Commonly Confused Words 1

February 4, 2010

Grammar iconSome words are often confused in writing. Sometimes the meanings are similar. Other times it's the spelling.

Choose the right word for a business context. Answers and explanations are below.

  1. Budget reductions may negatively (a. affect b. effect c. impact) some projects.
  2. Every mechanic knows that regular (a. maintainence b. maintenance c. maintainance) extends equipment life.
  3. The new employee (a. implied  b. inferred) from the manager’s email that he would soon be called for a performance review.
  4. Gloria’s husband, Mike, is shorter than (a. me  b. I).
  5. Francois and (a. her  b. she  c. herself) tested the new router.
  6. He worried that the new design was (a. liable  b. likely) to fail and cause embarrassment.
  7. We will implement the recommendations (a. regardless  b. irregardless) of any resistance we might encounter.
  8. Before we signed the contract, we knew we had (a. an oral  b. a verbal) agreement with the consultant.
  9. The restaurant’s (a. compliment  b. complement) of cooks was 10.
  10.  The manager has asked for a progress report twice a month, i.e. (a. bimonthly  b. semimonthly).

Answers

1. a
'Affect' means 'to influence.'
'Effect' means 'to bring about, to produce.'
'Impact' means 'strike with a blow.' It is not a substitute for 'affect.'

2. b
'Maintenance' is the correct spelling.

3. b
'To imply' means to suggest without stating explicitly.
'To infer' means to try to arrive at a conclusion based on evidence.

4. b
Although often said 'than me' in common speech, the correct answer is 'than I.'
Think of it like this:
'He's shorter than I (am).'
'He's shorter than I.'

5. b
'Francois (he) and she' is correct.
'Francois (he) and her' and 'Francois (he) and herself' are incorrect.

6. a
'Liable' means 'vulnerable to risk or harm.'
'Likely' means 'probable.'

7. a
'Irregardless' is not a proper word.

8. a
'Oral' means 'spoken, by word of mouth.'
'Verbal' means 'with words.'

9. b
'Compliment' means nice things said about someone.
'Complement' means the full number of something needed to make it complete.

10. b
'Biweekly' means 'every 2 weeks.'
'Bimonthly' means 'every two months.'