{"id":3190,"date":"2005-03-04T20:34:40","date_gmt":"2005-03-05T04:34:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/michaelhans.com\/eclecticism\/2005\/03\/04\/commonly-confused-words-answer-key\/"},"modified":"2019-12-13T10:20:24","modified_gmt":"2019-12-13T18:20:24","slug":"commonly-confused-words-answer-key","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/michaelhans.com\/eclecticism\/2005\/03\/04\/commonly-confused-words-answer-key\/","title":{"rendered":"Commonly Confused Words answer key"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class='__iawmlf-post-loop-links' style='display:none;' data-iawmlf-post-links='[{&quot;id&quot;:8823,&quot;href&quot;:&quot;http:\\\/\\\/www.okcupid.com\\\/tests\\\/take?testid=14457200288064322170&quot;,&quot;archived_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;redirect_href&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/www.okcupid.com\\\/tests\\\/take?testid=14457200288064322170&quot;,&quot;checks&quot;:[],&quot;broken&quot;:false,&quot;last_checked&quot;:null,&quot;process&quot;:&quot;done&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:8824,&quot;href&quot;:&quot;http:\\\/\\\/shortredhead78.blogspot.com\\\/2005\\\/03\\\/answer-key.html&quot;,&quot;archived_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;redirect_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;checks&quot;:[],&quot;broken&quot;:false,&quot;last_checked&quot;:null,&quot;process&quot;:&quot;done&quot;}]'><\/div>\n<p>Given the amount of interest that <a href=\"http:\/\/www.okcupid.com\/tests\/take?testid=14457200288064322170\" title=\"OKCupid! presents The Commonly Confused Words test\">the Commonly Confused Words test<\/a> prompted, and after <a href=\"https:\/\/michaelhans.com\/eclecticism\/2005\/03\/thats_it.html#c19562\" title=\"Royce: So we should make our own key...\">prompting by Royce<\/a>, I&#8217;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 <a href=\"http:\/\/shortredhead78.blogspot.com\/2005\/03\/answer-key.html\" title=\"The Commonly Confused Words Test - Answer Key\">answer key<\/a> (for the &#8220;Beginner&#8221; section), though now there are answers for section two (&#8220;Intermediate&#8221;) also, so I&#8217;ll take a look at those too once I&#8217;m done.<\/p>\n<p>Maybe among all of us, we can suss out where we&#8217;re stumbling!<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<h4>Section 1: Beginning<\/h4>\n<ol>\n<li>The knot she tied was very <code>__________<\/code>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ul>\n<li>loose<\/li>\n<li>lose<\/li>\n<li>Either a or b<\/li>\n<li>Neither a nor b<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>My answer: <strong>loose<\/strong>. <em>Lose<\/em> is to misplace something.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Take a deep <code>__________<\/code>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ul>\n<li>breath<\/li>\n<li>breathe<\/li>\n<li>Either a or b<\/li>\n<li>Neither a nor b<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>My answer: <strong>breath<\/strong>. To <em>breathe<\/em> is to take a breath (or, rather, many successive breaths).<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>She has a <code>__________<\/code> appetite.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ul>\n<li>hardy<\/li>\n<li>hearty<\/li>\n<li>Either a or b<\/li>\n<li>Neither a nor b<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>My answer: <strong>hearty<\/strong>. Off the top of my head, I can&#8217;t immediately define either <em>hardy<\/em> or <em>hearty<\/em>, I just know which one&#8217;s right. :)<\/p>\n<p><strong>From the answer key:<\/strong><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\n  The correct answer is <strong>hearty<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>  hardy &#8211; being in robust and good sturdy health; courageous<br \/>\n  hearty &#8211; vigorous; robust\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<ol>\n<li>I <code>__________<\/code> you would study for <code>__________<\/code> test.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ul>\n<li>hope \/ you&#8217;re<\/li>\n<li>hope \/ your<\/li>\n<li>wish \/ you&#8217;re<\/li>\n<li>wish \/ your<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>My answer: <strong>wish \/ your<\/strong>. <em>Hope<\/em> conflicts with &#8220;would&#8221; (present tense vs. past tense), so it&#8217;s neither of the first two. <em>You&#8217;re<\/em> is the contraction for &#8220;you are&#8221;, which is nonsensical when followed by &#8220;test&#8221;; it needs the posessive <em>your<\/em>.