Confusing Words and Expressions

ADMISSION / ADMITTANCE

• I called at his office but was refused admittance.
• No admission will be charge at the school concert.
• It is impossible to gain admittance into another country without a visa.

AIR / AIRS

• There was air pollution near the factories.
• I don't like people who put on airs.
• There was an air of excitement when the match began.

ALONE / LONELY

• 'Leave me alone,' shouted John.
• John felt lonely when he remained alone in the house.

ALMOST / MOST / MOSTLY

• She is the most intelligent student in class.
• The people in Hong Kong are mostly Chinese.
• Most of the students wish to have a rest after long hours of work.

ALTOGETHER / TOGETHER / ALL TOGETHER

• There were altogether twenty members in the committee.
• The students are all together in he chemistry laboratory.
• The students study together in the library.

AS A WHOLE / ON THE WHOLE

• Let us take the whole incident into consideration as a whole.
• Jack is on the whole an industrious student.

ASSURE / ENSURE / INSURE

• The manager assures us that the recorder would be repaired properly.
• The owner of the goldsmith wants to insure against robbery.
• You must check your work carefully to ensure that you do not make any mistakes.

CAUSE / REASON

• What are the causes of their quarrel?
• What is your reason for studying in this school?

CHARGE / COST / PRICE / VALUE / WORTH / CHARGED WITH

• These books cost a lot of money.
• These books are worth a lot of money.
• The price of the books has been raised recently.
• An antique has no value if it is broken.
• We did not need to pay any service charge after using the hall.
• That man was charged with theft.

CLASH / CRASH

• What a pity that the two meetings clash.
• He saw a bus crash into the lamp post.
• Ann and Mary often quarrel because their ideas often clash.

CLOTH / CLOTHING / CLOTHES

• John cleaned the table with a cloth.
• He laid a cloth on the ground and put down some clothes.
• Her clothes got wet after the rain.
• I don't like wearing thick clothing in winter.

COMPOSE / COMPRISE / CONSIST

• The class club committee comprises eight members.
• The class club committee consists of eight members.
• The committee is composed of teachers and students.

COMPARE TO / COMPARE WITH

• You may compare your work with David's and see which is better.
• Your work is nothing compared with David's.
• Many poets like to compare life to morning dew.

CONCERN / CONCERNING / CONCERNED

• All the classmates are concerned about his health.
• The topic is concerned with careless driving.
• They are discussing something concerning the youth problem.

CONTINUAL / CONTINUOUS

• The continual rain made us feel bored.
• They enjoyed a continuous performance till midnight.

COPY / IMITATE

• You should not copy your neighbour's answers.
• The teacher advised his students not to imitate him.

CREDIBLE / CREDULOUS / INCREDIBLE

• That is really an incredible story. I don't think it's a real one.
• He is such a credulous man that he often believes what you say.
• Did the committee find his statement credible?

DAMAGE / DAMAGES

• The storm did great damage to the squatter area.
• The insurance company has to pay for the damages to shop.
• He claimed $2000 damages from his boss for the loss of his leg while at work.

DAMAGE / INJURE / HURT / WOUND

• He hurt his leg after jumping down from a tree.
• Many huts are damaged by the fire.
• A tall man hurt him with an axe.
• Many fire victims were injured and taken to hospital.

DISINTERESTED / UNINTERESTED

• A judge should be disinterested; otherwise he cannot make a fair judgement.
• He is uninterested in dancing.

DIVIDE / SHARE

• John shared his food with Tom.
• The boys shared the books among themselves.
• The teacher divided the students into four groups.

ECONOMIC / ECONOMICAL / ECONOMICS / ECONOMY

• Mrs Chan is said to be an economical housekeeper.
• He is going to study economics in the university.
• Tourism plays an important part in the economy of Hong Kong.
• People had a miserable life in the time of economic depression.

ELIGIBLE / LEGIBLE

• She is eligible for promotion because she is hardworking and has good qualifications.
• Mr Wong's handwriting is legible.

EMINENT / IMMINENT

• Dr Wong is an eminent surgeon in our city.
• Most people were in a hurry to go home as a typhoon was imminent.

