Kim lies down to take a nap every day at 3:30 p.m. Lie is a verb meaning to recline or rest on a surface. While the student didn’t see how studying affected his test-taking, the positive effects soon became clear. EffectĪffect is a verb meaning to influence. Here are what we consider to be the top ten most confusing word pairs, organized in alphabetical order: Affect vs. This is by no means a comprehensive list, but it should hopefully help you begin to recognize the particular differences between different words. In this handout we have provided some of the most commonly confused word pairs, with definitions for each and sentences showing them in context. Knowing the difference between these similar words can be very tricky. Noun: A special type of flower that is famous for its beautiful shape and smell, usually given on romantic occasions e.g.Some words look the same, while others sound the same. we rose from our seats when the President walked in. Verb: This is the irregular past simple form of the verb ‘to rise’, which means to move upwards e.g. Verb: To have a good time or do a specific activity (play sport, play a musical instrument) e.g. We’re going to Broadway to watch that famous play! Noun: A performance by actors usually shown in theatres e.g. We’ve been working all morning, let’s take a coffee break. Noun: A recess or pause in an activity, usually used as time to relax e.g. I broke my watch I need to get it repaired. Verb: To damage or change something so that it no longer works e.g. If you don’t tie your shoelaces you will trip and fall! Verb: This is the action of joining two things together by using a knot or band e.g. Our company policy is for men to wear a shirt and tie to business meetings. Noun: You most commonly come across this noun very often – a tie is the very common item of clothing that men wear around their neck with a shirt and suit e.g. Noun: The noun ‘bark’ is what we call the outer covering of a tree e.g. The dog must be hungry! He keeps barking! Verb: The verb ‘to bark’ is the sound a dog makes e.g. There are many instances where you cannot avoid using a word that seems identical to another, different word, for example, read and read: They look exactly the same, but the pronunciation changes the tense completely! And that’s not where it ends!Įnglish words can have different meanings depending on the part of speech – The word ‘keep’ can be a verb or a noun, and the word ‘fancy’ could be an adjective or a verb depending where you’re from!Īs a student this makes the English language seem impossibly frustrating and confusing! Take a look at the image that shows how many different ways we can use common words like ‘run’ and ‘take’! Below that you’ll find 6 more handy words that have more than one meaning: Having a ready database of homonyms, homophones and homographs is essential to communicating properly in English. In English we often use words that sound exactly the same to express totally different concepts, these are called homophones. We also use words that have the same spelling but have different meanings depending on the context, these are called homonyms. And if that’s not confusing enough, we also have homographs – which are words that have the same spelling, but different pronunciation (and meaning). Sounds like a lot right? But it's actually way more, if you consider that many words have multiple meanings. Over a million words make up the English language.
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