HOW TO AVOID W0RD MISTAKES

THAT MAY FLASH YOUV

FLUSHv

Some words in the English language are easy to confuse

Trying to choose the appropriate word may sometimes leave you…

In order to help you, we’ve broken down the meanings and showed appropriate uses of some of these easy-to-confuse words

Farther

Linda’s school was farther from her house than she initially thought.

Further

After a lot of debate, all furthermeetings were postponed.

VS.

Compliment

He showered me with complimentswhenever I performed well.

Complement

Her make-up complemented her clothes perfectly.

VS.

They’re Their

Their behavior with the elderly caught my attention.

VS.

They’re playing cricket in the field adjacent to the park.

Advice

We got some good advice on what to do with all our old stuff.

Advise

The teacher advised us to go to sleep early.

VS.

Formally

Elderly professors should be addressed formally at first encounter.

Formerly

My neighbor, who is a retired wrestler, was formerly known as ‘the alligator’.

VS.

Adverse

Cigarettes have many adverseeffects on the human body.

Averse

Richard seems to be averse to exercise.

VS.

Discreet

With a discreet gesture, she signaled to her husband that she was ready

to leave the party.

Discrete

Whale communities were sometimes thought of as discrete communities,

seldom mixing.

VS.

Affect

The manager’s harsh attitude affected Billy’s performance.

Effect

Good grades in college will have a positive effect on your career.

VS.

Criteria

Most jobs have a specific set of criteriawhich the employees must meet.

Criterion

The only criterion for this job is punctuality,

VS.

Elicit

I hope today’s comedy show will elicit a lot of laughter.

Illicit

John was forbidden to consume alcohol, use illicit drugs, or possess a gun.

VS.

i.e.

Many workers expect to put in a forty-hour week — i.e., to work

eight hours a day

e.g.

She loved exotic fruit, e.g., mangoes, passion fruit, and papayas.

VS.

Imply

Many researchers seem to implythat the whole civilization is going to

collapse.

Infer

Scientists can infer the amount of oxygen in the atmosphere from the amount of organics in the sediment.

VS.

Insure

By setting a policy, they might insure the company from lawsuits.

Ensure

She ensured that the hotel manager heard her words loud & clear.

VS.

Into

He hurried into the room five minutes after the meeting had started.

In to

He decided to call in to the meeting before leaving the house.

VS.

It’s

It’s not my fault that he couldn’t go to school today.

Its

My dog wags its tail to attract attention.

VS.

Number Amount

The amount of water I drank was meagre compared to my thirst.

VS.

It was very difficult to make accurate calculations of the

number of lives lost.

I Me

When the report is done processing, please forward it to me.

VS.

You & I will forward her the report once it’s done processing.

Precede Proceed

You may now proceed to the next stage of the exam.

VS.

The speech that preceded the act was a waste of time.

Who’s Whose

It was Dave whose team was known for optimism.

VS.

Who’s responsible for breaking my window?

Who That

I never found the phone that I lost last year.

VS.

Any kid who wants to can learn to swim.

You’re Your

You must collect your exam scripts from the class monitor.

VS.

You’re exactly the type of person I was told to avoid.

Principal Principle

The manager had a set list of principles for the employees to learn.

VS.

Student misconduct was the principal concern of the teacher.

Loathe Loath

Darren was loath to leaving his family behind.

VS.

She loathed her new English teacher.