EQUAL / IDENTICAL / SIMILAR

• The tow applicants are of equal ability.
• Your book is similar to the one that I lost last week.
• They are surprised to find that their shirts are identical.

ERROR / MISTAKE / CRIME / SIN / FAULT

• I took his book by mistake.
• There are so many typing errors in this letter that I do not understand what it talks about.
• An error of judgement may lead to disastrous results.
• Don't punish him. It is not his fault.
• He confessed his sin to a priest.
• It is a mistake to force children to do too much work.
• He is a very careful man but he makes mistakes occasionally.
• He was sentenced to death because he had committed a very serious crime.

EXCITING / EXCITED / EXCITEMENT

• The boys became excited when they watched such exciting basketball match.
• When he heard that he had passed the examination, he jumped out of excitement.

EVERYDAY / EVERY DAY

• What do you do every day?
• John seems to be very busy with everyday work.
• She writes ten letters every day.

FARE / FEE

• A student has to pay the fare when he takes a bus.
• The fare is more by taxi than by minibus.
• When will the students pay the school fee?

GAOL / GOAL

• He has been shut in a gaol for years.
• What is your goal in life?
• Both teams scored a goal at the beginning of the match.

HANG / HANGED / HANDED HAND / HUNG / HUNG

• Last night the criminal was hanged to death.
• John hung a picture on the wall a few minutes ago.

HARD / HARDLY

• Hardly had he finished his work when the bell rang.
• He could hardly see in darkness.
• He tried hard to improve himself.

HIRE / LET / RENT

• This house is not to let.
• The young couple rented a flat in the building.
• They hired a truck to carry the furniture to their new flat.

HOPE / EXPECT / WISH

• I don't expect to see him at the airport next Monday.
• What do you expect him to do?
• I wish I could help you solve the problem.
• She hopes she will be admitted to the university.

IMAGINARY / IMAGINATION / IMAGINATIVE

• This story was about an imaginary situation.
• Why does John have so much imagination?
• He's got an imaginative mind.

IMMIGRATE / EMIGRATE / MIGRATE / IMMIGRANT

• The Chans family will emigrate to England tomorrow.
• Where do the birds migrate when winter comes?
• Thousands of refugees immigrate into Hong Kong over the past few years.
• Too many immigrants may lead to various social problems.

INTERESTING / INTERESTED / INTEREST

• These story books do not seem to interest the students.
• He is very interested in taking photographs.
• You can never find this book interesting if you don't read it.

INSIST / PERSIST

• John insisted on going for a walk despite the heavy rain outside.
• The committee persisted in adopting Tommy's plan though it was not very practical.

INTENSE / INTENSIVE

• Most of the onlookers felt hot because of the intense heat.
• Last year I took an intensive course in Japanese.

JOURNEY / VOYAGE / TOUR / TRIP

• We shall take a trip to Cheung Chau on Sunday.
• Mr Chan had a tour in Europe during the summer vacation.
• How long does a journey from Hong Kong to Taiwan take?
• One of the tourists caught a cold on the journey.

LATE / LATELY / LATER / LATTER / LATEST / LAST

• I haven't seen Mary lately.
• Both John and Jack are hardworking students, but the latter was more active at school.
• Mary is always fascinated by the latest fashion.
• Read the last line of the third paragraph carefully.
• Jane is always late for school.

LAY / LAYING / LAID / LAID LIE / LYING / LIED / LIED TO LIE / LYING / LAIN

• The boys lay the bottles on the table carefully.
• An old man has been laying over there for a long time.
• She laid a cloth on the ground and then lay down.
• He lied to his teacher.

LOOSE / LOOSEN / LOSE

• Mary lost her schoolbag last Friday.
• He tried to loosen the screw but in vain.
• He felt hot and so he loosened his collar.
• It is reported a bear in the zoo has got loose.

LOUD / LOUDLY / ALOUD

• Would you mind not talking so loud?
• You have to speak aloud; otherwise your classmates can't hear what you say.
• It's impolite to speak in a loud voice.
• A woman shouted loudly that her handbag was stolen.