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>He <code>__________<\/code> to the banquet with Naomi and <code>__________<\/code>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ul>\n<li>gone \/ I<\/li>\n<li>gone \/ me<\/li>\n<li>went \/ I<\/li>\n<li>went \/ me<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>My answer: <strong>went \/ me<\/strong>. <em>Gone<\/em> is just plain wrong &#8212; I can&#8217;t articulate the precise grammar rules as to why, but it is (they&#8217;re both past tense, so it&#8217;s not a tense thing&#8230;for it to be &#8220;gone&#8221;, it would have to be &#8220;has gone&#8221;, but then the second half of the sentence wouldn&#8217;t work). I had to think about the &#8220;I&#8221;\/&#8221;me&#8221; choice, but that&#8217;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., &#8220;He went with I.&#8221; vs. &#8220;He went with me.&#8221;).<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><code>__________<\/code> and <code>__________<\/code> left at seven o&#8217;clock.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ul>\n<li>Her \/ I<\/li>\n<li>Her \/ me<\/li>\n<li>She \/ I<\/li>\n<li>She \/ me.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>My answer: <strong>She \/ I<\/strong>. Like question five, the easiest way for me to be sure was simply to break it down. &#8220;Her left at&#8230;&#8221; is wrong, &#8220;She left at&#8230;&#8221; is right; &#8220;I left at&#8230;&#8221; is right, &#8220;Me left at&#8230;&#8221; is wrong.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><code>__________<\/code> impolite to stare.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ul>\n<li>It&#8217;s<\/li>\n<li>Its<\/li>\n<li>Either a or b<\/li>\n<li>Neither a nor b<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>My answer: <strong>It&#8217;s<\/strong>. <em>It&#8217;s<\/em> is the contraction for &#8220;it is&#8221;, <em>Its<\/em> is a possessive.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><code>__________<\/code> were 50 questions on <code>__________<\/code> tests.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ul>\n<li>Their \/ there<\/li>\n<li>Their \/ they&#8217;re<\/li>\n<li>There \/ their<\/li>\n<li>There \/ they&#8217;re<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>My answer: <strong>There \/ their<\/strong>. <em>Their<\/em> is a (plural?) posessive, so it&#8217;s wrong for the first blank, but right for the second. <em>They&#8217;re<\/em> is the contraction for &#8220;they are&#8221;, and wrong in either blank.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>They finished before <code>__________<\/code> time limit expired.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ul>\n<li>his or her<\/li>\n<li>their<\/li>\n<li>there<\/li>\n<li>they&#8217;re<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>My answer: <strong>their<\/strong>. <em>His or her<\/em> is singular, which would conflict with the plural &#8220;they&#8221;. <em>There<\/em> is&#8230;um&#8230;directional, and again, <em>they&#8217;re<\/em> is &#8220;they are&#8221;. Only the plural posessive <em>their<\/em> works.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>However, <code>__________<\/code> smarter <code>__________<\/code> you think.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ul>\n<li>their \/ than<\/li>\n<li>their \/ then<\/li>\n<li>they&#8217;re \/ than<\/li>\n<li>they&#8217;re \/ then<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>My answer: <strong>they&#8217;re \/ than<\/strong>. I had to think about this one. The first part is easy, it needs &#8220;they are&#8221;. I often stumble on &#8220;than&#8221; vs. &#8220;then&#8221;, though &#8212; Mom blames this on the fact that Dad and I both prounounce the two words identically as &#8220;thin&#8221; (with the hard &#8220;th&#8221;) and therefore can&#8217;t tell them apart. Sounds about right to me. :) I&#8217;m pretty sure (when I think about it) that <em>than<\/em> is comparitive (and correct in this instance) while <em>then<\/em> is&#8230;um&#8230;time-based (this happened, then that happened).<\/p>\n<h4>Section 2: Intermediate<\/h4>\n<ol>\n<li>The <code>__________<\/code> called the student into his office.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ul>\n<li>principal<\/li>\n<li>principle<\/li>\n<li>Either a or b<\/li>\n<li>Neither a nor b<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>My answer: <strong>principal<\/strong>. A <em>principal<\/em> is a heirarchical position, a <em>principle<\/em> is a belief.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>A motivational speaker was <code>__________<\/code> to boost <code>__________<\/code>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ul>\n<li>they&#8217;re \/ moral<\/li>\n<li>they&#8217;re \/ morale<\/li>\n<li>there \/ moral<\/li>\n<li>there \/ morale<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>My answer: <strong>there \/ morale<\/strong>. <em>There<\/em> for the first blank (as before, positional indicator vs. a contraction). A <em>moral<\/em> is an ethical belief or standpoint, <em>morale<\/em> is a feeling of well-being or mood.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><code>__________<\/code> the actor <code>__________<\/code> wife is deaf?