Basic

Basic Writing
Writing Skills
Skills
Easily
Easily Confused
Confused Words
Words (Part
(Part Four)
Four)

Lecturer: Mr. Abdifatah Nur

Often Used and Misused
• Choose/Chose
• Examples:
• My close friend chose (selected) to study Fishery . I
will choose (select) the same faculty next year.
 Often Used and Misused
• Loose/lose/loss
• Examples:
• The chickens ran loose (free) in the field.
• The knot holding the boat to the dock was loose (not
tight).
• Where did you lose (misplace) your gloves?
• The investors will lose (fail to keep) considerable
capital if the market suffers a loss (downturn).
Often Used and Misused
• Suppose/Supposed
• Examples:
• I suppose (assume) you’ll be late, as usual.
• We all supposed (assumed) you would be late.
• You were supposed (expected) to have picked up the
copies of the report before you came to the meeting.
Often Used and Misused
• Than/Then
• Examples:
• Then (next), the group discussed the ways in which
the new procedures worked better than (conjunction
making a comparison) the old.
Often Used and Misused
• Use/Used/Used to
• Examples:
• Just use (utilize) the same password we used (utilized)
yesterday.
• What’s the use (purpose) of watching TV all day?
• We should consider buying used (second hand)
equipment.
• We used to (formerly) require a second opinion.
• Residents of Buffalo, New York, are used to
(accustomed to) cold temperatures.
Often Used and Misused
• Weather/Whether
• Examples:
• The weather (condition outside) took a turn for the
worse.
• Let me know whether (a possibility) you are
interested in this new system or not.
Often Used and Misused
• Accept/Except/Expect
• Examples:
• The clients expect (demand) nothing except (but) a
warm welcome and a reasonable price.
• Will you accept (bear) the responsibility for this
decision?
• We expect (anticipate) everyone to come except
(excluding) John.
Often Used and Misused
• Advice/Advise
• Example
• We advise (suggest to) you to proceed carefully.
• That was the best advice (suggestion) I’ve received
so far.
Often Used and Misused
• Affect/Effect
• Example:
• How will this plan affect (alter) our jobs?
• What effect (consequence) will this restructuring
have on profits?
• Will it effect (cause) an increase?
• The movie affected (moved emotionally) us all.
Often Used and Misused
• Capital/Capitol
• Examples:
• How much capital (assets) are you willing to invest?
• I think that’s a capital (main) objective.
• First-degree murder is a capital (deserving of death)
crime.
• Budapest is the capital (city) of Hungary.
• No legislators were injured in the explosion in the
capitol (building).
Often Used and Misused
• Personal/Personnel
• Example:
• The director of personnel (staff) keeps all the
personnel(employee) files in order and guards any
personal (private) information they contain.
Often Used and Misused
• Principal/Principle
• Example:
• The principal (head) of Adna High School urged the
students to study maritime fields.
• The principal(primary) objective is to make
decisions that are in keeping with our principles
(beliefs).