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gmatbusters
Hello GMAT takers!!!

I have come across the below confusable words in my GMAT verbal preparation so far. I would like to share the same with you guys. I will keep on updating the list. Please feel free to add/update further. :cool:

1) ACCEDE/EXCEED
The word exceed comes from the Latin word “excedere,” which means to go out, go forth, go beyond a certain limit, overpass, exceed, transgress.
e.g. If you drive too fast, you exceed the speed limit.

The word accede comes from the Latin word “accedo”, which means to approach. It means "give in," "agree."
e.g. Do not accede too readily to his demands or he will think you are a wimp!

2) ADAPT/ADEPT/ADOPT
ADAPT-make fit for, or change to suit a new purpose
ADOPT- choose and follow; as of theories, ideas, policies, strategies or plans; to take on
ADEPT- very skilled or proficient at something.

3) ADVERSE/AVERSE
ADVERSE- adverse is something harmful,
AVERSE- averse is a strong feeling of dislike

4) ADVICE/ADVISE
ADVICE- it is a noun form.
ADVISE - it is verb form.

5) AESTHETIC/ASCETIC
AESTHETIC- "Aesthetic" (also spelled "esthetic") has to do with beauty.
AESTHETIC- ascetic" has to do with avoiding pleasure, including presumably the pleasure of looking at beautiful things.

6) AFFECT/EFFECT
AFFECT - Affect is chiefly used as a verb and its main meaning is ‘to influence or make a difference to.
e.g.The pay increase will greatly affect their lifestyle.

EFFECT - Effect, on the other hand, is used both as a noun and a verb, although is more commonly used as a noun. As a noun it means ‘a result or an influence’. Move the cursor until you get the effect you want.

When used as a verb effect means ‘to bring something about as a result’. It’s most often used in a formal context as oppose to everyday English: e.g. Growth in the economy can only be effected by stringent economic controls.

7) AFFLUENCE/EFFLUENCE
AFFLUENCE: Wealth brings affluence;
EFFLUENCE: sewage is effluence.

8) ALLITERATE/ILLITERATE
ALLITERATE - Pairs of words with the same initial sound alliterate, like "wild and wooly."
ILLITERATE- Those who can't read are illiterate.

9) ALLUDE/ELUDE
ALLUDE is to suggest or indirectly call attention to something, for example:
She had a way of alluding to Jean but never saying her name.

ELUDE means to escape from or avoid someone or something, for example:
The thief eluded the authorities for months.

Or the failure to achieve or attain something, for example:
After three years, the cup still eluded them.

10) ALLUSION/ILLUSION
ALLUSION is a reference, direct or implied, to something or someone. Allusions are often found in books, songs, TV shows, and movies. For instance, the title of Aldous Huxley’s classic novel Brave New World is an allusion to a work by William Shakespeare.

ILLUSION, on the other hand, is something that deceives the mind or senses by creating a false impression of reality. Illusions are often (though not always) related to visual perception, as in optical illusion. A mirage, such as a phenomenon of perceiving a sea of water in a desert, is a type of illusion.

If you feel this post is useful, appreciate it ...
I will keep on adding new words to the list...



Good post ?
Please keep sharing such observations, which ease our prep process.

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SC - Confusable words Part-3

21) BENEFACTOR/BENEFICIARY

Benefactors give benefits; beneficiaries receive them. We expect to hear of generous
benefactors and grateful beneficiaries.

22) BESIDE/BESIDES
"Besides" can mean "in addition to" as in "besides the puppy chow, Spot scarfed up the filet
mignon I was going to serve for dinner." "Beside," in contrast, usually means "next to." "I sat
beside Cheryl all evening, but she kept talking to Jerry instead." Using "beside" for "besides,"
won't usually get you in trouble; but using "besides" when you mean "next to" will.

23) COMPLEMENT/COMPLIMENT
"compliment": nice things said about someone ("She paid me the compliment of admiring
the way I shined my shoes."). "Complement," much less common, has a number of meanings
associated with matching or completing. Complements supplement each other, each adding
something the others lack, so we can say that "Alice's love for entertaining and Mike's love
for washing dishes complement each other." Remember, if you're not making nice to
someone, the word is "complement."

