Continuing in our series about confusing word pairs (we will take a break next week), here is a little quiz on last week’s words – with maybe a few others thrown in.
1. We took a vacation to the (dessert, desert) in Arizona.
2. Sue quit piano lessons because she was really (disinterested, uninterested) in learning how to read music.
3. I recognized him immediately because he has a very (distinct, distinctive) face.
4. The outside light is on because it has a motion (censor, sensor).
5. I was shocked when he (dived, dove) into the lake from that high cliff.
6. Please (come, go) to my party next Saturday night.
7. Her story about the ghost seemed (credible, creditable).
8. This blue suit is quite (different from, different than) mine.
9. I plan to (cite, site, sight) some famous poets in my speech.
10. The (criteria, criterion) for getting this job is having a business degree.
11. My brother’ s new car has (dual, duel) exhaust.
12. She just got a new job as a (copyrighter, copy writer, copywriter), creating social media posts.
13. Please be very (discrete, discreet) when you talk to her because she tends to gossip.
14. Refer to the (currant, current) edition of the newsletter.
15, Was she (conscience, conscious) after the accident?
16. We (collaborated, corroborated) on the project.
17. We are going to visit the United States (Capital, Capitol) building.
18. I felt really (bad, badly) about the end of our friendship.
19. Since she finished first in regional competition, she received a (buy, by, bye) into the national competition.
20. I have three (consecutive, successive) Zoom meetings on Friday morning.
Easy Quiz, Huh???? Scroll down for the answers . . .
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1. We took a vacation to the (dessert, desert) in Arizona.
2. Sue quit piano lessons because she was really (disinterested, uninterested) in learning how to read music.
3. I recognized him immediately because he has a very (distinct, distinctive) face.
4. The outside light is on because it has a motion (censor, sensor).
5. I was shocked when he (dived, dove) into the lake from that high cliff. Either one. They are interchangeable.
6. Please (come, go) to my party next Saturday night.
7. Her story about the ghost seemed (credible, creditable).
8. This blue suit is quite (different from, different than) mine.
9. I plan to (cite, site, sight) some famous poets in my speech.
10. The (criteria, criterion) for getting this job is having a business degree.
11. My brother’ s new car has (dual, duel) exhaust.
12. She just got a new job as a (copyrighter, copy writer, copywriter), creating social media posts.
13. Please be very (discrete, discreet) when you talk to her because she tends to gossip.
14. Refer to the (currant, current) edition of the newsletter.
15, Was she (conscience, conscious) after the accident?
16. We (collaborated, corroborated) on the project.
17. We are going to visit the United States (Capital, Capitol) building.
18. I felt really (bad, badly) about the end of our friendship.
19. Since she finished first in regional competition, she received a (buy, by, bye) into the national competition.
20. I have three (consecutive, successive) Zoom meetings on Friday morning. Either one. They are interchangeable.
Tomorrow there is a virtual Awards Ceremony, so I can see where I placed in the Florida Authors and Publishers Association (FAPA) book awards. I am a finalist.
Dived – Dove
I know they are increasingly common in US English (and creeping into British English) but the conversion of ‘weak’ verbs in ‘strong’ verbs really make me wince
As far as I’m concerned ‘dove’ is ONLY a bird
And when I first heard ‘snuck’ tears ‘luck’ from my eyes and I would have liked to have ‘twuck’ the speaker’s nose.
Ah! That’s the way language evolves!
Ha! Thanks for the comment….what do you think about shone and shined?
Hi Arene,
Sorry for the delay in responding.
In British English
Shined is the past tense when used transitively – “I shined my shoes.”
Shone is the past tense of the verb when used intransitively – “the light shone brightly.”
Thanks for that information. Not sure if I knew, but that is how I use shone versus shined.
Good luck with the FAPA awards. I know you deserve, the wish is that those judging can see it.
Thank you so much, Dave! Unfortunately, the Zoom event was ruined by Zoom bombing, which I had never heard of. I have been on many small and large Zoom meetings, but had never experienced it. Suddenly, before we had even gotten started Neo-Nazis got into the Zoom meeting. It was horrific. We tried to go back in four times, but just had to give up. (Guess we are in Trump’s America). But I did win the bronze President’s Book Award for Reference book. 🙂