Given the amount of interest that the Commonly Confused Words test prompted, and after prompting by Royce, I’m going to go back through and re-take it, recording my answers as I go through. At the time I originally took it there was only one answer key (for the “Beginner” section), though now there are answers for section two (“Intermediate”) also, so I’ll take a look at those too once I’m done.
Maybe among all of us, we can suss out where we’re stumbling!
Section 1: Beginning
- The knot she tied was very
__________.
- loose
- lose
- Either a or b
- Neither a nor b
My answer: loose. Lose is to misplace something.
- Take a deep
__________.
- breath
- breathe
- Either a or b
- Neither a nor b
My answer: breath. To breathe is to take a breath (or, rather, many successive breaths).
- She has a
__________appetite.
- hardy
- hearty
- Either a or b
- Neither a nor b
My answer: hearty. Off the top of my head, I can’t immediately define either hardy or hearty, I just know which one’s right. :)
From the answer key:
The correct answer is hearty.
hardy – being in robust and good sturdy health; courageous
hearty – vigorous; robust
- I
__________you would study for__________test.
- hope / you’re
- hope / your
- wish / you’re
- wish / your
My answer: wish / your. Hope conflicts with “would” (present tense vs. past tense), so it’s neither of the first two. You’re is the contraction for “you are”, which is nonsensical when followed by “test”; it needs the posessive your.
- He
__________to the banquet with Naomi and__________.
- gone / I
- gone / me
- went / I
- went / me
My answer: went / me. Gone is just plain wrong — I can’t articulate the precise grammar rules as to why, but it is (they’re both past tense, so it’s not a tense thing…for it to be “gone”, it would have to be “has gone”, but then the second half of the sentence wouldn’t work). I had to think about the “I”/”me” choice, but that’s one I often stumble over. The only way I can get that right is to say it in my head without the third person (i.e., “He went with I.” vs. “He went with me.”).
__________and__________left at seven o’clock.
- Her / I
- Her / me
- She / I
- She / me.
My answer: She / I. Like question five, the easiest way for me to be sure was simply to break it down. “Her left at…” is wrong, “She left at…” is right; “I left at…” is right, “Me left at…” is wrong.
__________impolite to stare.
- It’s
- Its
- Either a or b
- Neither a nor b
My answer: It’s. It’s is the contraction for “it is”, Its is a possessive.
__________were 50 questions on__________tests.
- Their / there
- Their / they’re
- There / their
- There / they’re
My answer: There / their. Their is a (plural?) posessive, so it’s wrong for the first blank, but right for the second. They’re is the contraction for “they are”, and wrong in either blank.
- They finished before
__________time limit expired.
- his or her
- their
- there
- they’re
My answer: their. His or her is singular, which would conflict with the plural “they”. There is…um…directional, and again, they’re is “they are”. Only the plural posessive their works.
- However,
__________smarter__________you think.
- their / than
- their / then
- they’re / than
- they’re / then
My answer: they’re / than. I had to think about this one. The first part is easy, it needs “they are”. I often stumble on “than” vs. “then”, though — Mom blames this on the fact that Dad and I both prounounce the two words identically as “thin” (with the hard “th”) and therefore can’t tell them apart. Sounds about right to me. :) I’m pretty sure (when I think about it) that than is comparitive (and correct in this instance) while then is…um…time-based (this happened, then that happened).
Section 2: Intermediate
- The
__________called the student into his office.
- principal
- principle
- Either a or b
- Neither a nor b
My answer: principal. A principal is a heirarchical position, a principle is a belief.
- A motivational speaker was
__________to boost__________.
- they’re / moral
- they’re / morale
- there / moral
- there / morale
My answer: there / morale. There for the first blank (as before, positional indicator vs. a contraction). A moral is an ethical belief or standpoint, morale is a feeling of well-being or mood.
__________the actor__________wife is deaf?
- Who’s / who’s
- Who’s / whose
- Whose / who’s
- Whose / whose
My answer: Who’s / whose. Who’s is the contraction for “who is”, whose is a posessive.
- It is
__________for her to__________criticism.
- difficult / accept
- difficult / except
- hard / accept
- hard / except
My answer: hard / accept. Here’s the first one I really question. The second blank is easy; to accept is to agree, to except is to exclude. It’s the choice between difficult and hard that throws me — I don’t see a problem with either choice, so I picked one at random. Any thoughts here?