24) CONSCIENCE, CONSCIOUS, CONSCIOUSNESS
Your conscience makes you feel guilty when you do bad things, but your consciousness is
your awareness. If you are awake, you are conscious. Although it is possible to speak of your
"conscious mind," you can't use "conscious" all by itself to mean "consciousness."

25) COUNCIL/COUNSEL/CONSUL
The first two words are pronounced the same but have distinct meanings. An official group
that deliberates, like the Council on Foreign Relations, is a "council"; all the rest are
"counsels": your lawyer, advice, etc. A consul is a local representative of a foreign
government.

26) CREDIBLE/CREDULOUS
"Credible" means "believable" or "trustworthy." It is also used in a more abstract sense,
meaning something like "worthy": "She made a credible lyric soprano." Don't confuse
"credible" with "credulous," a much rarer word which means "gullible." "He was
incredulous" means "he didn't believe it" whereas "he was incredible" means "he was
wonderful" (but use the latter expression only in casual speech).

27) CREVICE/CREVASSE
Crevices are by definition tiny, like that little crevice between your teeth where the popcorn
hulls always get caught. A huge crack in a glacier is given the French spelling: crevasse.

28) CURRANT/CURRENT
"Current" is an adjective having to do with the present time, and can also be a noun naming
a thing that, like time, flows: electrical current, currents of public opinion. "Currant" refers
only to little fruits.

29) DEFUSE/DIFFUSE
You defuse a dangerous situation by treating it like a bomb and removing its fuse; to diffuse,
in contrast, is to spread something out: "Bob's cheap cologne diffused throughout the room,
wrecking the wine-tasting."

30) DEPRECIATE/DEPRECATE
To depreciate something is to actually make it worse, whereas to deprecate something is
simply to speak or think of it in a manner that demonstrates your low opinion of it. People
who make unflattering jokes or comments about themselves are self-deprecating.
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SC - Confusable words Part-4

31) DEVICE/DEVISE
"Device" is a noun. A can-opener is a device. "Devise" is a verb. You can devise a plan for
opening a can with a sharp rock instead. Only in law is "devise" properly used as a noun,
meaning something deeded in a will.

32) DIFFER/VARY
"Vary" can mean "differ," but saying "our opinions vary" makes it sound as if they were
changing all the time when what you really mean is "our opinions differ." Pay attention to
context when choosing one of these words.

33) DISSEMBLE/DISASSEMBLE
People who dissemble are being dishonest, trying to hide what they are really up to. This is
an uncommon word, often misused when "disassemble" is meant. People who disassemble
something take it apart--they are doing the opposite of assembling it.

34) EMIGRATE/IMMIGRATE
To "emigrate" is to leave a country. The E at the beginning of the word is related to the E in
other words having to do with going out, such as "exit." "Immigrate," in contrast, looks as if it
might have something to do with going in, and indeed it does: it means to move into a new
country. The same distinction applies to "emigration" and "immigration." Note the double M
in the second form. A migrant is someone who continually moves about.

35) EMINENT/IMMINENT/IMMANENT
By far the most common of these words is "eminent," meaning "prominent, famous."
"Imminent," in phrases like "facing imminent disaster," means "threatening." It comes from
Latin minere, meaning "to project or overhang." Think of a mine threatening to cave in.
Positive events can also be imminent: they just need to be coming soon. The rarest of the
three is "immanent," used by philosophers to mean "inherent" and by theologians to mean
"present throughout the universe" when referring to God. It comes from Latin "manere,"
"remain." Think of God creating "man" in his own image.
When a government exercises its power over private property it is drawing on its eminent
status in society, so the proper legal phrase is "eminent domain."
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SC - Confusable words Part-5

EMPATHY/SYMPATHY
If you think you feel just like another person, you are feeling empathy. If you just feel sorry
for another person, you're feeling sympathy

EMULATE/IMITATE
People generally know what "imitate" means, but they sometimes don't understand that
"emulate" is a more specialized word with a purely positive function, meaning to try to equal
or match. Thus if you try to climb the same mountain your big brother did, you're emulating
him; but if you copy his habit of sticking peas up his nose, you're just imitating him.

