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Confused and Misused Words and Phrases Dude, the right word is affect, with an a. No, you’re wrong. The word should be effect, with an e.

Dude, that’s advises, with an s, not a c. This presentation advices you on words or phrases that are commonly misused or confused.

On an objective test, an item evaluating the skill might look like this. . .

Sample Item My friends ate at Tito’s Taco Palace, so they’re A hoping that their lunch stays down, for their are there are B C rumors that health inspectors cited the filthy kitchen. A. B. C. D. At C, you need Is the word there, the confused or expletive, or misused at A, placeholder, B, or C? form. their they’re there No change is necessary.

Recognize misspelled/correctly spelled words and phrases. X X X Alright Alot Rite Should of Suppose to Spelled wrong! ● ● ● All right A lot Right, write Should have Supposed to Spelled correctly!

Recognize the distinctions among related words. 3 or more; Among my friends Noncount; Amount of butter Adjective; A good essay Evident, unambiguous Among ● Between 2 only; Between Fred and me Amount ● Number Count; Number of cookies Good ● Well Explicit ● Implicit Know these differences! Adverb; He writes well. Implied, ambiguous

Know the difference that a single new letter can make. Before a word beginning with a consonant [sound] Before A ● An Before a word beginning with a vowel [sound] Already ● All ready Completely prepared A thought or conception Idea ● Ideal The concept of something perfect To suffer the deprivation of Lose ● Loose Free from restraint Verb; past tense of Were ● Where A place are More to learn!

Know the difference that an apostrophe can make. Possessive pronoun; belonging to it Possessive pronoun; belonging to Its ● It’s Whose ● Who’s Contraction for who is or who has whom Possessive pronoun; belonging to Contraction for it is or it has Your ● You’re Contraction for you are you Possessive pronouns never contain an apostrophe. Contractions do contain an apostrophe.

Know the difference a change to a single letter can make. Advice ● Advise Affect ● Effect Verb form City, wealth, important Capital ● Capitol The building for lawmaking To quote A location Rough Cite ● Site Coarse ● Course Praise Compliment ● Complement Goes well with S e t ● S it Stationary ● Stationery Be seated Noun form Usually a verb Put in place Unchanging Indicates comparison Than ● Then Why is English so complicated? Usually a noun Path, route Paper Next

Don’t let these homonyms [sound alike words] confuse you. Agree to or receive Accept ● Except Plural present of the verb be Are ● Our Past tense of pass Go before Passed ● Past Precede ● Proceed Leave out Possessive pronoun; belonging to us Gone, by Carry on Chief [person], main Principal ● Principle Truth or rule Correct, a just claim, a direction Right ● Write Make letters with an instrument Sight, touch, hearing, smell, taste Sense ● Since Adverb, conjunction, or preposition Sight ● Site Threw ● Through A location View, glimpse Past tense of throw State of the atmosphere Weather ● Whether Beyond Introduces an alternative

My brain is getting full! Relax, dude, we’re almost there!

To, Too, Two • Use to as a preposition. Jonathan drove to the seafood shop. • Use to to begin an infinitive. He hoped to buy fresh squid. • Use too to show degree. The squid was too expensive to purchase. • Use too as a synonym for also. So too was the fresh octopus. • Use two when you mean the number. Jonathan bought two flounder filets instead.

There, Their, They’re • Use there as an expletive, a placeholder to delay the subject. There is a turtle in the road. • Use there to indicate place. Across the road is a lake. The turtle hopes to get there before a car hits him. • Use their as a possessive pronoun. Most drivers don’t see the turtle; their eyes are glued to their cell phones. • Use they’re as a contraction for they are. They’re also distracted by other devices, like the radio and navigation system.

At man y objective exams , you can not use a diction ary! ca n us e dictionary ! X

When in doubt, rely on “gut” feelings. Your eyes have seen in print — and your brain has registered — all of the possible words that you will encounter for this skill. If you don’t recognize the right answer, go with the one that feels right. Hey, I’ve seen that word before!

Quick Test Directions: In the items that follow, choose the option that corrects an error in the underlined portion(s). If no error exists, choose “No change is necessary. ” Your turn! Let’s see what you can do!

Item 1 Even though we warned Jake not to eat a hole whole A A pie at one sitting, he sat at the kitchen table and B proceeded to consume slice after slice. C A. B. C. D. whole set preceded No change is necessary.

Item 2 Give Jerrod a compliment because his shoe A laces complement the colors in his plaid shirt. B His fashion since is gradually improving. sense is gradually improving. since is gradually improving. C C A. B. C. D. complement compliment sense No change is necessary.

Item 3 If you go by the supermarket, buy a package of A B hotdog buns. Than we can grill the sausage for Then Than we can grill the sausage for C dinner. A. B. C. D. buy by Then No change is necessary.

Item 4 Heed my advice, , and don’t loose your receipt. advice and don’t looseyour receipt. lose your receipt. A BB The college bookstore will not accept any excuse C if you need to return those books. A. B. C. D. advise lose except No change is necessary.

Item 5 The heardof gazelle leaped through the air as herd of gazelle leaped through heard of gazelle leaped through the air as A A BB the animals tried to elude the cheetah. C A. B. C. D. herd threw allude No change is necessary.

Item 6 Maybe Gerald is caught in traffic, or he maybe may be A B B flirting with the cute cafeteria cashier. Either way, don’t accept any excuse for his tardiness. C A. B. C. D. May be may be except No change is necessary.

Item 7 When there are fewer students in a class, the A B professor has less worries that everyone is is fewer worries that everyone less worries that everyone is C C getting individual attention. A. B. C. D. their less fewer No change is necessary.

Item 8 We were successful baking 300 cupcakes for A the charity event, but today we’re exhausted after B spending all night preparing the desserts. . desserts C A. B. C. D. we’re were deserts No change is necessary.

Item 9 Gregory passed his chemistry final, so now he A won’t loosehis scholarship. As he walked past lose his scholarship. As he walked past loose his scholarship. As he walked past B CC the diner, he rewarded himself with a milkshake. A. B. C. D. past lose passed No change is necessary.

Item 10 Mr. Ramos hopes to except the bid on the house. accept except the bid on the house. A He has agreed to all of the buyer’s conditions except retiling the master bathroom since itit B C would be too much work. A. B. C. D. accept sense No change is necessary.

Grammar Bytes! provides additional handouts and exercises on commonly confused words. chomp! Go to chomp. com! chomp!

The End. Watch where you’re going, fool!