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ul>\n<li>Who&#8217;s \/ who&#8217;s<\/li>\n<li>Who&#8217;s \/ whose<\/li>\n<li>Whose \/ who&#8217;s<\/li>\n<li>Whose \/ whose<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>My answer: <strong>Who&#8217;s \/ whose<\/strong>. <em>Who&#8217;s<\/em> is the contraction for &#8220;who is&#8221;, <em>whose<\/em> is a posessive.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>It is <code>__________<\/code> for her to <code>__________<\/code> criticism.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ul>\n<li>difficult \/ accept<\/li>\n<li>difficult \/ except<\/li>\n<li>hard \/ accept<\/li>\n<li>hard \/ except<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>My answer: <strong>hard \/ accept<\/strong>. Here&#8217;s the first one I really question. The second blank is easy; to <em>accept<\/em> is to agree, to <em>except<\/em> is to exclude. It&#8217;s the choice between <em>difficult<\/em> and <em>hard<\/em> that throws me &#8212; I don&#8217;t see a problem with either choice, so I picked one at random. Any thoughts here?<\/p>\n<p>(Prarie thinks that this usage of <em>hard<\/em> is slang, and not technically correct, but she says that she&#8217;s not positive.)<\/p>\n<p><strong>From the answer key:<\/strong><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\n  The correct answer is <strong>difficult \/ accept<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>  Though <em>difficult<\/em> and <em>hard<\/em> are synonyms, <em>difficult<\/em> leaves less room for misunderstanding or misinterpretation. If the sentence was, &#8220;It is hard.&#8221;, 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, &#8220;It is difficult.&#8221;, the only meaning is <em>not easy<\/em>. <em>Difficult<\/em> is the better choice because the true meaning is conveyed immediately.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>I think this is one that I got correct the first time I took the test.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>He did not deserve the <code>__________<\/code> because he cheated.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ul>\n<li>medal<\/li>\n<li>meddle<\/li>\n<li>metal<\/li>\n<li>mettle<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>My answer: <strong>medal<\/strong>. A <em>medal<\/em> is a badge of honor, to <em>meddle<\/em> is to interfere, <em>metal<\/em> is a material, and one&#8217;s <em>mettle<\/em> is one&#8217;s character&#8230;I think. Something like that, at least. ;)<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>His employer <code>__________<\/code> him two weeks late.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ul>\n<li>paid<\/li>\n<li>payed<\/li>\n<li>Either a or b<\/li>\n<li>Neither a nor b<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>My answer: <strong>paid<\/strong>. Another one that made me pause &#8212; I don&#8217;t think that <em>payed<\/em> is correct American English, but I&#8217;m not absolutely sure. British English, perhaps? A less-commonly used variant? Or am I just flat-out wrong, and it&#8217;s correct?<\/p>\n<p><strong>From the answer key:<\/strong><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\n  The correct answer is <strong>paid<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>  paid &#8211; past tense and past participle of pay &#8211; to give in exchange for<br \/>\n  payed &#8211; past tense and past participle of pay &#8211; to let out by slackening; to coat or cover\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Ah, okay. <em>Payed<\/em> would be used when someone <em>payed<\/em> out a length of rope.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>That painting is <code>__________<\/code>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ul>\n<li>invaluable<\/li>\n<li>priceless<\/li>\n<li>Either a or b<\/li>\n<li>Neither a nor b<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>My answer: <strong>priceless<\/strong>. While both are measures of worth, only <em>priceless<\/em> is a measure of monetary worth, while <em>invaluable<\/em> is a measure of personal worth. I think. Not entirely sure on this one.<\/p>\n<p><strong>From the answer key:<\/strong><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\n  The correct answer is <strong>Either a or b<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>  Though most of us probably more often hear that paintings are <em>priceless<\/em> as opposed to <em>invaluable<\/em>, they are absolute synonyms and can be substituted for each other in any circumstance.