MAYBE / MAY BE

• Maybe he is unable to solve the problem himself.
• David may be doing his work now.

MEMORISE / MEMORY / MEMORIAL / MEMORABLE / REMEMBER

• I shall never forget taking part in such a memorable occasion.
• I remembered seeing him read a newspaper a few minutes ago.
• I do not take history because there are too many facts to memorise.
• My uncle has bad memory for dates.
• A memorial school is built for the chairman of the association.

MOVABLE / PORTABLE

• The large cupboard in the kitchen is not movable.
• You may bring along your portable cassette recorder when you go for the picnic.

NEGLECT / NEGLIGENT / NEGLIGIBLE

• Good parents never neglect their children.
• It was said that John was rather negligent in his work.
• He was dismissed because he was negligent of his duties.
• The manager did not report the burglary to the police because the amount of money stolen was negligible.

NOISE / SOUND / VOICE

• A customer complained in a loud voice.
• Don't make any noise; otherwise you'll be punished.
• Some sounds of explosion were heard when a fire broke out.

PASS / PAST

• I walk pass a church on my way to school every morning.
• She passed the School Certificate Examination two years ago.
• My uncle often tells us his past glories.
• I saw a car crash into a shop when I passed a supermarket.

PERSONAL / PERSONNEL

• It is only my personal opinion. What's yours?
• Many applicants were waiting outside to see the personnel manager of the firm.

RESPECTABLE / RESPECTFUL / RESPECTIVE / RESPECTIVELY

• The candidates went to their respective classrooms when the bell rang.
• He belongs to the respectable upper classes.
• The crowd stood at a respectful distance from the governor.
• Our principal is a respectable man.
• The students went back to their classrooms respectively after the assembly.

PRINCIPAL / PRINCIPLE

• Mr Wong is the principal of a famous secondary school.
• What is the principle food of the Chinese?
• Some students find it difficult to understand the principle of geometry.

PRESENTLY / RECENTLY

• A new flyover will be built on that busy road presently.
• John has made much improvement recently.

RAISE / RISE / AROUSE / ARISE

• Many problems arise after the government announced the new taxation policy.
• You may raise your hands if you have questions.
• The minibus drivers usually raise the fare when a typhoon comes.
• The food price has risen a lot recently.
• Two young men wearing sun glasses arouse the policeman's suspicion.

REFUSE / REJECT / DECLINE

• He refused to help us organise the annual carnival.
• He was disappointed to hear that his application was rejected again.
• He was so busy that he declined his friend's invitation to dinner.
• The committee had considered carefully before rejecting his proposal.
• Mr Wong refused to discuss his plan with his colleagues.

SCENE / SCENERY

• They were fascinated by the scenery in the countryside.
• That soldier never forgets the scene of a great b battle.
• The drama consists of five scenes.

SOMETIME / SOMETIMES / SOME TIME

• He will leave for Scotland sometime next year.
• Sometimes I watch television till midnight.
• We haven't seen Amy for some time.

SUCCESSIVE / SUCCESSION / SUCCESS / SUCCESSFUL

• They were busy with their work in five successive days.
• They tried hard to make the variety show a success.
• They did not give up in spite of a succession of defeats.
• It is said that John will be in succession to his father's property.
• Congratulations! Your plan is really a treat success.

THOROUGH / THROUGH

• The police carried out thorough investigation into the murder case.
• That window is too narrow to get through.
• I wondered how he got through his examination.

TIRED / TIRESOME

• He felt tired after working for a long time.
• The tiresome students made the teacher very angry.

VALUABLE / INVALUABLE / PRICELESS / WORTHLESS

• I would like to thank Sergeant Wong for his invaluable service to us.
• This is really a very valuable gift.
• She kept her diamond ring with care because she thought that it was a priceless one.
• Nobody would take care of a worthless antique.

WAKE / AWAKE / AWAKEN / WAKEN

• Mary got up late this morning because her mother forgot to wake her up.
• It is difficult to make him awake to the problem.
• The accident awakens him to the danger of careless driving.
• Is the patient awake or asleep?
• He woke up at half past six yesterday.