ENORMITY/ENORMOUSNESS
Originally these two words were synonymous, but "enormity" got whittled down to meaning
something monstrous or outrageous. Don't wonder at the "enormity" of the Palace of
Versailles unless you wish to express horror at this embodiment of Louis XIV's ego.
"Enormity" can also be used as a noun meaning "monstrosity."

END RESULT/END
Usually a redundancy. Only "result" will do fine.

ENTOMOLOGY/ETYMOLOGY
Entomology is the study of insects, like ants ("ant" looks like "ent-") but etymology is the
study of the history of words (from Greek, originally meaning "the true meaning of words").
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SC - Confusable words Part-6

ENVELOP/ENVELOPE
To wrap something up in a covering is to envelop it (pronounced "enVELLup"). The specific
wrapping you put around a letter is an envelope (pronounced variously, but with the accent
on the first syllable).

ENVIOUS/JEALOUS
Although these are often treated as synonyms, there is a difference. You are envious of what
others have that you lack. Jealousy, on the other hand, involves wanting to hold on to what
you do have. You can be jealous of your boyfriend's attraction to other women, but you're
envious of your boyfriend's CD collection.

EPIC/EPOCH
An "epoch" is a long period of time, like the Pleistocene Epoch. It often gets mixed up with
"epic" in the sense of "large-scale." Something really big has "epic proportions," not "epoch
proportions."

EPIGRAM/EPIGRAPH/EPITAPH/EPITHET
An epigram is a pithy saying, usually humorous. Mark Twain was responsible for many
striking, mostly cynical epigrams, such as "Always do right. That will gratify some of the
people, and astonish the rest."

Unfortunately, he was also responsible for an even more famous one that has been
confusing people ever since: "Everyone is a moon, and has a dark side which he never
shows to anybody." it's true that the moon keeps one side away from the earth, but--if you
don't count the faint glow reflected from the earth--it is not any darker than the side that
faces us. In fact, over time, the side facing us is darkened slightly more often because it is
occasionally eclipsed by the shadow of the earth.

An epigraph is a brief quotation used to introduce a piece of writing or the inscription on a
statue or building.

An epitaph is an inscription on a tombstone or some other tribute to a dead person.
In literature, an epithet is a term that replaces or is added to the name of a person, like
"clear-eyed Athena," in which "clear-eyed" is the epithet. You are more likely to encounter
the term in its negative sense, as a term of insult or abuse: "the shoplifter hurled epithets at
the guard who had arrested her."

EPITOMY/EPITOME
Nothing makes you look quite so foolish as spelling a sophisticated word incorrectly. Taken
directly from Latin, where it means "abridgment," "epitome" is now most often used to
designate an extremely representative example of the general class: "Snow White is the
epitome of a Disney cartoon feature." Those who don't misspell this word often
mispronounce it, misled by its spelling, as "EP-i-tohm," but the proper pronunciation is "ee-
PIT-o-mee." The word means "essence," not "climax," so instead of writing "the market had
reached the epitome of frenzied selling at noon," use "peak" or a similar word.
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SC - Confusable words Part-7

FAIR/FARE
When you send your daughter off to camp, you hope she'll fare well. That's why you bid her
a fond farewell. "Fair" as a verb is a rare word meaning "to smooth a surface to prepare it for
being joined to another."

FARTHER/FURTHER
Some authorities (like the Associated Press) insist on "farther" to refer to physical distance
and on "further" to refer to an extent of time or degree, but others treat the two words as
interchangeable except for insisting on "further" for "in addition," and "moreover." You'll
always be safe in making the distinction; some people get really testy about this.

FASTLY/FAST
"Fastly" is an old form that has died out in English. Interest in soccer is growing fast, not
"fastly."

FATAL/FATEFUL
A "fatal" event is a deadly one; a "fateful" one is determined by fate. If there are no casualties
left lying at the scene--whether mangled corpses or failed negotiations--the word you are
seeking is "fateful." The latter word also has many positive uses, such as "George fondly
remembered that fateful night in which he first met the woman he was to love to his dying
day."

