Confusing words – part 33
Choose the correct word from the following pairs:
ADDUCE / DEDUCE / DEDUCT
The player had points for arguing with the referee.
None of the evidence in court was conclusive.
The that the fish died because of water pollution.
A number of factors are to explain the situation.
The landlord said he would the amount from the housing deposit.
We cannot very much from these figures.
AFFLUENT / EFFLUENT
Cigarette smoking used to be commoner among people.
Ground water is polluted by industrial and human waste.
He is becoming more and more .
from local factories are finding their way into the river.
AID / AIDE
A former aidaide has published a book about his experiences in the White House.
A woman in the street saw that he was in trouble and came to his aidaide.
A thesaurus is a useful aidaide to writing.
The prime minister instructed his aidsaides not to speak to the press about the matter.
About a fifth of the country’s income is in the form of foreign aidaide.
ALIGHT / LIGHT
The suspect lightedalighted from the train at Euston and proceeded to Heathrow.
The lamp caught fire and set lightalight to the curtains.
He was smoking in bed and his blankets caught lightalight.
It’s a north-facing room so it doesn’t get much lightalight.
ALLUDE / ELUDE
The thief the authorities for months.
She had a way of to Jean but never saying her name.
After three years, the cup still him.
She mentioned some trouble that she’d had at home and I guessed she was to her son.
ALTHOUGH / BUT
Edinburgh is an interesting place butalthough it takes a long time to get there.
Grace is an excellent athlete butalthough she injured her leg recently.
Laura cooked roast beef for me butalthough I don’t eat meat.
Harry is a great friend butalthough we don’t see each other often.
AMBIGUOUS / AMBIVALENT / EQUIVOCAL
He has fairly feelings towards his father.
What do you think the title really means? It’s rather , isn’t it?
They are and, in some cases, they are just wrong.
If you don’t use the correct grammar the meaning can be a bit and lead to confusion.
His words to the press were deliberately - he didn’t deny the reports but neither did he confirm them.
Some loved her, some hated her, few were about her.
AMUSE / BEMUSE
Sue was amusedbemused by her boyfriend’s strange behaviour.
Joan was not amusedbemused by the joke her brother told.
He was amusedbemused by what was happening.
I think it amusesbemuses him to see people make fools of themselves.
ANT / AUNT
She always behaves badly when her antsaunts come to visit.
A hundred hungry antsaunts came to our picnic.
My antaunt is afraid of antsaunts. She gets hysterical when she sees one.
I’ve got antsaunts I my pants - I can’t wait to get started on my experiment.
AROUSE / ROUSE
She finally arousedroused herself at lunchtime and got out of bed.
Both lectures arousedroused a lot of interest I the subject of geology. (s. past)
The goal arousedroused the supporters and they began to really get behind the team.
The programme arousedroused strong feelings, as you can see by the number of letters received.