(Prarie thinks that this usage of hard is slang, and not technically correct, but she says that she’s not positive.)
From the answer key:
The correct answer is difficult / accept.
Though difficult and hard are synonyms, difficult leaves less room for misunderstanding or misinterpretation. If the sentence was, “It is hard.”, you would not know the meaning without further explanation. It could be referring to difficulty, durability, or a number of other meaning. However, if the sentence was, “It is difficult.”, the only meaning is not easy. Difficult is the better choice because the true meaning is conveyed immediately.
I think this is one that I got correct the first time I took the test.
- He did not deserve the
__________because he cheated.
- medal
- meddle
- metal
- mettle
My answer: medal. A medal is a badge of honor, to meddle is to interfere, metal is a material, and one’s mettle is one’s character…I think. Something like that, at least. ;)
- His employer
__________him two weeks late.
- paid
- payed
- Either a or b
- Neither a nor b
My answer: paid. Another one that made me pause — I don’t think that payed is correct American English, but I’m not absolutely sure. British English, perhaps? A less-commonly used variant? Or am I just flat-out wrong, and it’s correct?
From the answer key:
The correct answer is paid.
paid – past tense and past participle of pay – to give in exchange for
payed – past tense and past participle of pay – to let out by slackening; to coat or cover
Ah, okay. Payed would be used when someone payed out a length of rope.
- That painting is
__________.
- invaluable
- priceless
- Either a or b
- Neither a nor b
My answer: priceless. While both are measures of worth, only priceless is a measure of monetary worth, while invaluable is a measure of personal worth. I think. Not entirely sure on this one.
From the answer key:
The correct answer is Either a or b.
Though most of us probably more often hear that paintings are priceless as opposed to invaluable, they are absolute synonyms and can be substituted for each other in any circumstance.
- In a lemon meringue pie recipe, you use both the egg whites and the egg
__________.
- yokes
- yolks
- Either a or b
- Neither a nor b
My answer: yolks. Egg yolk is the gooey (icky) yellow stuff in the center of an egg. A yoke is a long shaft. A bad yoke is called a pun, and gets a lot of groans. ;)
- He
__________her on the street in the__________.
- passed / passed
- passed / past
- past / passed
- past / past
My answer: passed / past. Passed is the past tense of the action “to pass”, past is a measure of time.
- Only bring the
__________essentials.
- bare
- bear
- Either a or b
- Neither a nor b
My answer: bare. Bare is a synonym for minimum, a bear is a large furry animal with big teeth. Or a small fuzzy stuffed animal on your beadspread. With big teeth.
Section 3: Advanced
- He did not now how to
__________her in that situation.
- advice
- advise
- Either a or b
- Neither a nor b
My answer: advise. To advise someone is to give them advice. Whether or not they want it.
- She did not want to
__________his poem for fear that it would hurt his feelings.
- criticize / criticise
- critique
- Either a or b
- Neither a nor b
My answer: criticize / criticise. To critique something is to analyze it, and carries no definite pro- or anti- bias. To criticise something is to say that it could stand some improvement (like my explanations in much of this post).
- She
__________the movie before he had__________it.
- saw / saw
- saw / seen
- seen / saw
- seen / seen
My answer: saw / seen. It’s a tense thing (past vs. present), but I can’t really articulate the formal rules. I’m right, though. “
- That is an impressive hand-held
__________.
- device
- devise
- Either a or b
- Neither a nor b
My answer: device. A device is a functional item or object, to devise is to plan.
- Speeding in your car is
__________.
- risky
- risque
- Either a or b
- Neither a nor b
My answer: risky. Something is risky if it could be dangerous. Something is risque if it pushes sexual boundaries. Speeding could be both risky and risque, of course, depending on what (or who) you were doing while driving….
- Her parents bought her the
____________________for school.
- necessarily / stationary
- necessarily / stationery
- necessary / stationary
- necessary / stationery
My answer: necessary / stationery. For the first blank, the correct answer is necessary. I often have to think for a moment on the second blank, but stationary is immobile, while stationery is paper.