FAZE/PHASE
"Faze" means to embarrass or disturb, but is almost always used in the negative sense, as in
"the fact that the overhead projector bulb was burned out didn't faze her." "Phase" is a noun
or verb having to do with an aspect of something. "He's just going through a temperamental
phase." "They're going to phase in the new accounting procedures gradually." Unfortunately,
Star Trek has confused matters by calling its ray pistols phasers. Too bad they aren't fazers
instead.
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SC - Confusable words Part-8

FEARFUL/FEARSOME
To be "fearful" is to be afraid. To be "fearsome" is to cause fear in others. Remember that
someone who is fierce is fearsome rather than fearful.

FEINT/FAINT

A feint, whether in chess or on the battlefield, is a maneuver designed to divert the
opponent's attention from the real center of attack. A feint is a daring move. Do not use this
very specialized word in the expression "faint of heart" (or "faint at heart"), which implies
timidity.

FIANCE/FIANCEE

Your fiance is the man you plan to marry; your fiancee is the woman you plan to marry.

FINE TOOTHCOMB/FINE-TOOTH COMB

Brush your teeth, but don't comb them. Although the spelling "fine toothcomb" is common
enough to be listed as a variant in dictionaries, it looks pretty silly to people who prefer the
traditional expression used to describe examining a territory or subject minutely: going over
it with a "fine-tooth comb"--a comb with fine teeth. Some people prefer "fine-toothed comb."

FIREY/FIERY
it's "fire," so why isn't it "firey"? If you listen closely, you hear that "fire" has two distinct
vowel sounds in it: "fi-er." Spelling the adjective "fiery" helps to preserve that double sound.
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SC - Confusable words Part-9

FLAIR/FLARE
"Flair" is conspicuous talent: "She has a flair for organization." "Flare" is either a noun
meaning "flame" or a verb meaning to blaze with light or to burst into anger.

FLAMMABLE/INFLAMMABLE
The prefix "in-" does not indicate negation here; it comes from the word "inflame."
"Flammable" and "inflammable" both mean "easy to catch on fire"; but so many people
misunderstand the latter term that it's better to stick with "flammable" in safety warnings.

FLAUNT/FLOUT
To flaunt is to show off: you flaunt your new necklace by wearing it to work. "Flout" has a
more negative connotation; it means to treat with contempt some rule or standard. The
cliche is "to flout convention." Flaunting may be in bad taste because it's ostentatious, but it
is not a violation of standards.

FLESH OUT/FLUSH OUT
To "flesh out" an idea is to give it substance, as a sculptor adds clay flesh to a skeletal
armature. To "flush out" a criminal is to drive him or her out into the open. The latter term is
derived from bird-hunting, in which one flushes out a covey of quail. If you are trying to
develop something further, use "flesh"; but if you are trying to reveal something hitherto
concealed, use "flush."

FLIER/FLYER
An airplane pilot is a flier, but the usual spelling for the word meaning "brochure" is flyer.
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SC - Confusable words Part-9

FLOUNDER/FOUNDER

As a verb, "founder" means "to fill with water and sink." It is also used metaphorically of
various kinds of equally catastrophic failures.
In contrast, to flounder is to thrash about in the water (like a flounder), struggling to stay
alive. "Flounder" is also often used metaphorically to indicate various sorts of desperate
struggle. If you're sunk, you've foundered. If you're still struggling, you're floundering.

FOR SALE/ON SALE

If you're selling something, it's for sale; but if you lower the price, it goes on sale.

FOR SELL/FOR SALE
If you have things to sell, they are for sale. Nothing is ever "for sell."

FOR SURE/SURE
In casual speech, when you agree with somebody's statement, you may say "for sure." Your
date says "That was outstanding tiramisu." and you, wanting to show your how in tune you
are, reply "For sure!" You can also use the phrase to mean "for certain," as in "I couldn't tell
for sure that the bench was wet until I sat on it."
But people often substitute this phrase when they should use plain old "sure," as in "I
couldn't be for sure." That should be "I couldn't be sure."

FOREGO/FORGO

The E in "forego" tells you it has to do with going before. It occurs mainly in the expression
"foregone conclusion," a conclusion arrived at in advance. "Forgo" means to abstain from or
do without. "After finishing his steak, he decided to forgo the blueberry cheesecake."
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SC - Confusable words Part-10

FORMALLY/FORMERLY
These two are often mixed up in speech. If you are doing something in a formal manner, you
are behaving formally; but if you previously behaved differently, you did so formerly.

