Read the following dictionary entry and answer the question about it.
great /greit/ adj. {usually attrib.}very large, much bigger than average in size. He lived a great age. 2. of excellent quality of ability; outstanding; a great man. 3. (infml.) wonderful, very good.
Questions:
(a) What does adj. mean?
(b) In above dictionary entry, what is the headword?
(c) Does the following sentence come from definition 1, 2, or 3?
Answers:
(a) adjective
(b) great
(c) from the first definition.
Exercise:
1. Study the following entry from the Oxford Dictionary and answer the questions given at the end.
catalogue (LIST), US usually catalog noun [C] 1. a book or booklet containing list of items; library catalogue, an exhibition catalogue,. 2. [fig.] series; a catalogue of disaster ► catalogue v [in.], list sth. in a catalogue.
Questions:
(a) How many syllables are there in the given entry?
(b) Which syllable do you think receive stress?
(c) Write the full form of ‘fig’.
(d) What does ‘sth’ stand for?
(e) Make one sentence using given entry in verb form.
Answers:
(a) 3
(b) First
(c) Figurative
(d) Something
(e) Catalogue the books in alphabetical order.
Link English
When you want to find out the meaning of a word;
(a) find the correct quarter
(b) fond the correct guide words.
(c) find the headword.
(d) choose the grammatical class e.g. noun (c/unc.)/adj./adv./v./perp. etc.
(e) there may be more meanings, choose the meaning according to your situation or sentence.
Example:
1. Read the following dictionary entry and answer the question about it.
great /greit/ adj. {usually attrib.}very large, much bigger than average in size. He lived a great age. 2. of excellent quality of ability; outstanding; a great man. 3. (infml.) wonderful, very good.
Questions:
(a) What does adj. mean?
(b) In above dictionary entry, what is the headword?
(c) Does the following sentence come from definition 1, 2, or 3?
Answers:
(a) adjective
(b) great
(c) from the first definition.
Exercise:
1. Study the following entry from the Oxford Dictionary and answer the questions given at the end.
catalogue (LIST), US usually catalog noun [C] 1. a book or booklet containing list of items; library catalogue, an exhibition catalogue,. 2. [fig.] series; a catalogue of disaster ► catalogue v [in.], list sth. in a catalogue.
Questions:
(a) How many syllables are there in the given entry?
(b) Which syllable do you think receive stress?
(c) Write the full form of ‘fig’.
(d) What does ‘sth’ stand for?
(e) Make one sentence using given entry in verb form.
Answers:
(a) 3
(b) First
(c) Figurative
(d) Something
(e) Catalogue the books in alphabetical order.
Structures with Verbs / Jumbled Words
Putting words in Correct order to make sensible sentence
To be a sentence, there must be a verb e.g. go, stop. Before and after verb, there can be added different parts of speech. e.g. – noun, pronoun, adjective, article, adverb, auxiliary verb, preposition, connective
He was studying English for four years.
S +AUX+V5 +O + PREP+ADJ + N.
Where was he going?
Wh-word + aux + s+ V4?
In this way putting other parts of speech, to the either side of verb, a sentence is constructed. All the parts of speech have their certain place so when we reconstruct a sentence from jumbled words, we have to put them in their right place as illustrated above. Let’s learn from the example.
Examples:
1. Put the words below in to correct order to make sensible sentences.
(a) years/she/ English/four/was/for/compulsory/studying.
(b) official/he/a/to/wanted/government/become.
(c) a/she/hospital/in/doctor/become/given/a/to.
(d) of/he/tea/her/him/cup /asked/give/a/to.
(e) his/he/to/had/dinner/started/just/eat.
Answers:
(a) He was studying compulsory English for four years.
(b) He wanted to become a doctor in a hospital.
(c) She hoped to become a doctor in a hospital.
(d) He asked her to give him a cup of tea.
(e) He had just started to eat his dinner.
2. Put the words below into correct order to make sensible sentences.
(a) like/as/you/long/stay/as/can/you.
(b) if/i/paid/you/debt/would/be/well.
(c) being/are/the/looked/them/by/children/after.
(d) cars/both/to/decided/we/the/sell.
(e) i/while/having/news/the/breakfast/was/heard
Answers:
(a) You can stay as long as you like.
(b) If you paid the debt, I would be well.
(c) The children are being looked after by them.
(d) We decided to sell both cars.
(e) I heard the news while I was having breakfast.
Exercises:
1. Put the following words in the correct order to make suitable sentence.
(a) wearing/she/a/be/dress/will/white.
(b) english/he/a/to/wanted/teacher/be/of.
(c) cricket/they/found/playing/of/are.
2. Put the following words in the correct order to make suitable sentences.
(a) does/her/have/what/she/hand/in?
(b) what/do/she/not/have/I/wants.
(c) of/he/tea/her/him/cup/asked/give/a/to.
3. Put the following words in correct order in order to make sensible sentences:
(a) his/he/to/had/dinner/started/just/eat.
(b) of/he/tea/her/him/cup/asked/give/a/to.
(c) a/she/hospital/hoped/in/doctor/become/to.
Putting words in Correct order to make sensible sentence
To be a sentence, there must be a verb e.g. go, stop. Before and after verb, there can be added different parts of speech. e.g. – noun, pronoun, adjective, article, adverb, auxiliary verb, preposition, connective
He was studying English for four years.
S +AUX+V5 +O + PREP+ADJ + N.
Where was he going?
Wh-word + aux + s+ V4?
In this way putting other parts of speech, to the either side of verb, a sentence is constructed. All the parts of speech have their certain place so when we reconstruct a sentence from jumbled words, we have to put them in their right place as illustrated above. Let’s learn from the example.
Examples:
1. Put the words below in to correct order to make sensible sentences.
(a) years/she/ English/four/was/for/compulsory/studying.
(b) official/he/a/to/wanted/government/become.
(c) a/she/hospital/in/doctor/become/given/a/to.
(d) of/he/tea/her/him/cup /asked/give/a/to.
(e) his/he/to/had/dinner/started/just/eat.
Answers:
(a) He was studying compulsory English for four years.
(b) He wanted to become a doctor in a hospital.
(c) She hoped to become a doctor in a hospital.
(d) He asked her to give him a cup of tea.
(e) He had just started to eat his dinner.
2. Put the words below into correct order to make sensible sentences.
(a) like/as/you/long/stay/as/can/you.
(b) if/i/paid/you/debt/would/be/well.
(c) being/are/the/looked/them/by/children/after.
(d) cars/both/to/decided/we/the/sell.
(e) i/while/having/news/the/breakfast/was/heard
Answers:
(a) You can stay as long as you like.
(b) If you paid the debt, I would be well.
(c) The children are being looked after by them.
(d) We decided to sell both cars.
(e) I heard the news while I was having breakfast.
Exercises:
1. Put the following words in the correct order to make suitable sentence.
(a) wearing/she/a/be/dress/will/white.
(b) english/he/a/to/wanted/teacher/be/of.
(c) cricket/they/found/playing/of/are.
2. Put the following words in the correct order to make suitable sentences.
(a) does/her/have/what/she/hand/in?
(b) what/do/she/not/have/I/wants.
(c) of/he/tea/her/him/cup/asked/give/a/to.
3. Put the following words in correct order in order to make sensible sentences:
(a) his/he/to/had/dinner/started/just/eat.
(b) of/he/tea/her/him/cup/asked/give/a/to.
(c) a/she/hospital/hoped/in/doctor/become/to.