- He is
__________every__________of the situation.
- accessing / aspect
- accessing / respect
- assessing / aspect
- assessing / respect
My answer: assessing / aspect. To access is to gain entry to or to acquire something; to assess is to analyze. An aspect is a quality, respect is something that must be earned, not given.
- He will
__________her tomorrow.
- council
- counsel
- Either a or b
- Neither a nor b
My answer: counsel. To counsel someone is to advise them. A council is a governing body.
- I
__________you, this is the best policy to__________your vehicle.
- assure / ensure
- assure / insure
- ensure / insure
- insure / ensure
My answer: assure / insure. The second blank is easy; to insure is to protect. The first blank is easy, too — it’s assure — but I’m not as sure why, as assure and ensure are both ways of gauranteeing something. Maybe I’m wrong here? I don’t think so, but now I’m second-guessing myself.
- The salad is tasty __ however, the soup tastes even
__________.
- : / best
- : / better
- ; / best
- ; / better
My answer: **; / better**. The colon/semicolon thing is something I’ve had problems with for a long time (and you might notice that because of that, I rarely actually use semicolons in my writing, preferring to use em dashes), so I could be wrong there. The best/better choice is another one where I can’t articulate it well, but I know which is correct (“…even best” is wrong, “…even better” is right).
Section 4: Expert
- They
__________her for__________witchcraft.
- hanged / practicing
- hanged / practising
- hung / practicing
- hung / practising
My answer: hung / practicing. I’m not very sure on this one, neither hanged nor hung sound wrong to me — but hung sounds slightly more right. I’m also not sure on the second choice, but practising looks like a misspelling (of the past tense of “practice”) to me.
- The bombing had an adverse
__________on__________issues.
- affect / economic
- affect / economical
- effect / economic
- effect / economical
My answer: effect / economic. To affect something is to cause a change in state, the effect is what actually happens. Issues dealing with the economy are economic, for something to be economical it must…um…well, that’s going nowhere. Economic is plural, economical is singular…that still doesn’t sound right. Help?
- Please stay
__________.
- a while
- awhile
- for a while
- all of the above
My answer: all of the above. This one’s purely a guess, based on the fact that both a while and for a while seem right to me. I’m not entirely sure that awhile is a word in itself, but without being able to choose both a while and for a while without choosing awhile also, I’m going with all of the above.
- He is working
__________his Bachelor’s degree,__________she is pursuing her Master’s degree.
- toward / while
- toward / whilst
- towards / while
- towards / whilst
My answer: towards / while. This one’s another guess — I just said them out lound until I decided which one sounded best. I’ve never actually encountered anyone using “whilst” in spoken conversation, it’s always seemed relegated to books set in England and using British English, so I’m pretty clueless on how it should (or shouldn’t) be used.
- She would not
__________as to__________stole her money.
- enquire / who
- enquire / whom
- inquire / who
- inquire / whom
My answer: enquire / who. More guessing. No wonder I stumble on this section of the test. In my head, whom only appears at the end of a sentence (“…it belonged to whom?”). I have to admit I’m clueless on the enquire/inquire quandry, though.
- Boat travel makes me
__________.
- nauseated
- nauseous
- Either a or b
- Neither a nor b
My answer: nauseous. Nauseated is past tense, nauseous is present. I don’t think that’s actually the right reason, but it’s all my brain is coming up with for an explanation.
- The amazing still flight of the hummingbird is a natural
__________.
- phenomena
- phenomenon
- Either a or b
- Neither a nor b
My answer: phenomenon. I believe that phenomena is the plural of phenomenon, and in this case, we’re talking about a single thing (the hummingbird’s ability to hover).
- She enjoys smelling and tasting things. She is a
__________being.
- sensual
- sensuous
- Either a or b
- Neither a nor b
My answer: Either a or b. Quite honestly, both sound fine to me. I’m probably wrong here. But sensuous up, could you get me a drink?
- That information is
__________to this case.
- impertinent
- irrelevant
- Either a or b
- Neither a nor b
My answer: irrelevant. To be impertinent is to be rude and offsensive. Something that has no bearing on the current topic is irrelevant.
- The water from the river flows through the
__________into the ocean.
- canal
- channel
- Either a or b
- Neither a nor b
My answer: channel. A canal is a connector between two bodies of water, a channel is an offshoot of a flowing body. I think.