FORESEE/FORSEE
"Foresee" means "to see into the future." There are lots of words with the prefix "fore-" which
are future-oriented, including "foresight," "foretell," "forethought," and "foreword," all of
which are often misspelled by people who omit the E. Just remember: what golfers shout
when they are warning people ahead of them about the shot they are about to make is
"fore!"

FORTUITOUS/FORTUNATE
"Fortuitous" events happen by chance; they need not be fortunate events, only random ones:
"It was purely fortuitous that the meter reader came along five minutes before I returned to
my car." Although fortunate events may be fortuitous, when you mean "lucky," use
"fortunate."

FOUL/FOWL
A chicken is a fowl. A poke in the eye is a foul.
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SC - Confusable words Part-11

FULSOME
Because its most common use is in the phrase "fulsome praise," many people suppose that
this word means something like "generous" or "whole-hearted." Actually, it means
"disgusting," and "fulsome praise" is disgustingly exaggerated praise.

GAFF/GAFFE
"Gaffe" is a French word meaning "embarrassing mistake," and should not be mixed up with
"gaff": a large hook.

GAMUT/GAUNTLET
To "run a gamut" is to go through the whole scale or spectrum of something. To "run the
gauntlet" (also gantlet) is to run between two lines of people who are trying to beat you. And
don't confuse "gamut" with "gambit," a play in chess, and by extension, a tricky maneuver of
any kind.

GANDER/DANDER
When you get really angry you "get your dander up." The derivation of "dander" in this
expression is uncertain, but you can't replace it with "dandruff" or "gander." The only way to
get a gander up is to awaken a male goose.

GIBE/JIBE/JIVE

"Gibe" is a now rare term meaning "to tease." "Jibe" means "to agree," but is usually used
negatively, as in "the alibis of the two crooks didn't jibe." The latter word is often confused
with "jive," which derives from slang which originally meant to treat in a jazzy manner
("Jivin' the Blues Away") but also came to be associated with deception ("Don't give me any
of that jive").
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SC - Confusable words Part-12

GIG/JIG
"The jig is up" is an old slang expression meaning "the game is over--we're caught." A
musician's job is a gig.

GILD/GUILD
You gild an object by covering it with gold; you can join an organization like the Theatre
Guild.

GOOD/WELL
"Good" is the adjective; "well" is the adverb. You do something well, but you give someone
something good. The exception is verbs of sensation in phrases such as "the pie smells
good," or "I feel good." Despite the arguments of nigglers, this is standard usage. Saying "the
pie smells well" would imply that the pastry in question had a nose. Similarly, "I feel well" is
also acceptable, especially when discussing health; but it is not the only correct usage.

GRAMMER/GRAMMAR
it's amazing how many people write to thank me for helping them with their "grammer." It's
"grammar." The word is often incorrectly used to label patterns of spelling and usage that
have nothing to do with the structure of language, the proper subject of grammar in the most
conservative sense. Not all bad writing is due to bad grammar.

GRATIS/GRATUITOUS
If you do something nice without being paid, you do it "gratis." Technically, such a deed can
also be "gratuitous"; but if you do or say something obnoxious and uncalled for, it's always
"gratuitous," not "gratis."
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SC - Confusable words Part-13

HAIRBRAINED/HAREBRAINED
Although "hairbrained" is common, the original word "harebrained," means "silly as a hare"
(the little rabbit-like creature) and is preferred in writing.

HANGED/HUNG
Originally these words were pretty much interchangeable, but "hanged" eventually came to
be used pretty exclusively to mean "executed by hanging." Does nervousness about the
existence of an indelicate adjectival form of the word prompt people to avoid the correct
word in such sentences as "Lady Wrothley saw to it that her ancestors' portraits were
properly hung"? Nevertheless, "hung" is correct except when capital punishment is being
imposed or someone commits suicide.

HARD/HARDLY
Everybody knows "hard" as an adjective: "Starfleet requires a hard entrance exam." The
problem arises when people needing an adverb try to use the familiar pattern of adding -ly to
create one, writing things like "we worked hardly at completing the test." The adverbial form
of this word is in fact the same as the adjectival form: "hard." So it should be "we worked
hard at completing the test."
In American English "hardly" always means something like "scarcely," as in "we hardly
worked on the test." In British English the word "hardly" is sometimes used to mean "severely,
harshly," as in "Trevor felt himself to have been used hardly [badly treated] by the executive
committee"; but this pattern is unfamiliar to most American readers.