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<ol>\n<li>In a lemon meringue pie recipe, you use both the egg whites and the egg <code>__________<\/code>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ul>\n<li>yokes<\/li>\n<li>yolks<\/li>\n<li>Either a or b<\/li>\n<li>Neither a nor b<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>My answer: <strong>yolks<\/strong>. Egg <em>yolk<\/em> is the gooey (icky) yellow stuff in the center of an egg. A <em>yoke<\/em> is a long shaft. A bad yoke is called a pun, and gets a lot of groans. ;)<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>He <code>__________<\/code> her on the street in the <code>__________<\/code>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ul>\n<li>passed \/ passed<\/li>\n<li>passed \/ past<\/li>\n<li>past \/ passed<\/li>\n<li>past \/ past<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>My answer: <strong>passed \/ past<\/strong>. <em>Passed<\/em> is the past tense of the action &#8220;to pass&#8221;, <em>past<\/em> is a measure of time.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Only bring the <code>__________<\/code> essentials.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ul>\n<li>bare<\/li>\n<li>bear<\/li>\n<li>Either a or b<\/li>\n<li>Neither a nor b<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>My answer: <strong>bare<\/strong>. <em>Bare<\/em> is a synonym for minimum, a <em>bear<\/em> is a large furry animal with big teeth. Or a small fuzzy stuffed animal on your beadspread. With big teeth.<\/p>\n<h4>Section 3: Advanced<\/h4>\n<ol>\n<li>He did not now how to <code>__________<\/code> her in that situation.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ul>\n<li>advice<\/li>\n<li>advise<\/li>\n<li>Either a or b<\/li>\n<li>Neither a nor b<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>My answer: <strong>advise<\/strong>. To <em>advise<\/em> someone is to give them <em>advice<\/em>. Whether or not they want it.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>She did not want to <code>__________<\/code> his poem for fear that it would hurt his feelings.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ul>\n<li>criticize \/ criticise<\/li>\n<li>critique<\/li>\n<li>Either a or b<\/li>\n<li>Neither a nor b<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>My answer: <strong>criticize \/ criticise<\/strong>. To <em>critique<\/em> something is to analyze it, and carries no definite pro- or anti- bias. To <em>criticise<\/em> something is to say that it could stand some improvement (like my explanations in much of this post).<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>She <code>__________<\/code> the movie before he had <code>__________<\/code> it.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ul>\n<li>saw \/ saw<\/li>\n<li>saw \/ seen<\/li>\n<li>seen \/ saw<\/li>\n<li>seen \/ seen<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>My answer: <strong>saw \/ seen<\/strong>. It&#8217;s a tense thing (past vs. present), but I can&#8217;t really articulate the formal rules. I&#8217;m right, though. &#8220;<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>That is an impressive hand-held <code>__________<\/code>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ul>\n<li>device<\/li>\n<li>devise<\/li>\n<li>Either a or b<\/li>\n<li>Neither a nor b<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>My answer: <strong>device<\/strong>. A <em>device<\/em> is a functional item or object, to <em>devise<\/em> is to plan.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Speeding in your car is <code>__________<\/code>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ul>\n<li>risky<\/li>\n<li>risque<\/li>\n<li>Either a or b<\/li>\n<li>Neither a nor b<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>My answer: <strong>risky<\/strong>. Something is <em>risky<\/em> if it could be dangerous. Something is <em>risque<\/em> if it pushes sexual boundaries. Speeding could be both <em>risky<\/em> and <em>risque<\/em>, of course, depending on what (or who) you were doing while driving&#8230;.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Her parents bought her the <code>__________<\/code> <code>__________<\/code> for school.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ul>\n<li>necessarily \/ stationary<\/li>\n<li>necessarily \/ stationery<\/li>\n<li>necessary \/ stationary<\/li>\n<li>necessary \/ stationery<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>My answer: <strong>necessary \/ stationery<\/strong>. For the first blank, the correct answer is <em>necessary<\/em>. I often have to think for a moment on the second blank, but <em>stationary<\/em> is immobile, while <em>stationery<\/em> is paper.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>He is <code>__________<\/code> every <code>__________<\/code> of the situation.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ul>\n<li>accessing \/ aspect<\/li>\n<li>accessing \/ respect<\/li>\n<li>assessing \/ aspect<\/li>\n<li>assessing \/ respect<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>My answer: <strong>assessing \/ aspect<\/strong>. To <em>access<\/em> is to gain entry to or to acquire something; to <em>assess<\/em> is to analyze. An <em>aspect<\/em> is a quality, <em>respect<\/em> is something that must be earned, not given.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>He will <code>__________<\/code> her tomorrow.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ul>\n<li>council<\/li>\n<li>counsel<\/li>\n<li>Either a or b<\/li>\n<li>Neither a nor b<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>My answer: <strong>counsel<\/strong>. To <em>counsel<\/em> someone is to advise them. A <em>council<\/em> is a governing body.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>I <code>__________<\/code> you, this is the best policy to <code>__________<\/code> your vehicle.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ul>\n<li>assure \/ ensure<\/li>\n<li>assure \/ insure<\/li>\n<li>ensure \/ insure<\/li>\n<li>insure \/ ensure<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>My answer: <strong>assure \/ insure<\/strong>. The second blank is easy; to <em>insure<\/em> is to protect. The first blank is easy, too &#8212; it&#8217;s <em>assure<\/em> &#8212; but I&#8217;m not as sure why, as <em>assure<\/em> and <em>ensure<\/em> are both ways of gauranteeing something. Maybe I&#8217;m wrong here? I don&#8217;t think so, but now I&#8217;m second-guessing myself.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>The salad is tasty __ however, the soup tastes even <code>__________<\/code>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ul>\n<li>: \/ best<\/li>\n<li>: \/ better<\/li>\n<li>; \/ best<\/li>\n<li>; \/ better<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>My answer: **; \/ better**. The colon\/semicolon thing is something I&#8217;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 <em>best<\/em>\/<em>better<\/em> choice is another one where I can&#8217;t articulate it well, but I know which is correct (&#8220;&#8230;even best&#8221; is wrong, &#8220;&#8230;even better&#8221; is right).<\/p>\n<h4>Section 4: Expert<\/h4>\n<ol>\n<li>They <code>__________<\/code> her for <code>__________<\/code> witchcraft.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ul>\n<li>hanged \/ practicing<\/li>\n<li>hanged \/ practising<\/li>\n<li>hung \/ practicing<\/li>\n<li>hung \/ practising<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>My answer: <strong>hung \/ practicing<\/strong>. I&#8217;m not very sure on this one, neither <em>hanged<\/em> nor <em>hung<\/em> sound wrong to me &#8212; but <em>hung<\/em> sounds slightly more right. I&#8217;m also not sure on the second choice, but <em>practising<\/em> looks like a misspelling (of the past tense of &#8220;practice&#8221;) to me.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>The bombing had an adverse <code>__________<\/code> on <code>__________<\/code> issues.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ul>\n<li>affect \/ economic<\/li>\n<li>affect \/ economical<\/li>\n<li>effect \/ economic<\/li>\n<li>effect \/ economical<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>My answer: <strong>effect \/ economic<\/strong>. To <em>affect<\/em> something is to cause a change in state, the <em>effect<\/em> is what actually happens. Issues dealing with the economy are <em>economic<\/em>, for something to be <em>economical<\/em> it must&#8230;um&#8230;well, that&#8217;s going nowhere. <em>Economic<\/em> is plural, <em>economical<\/em> is singular&#8230;that still doesn&#8217;t sound right. Help?<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Please stay <code>__________<\/code>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ul>\n<li>a while<\/li>\n<li>awhile<\/li>\n<li>for a while<\/li>\n<li>all of the above<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>My answer: <strong>all of the above<\/strong>. This one&#8217;s purely a guess, based on the fact that both <em>a while<\/em> and <em>for a while<\/em> seem right to me. I&#8217;m not entirely sure that <em>awhile<\/em> is a word in itself, but without being able to choose both <em>a while<\/em> and <em>for a while<\/em> without choosing <em>awhile<\/em> also, I&#8217;m going with <em>all of the above<\/em>.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>He is working <code>__________<\/code> his Bachelor&#8217;s degree, <code>__________<\/code> she is pursuing her Master&#8217;s degree.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ul>\n<li>toward \/ while<\/li>\n<li>toward \/ whilst<\/li>\n<li>towards \/ while<\/li>\n<li>towards \/ whilst<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>My answer: <strong>towards \/ while<\/strong>. This one&#8217;s another guess &#8212; I just said them out lound until I decided which one sounded best. I&#8217;ve never actually encountered anyone using &#8220;whilst&#8221; in spoken conversation, it&#8217;s always seemed relegated to books set in England and using British English, so I&#8217;m pretty clueless on how it should (or shouldn&#8217;t) be used.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>She would not <code>__________<\/code> as to <code>__________<\/code> stole her money.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ul>\n<li>enquire \/ who<\/li>\n<li>enquire \/ whom<\/li>\n<li>inquire \/ who<\/li>\n<li>inquire \/ whom<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>My answer: <strong>enquire \/ who<\/strong>. More guessing. No wonder I stumble on this section of the test. In my head, <em>whom<\/em> only appears at the end of a sentence (&#8220;&#8230;it belonged to whom?&#8221;). I have to admit I&#8217;m clueless on the <em>enquire<\/em>\/<em>inquire<\/em> quandry, though.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Boat travel makes me <code>__________<\/code>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ul>\n<li>nauseated<\/li>\n<li>nauseous<\/li>\n<li>Either a or b<\/li>\n<li>Neither a nor b<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>My answer: <strong>nauseous<\/strong>. <em>Nauseated<\/em> is past tense, <em>nauseous<\/em> is present. I don&#8217;t think that&#8217;s actually the right reason, but it&#8217;s all my brain is coming up with for an explanation.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>The amazing still flight of the hummingbird is a natural <code>__________<\/code>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ul>\n<li>phenomena<\/li>\n<li>phenomenon<\/li>\n<li>Either a or b<\/li>\n<li>Neither a nor b<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>My answer: <strong>phenomenon<\/strong>. I believe that <em>phenomena<\/em> is the plural of <em>phenomenon<\/em>, and in this case, we&#8217;re talking about a single thing (the hummingbird&#8217;s ability to hover).<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>She enjoys smelling and tasting things. She is a <code>__________<\/code> being.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ul>\n<li>sensual<\/li>\n<li>sensuous<\/li>\n<li>Either a or b<\/li>\n<li>Neither a nor b<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>My answer: <strong>Either a or b<\/strong>. Quite honestly, both sound fine to me. I&#8217;m probably wrong here. But <em>sensuous<\/em> up, could you get me a drink?<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>That information is <code>__________<\/code> to this case.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ul>\n<li>impertinent<\/li>\n<li>irrelevant<\/li>\n<li>Either a or b<\/li>\n<li>Neither a nor b<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>My answer: <strong>irrelevant<\/strong>. To be <em>impertinent<\/em> is to be rude and offsensive. Something that has no bearing on the current topic is <em>irrelevant<\/em>.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>The water from the river flows through the <code>__________<\/code> into the ocean.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ul>\n<li>canal<\/li>\n<li>channel<\/li>\n<li>Either a or b<\/li>\n<li>Neither a nor b<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>My answer: <strong>channel<\/strong>. A <em>canal<\/em> is a connector between two bodies of water, a <em>channel<\/em> is an offshoot of a flowing body. I think.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Given the amount of interest that the Commonly Confused Words test prompted, and after prompting by Royce, I&#8217;m going to go back through and re-take it, recording my answers as I go through. Interestingly enough, I did _better_ on the test overall this time. So, now for the rest of you. Can you spot where I goofed?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2043],"tags":[39],"class_list":["post-3190","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-personal","tag-links"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaelhans.com\/eclecticism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3190","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaelhans.com\/eclecticism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaelhans.com\/eclecticism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaelhans.com\/eclecticism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaelhans.com\/eclecticism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3190"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/michaelhans.com\/eclecticism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3190\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaelhans.com\/eclecticism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3190"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaelhans.com\/eclecticism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3190"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaelhans.com\/eclecticism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3190"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}