HARDY/HEARTY

These two words overlap somewhat, but usually the word you want is "hearty." The standard
expressions are "a hearty appetite," "a hearty meal," a "hearty handshake," "a hearty
welcome," and "hearty applause."
Something difficult to kill is described as a "hardy perennial," but should not be substituted
for "hearty" in the other expressions. "Party hearty" and "party hardy" are both common
renderings of a common youth saying, but the first makes more sense.
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SC - Confusable words Part-14

HEADING/BOUND

If you're reporting on traffic conditions, it's redundant to say "heading northbound on I-5."
it's either "heading north" or "northbound."

HEAL/HEEL
Heal is what you do when you get better. Your heel is the back part of your foot. Achilles'
heel was the only place the great warrior could be wounded in such a way that the injury
wouldn't heal. Thus any striking weakness can be called an "Achilles' heel." To remember
the meaning of "heal," note that it is the beginning of the word "health."

HEAR/HERE
If you find yourself writing sentences like "I know I left my wallet hear!" you should note that
"hear" has the word "ear" buried in it and let that remind you that it refers only to hearing
and is always a verb (except when you are giving the British cheer "Hear! Hear!"). "I left my
wallet here" is the correct expression.

HEARING-IMPAIRED/DEAF

"Hearing-impaired" is not an all-purpose substitute for "deaf" since it strongly implies some
residual ability to hear.
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SC - Confusable words Part-15

HEAVILY/STRONGLY
"Heavily" is not an all-purpose synonym for "strongly." It should be reserved for expressions
in which literal or metaphorical weight or density is implied, like "heavily underlined,"
"heavily influenced," "heavily armed," or "heavily traveled." Not standard are expressions like
"heavily admired" or "heavily characteristic of." People sometimes use "heavily" when they
mean "heartily," as in "heavily praised."

HENCE WHY/HENCE
Shakespeare and the Bible keep alive one meaning of the old word "hence": "away from
here" ("get thee hence"). There's no need to add "from" to the word, though you often see
"from hence" in pretentious writing, and it's not likely to bother many readers.
But another sense of the word "hence" ("therefore") causes more trouble because writers
often add "why" to it: "I got tired of mowing the lawn, hence why I bought the goat." "Hence"
and "why" serve the same function in a sentence like this; use just one or the other, not both:
"hence I bought the goat" or "that's why I bought the goat."

HERBS/SPICES
People not seriously into cooking often mix up herbs and spices. Generally, flavorings made
up of stems, leaves, and flowers are herbs; and those made of bark, roots, and seeds and
dried buds are spices. However saffron, made of flower stamens, is a spice. The British
pronounce the H in "herb" but Americans follow the French in dropping it.

HEROIN/HEROINE
Heroin is a highly addictive opium derivative; the main female character in a narrative is a
heroine.
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SC - Confusable words Part-16

HIPPIE/HIPPY
A long-haired 60s flower child was a "hippie." "Hippy" is an adjective describing someone
with wide hips. The IE is not caused by a Y changing to IE in the plural as in "puppy" and
"puppies." It is rather a dismissive diminutive, invented by older, more sophisticated hipsters
looking down on the new kids as mere "hippies." Confusing these two is definitely unhip.

HOARD/HORDE

A greedily hoarded treasure is a hoard. A herd of wildebeests or a mob of people is a horde.

HOLE/WHOLE
"Hole" and "whole" have almost opposite meanings. A hole is a lack of something, like the
hole in a doughnut (despite the confusing fact that the little nubbins of fried dough are
calleddoughnut holes").
"Whole" means things like entire, complete, and healthy and is used in
expressions like "the whole thing," "whole milk," "whole wheat," and "with a whole heart."

HOMOPHOBIC
Some object to this word--arguing that it literally means "man-fearing," but the "homo" in
"homosexual" and in this word does not refer to the Latin word for "man," but is derived from
a Greek root meaning "same" while the "-phobic" means literally "having a fear of," but in
English has come to mean "hating." "Homophobic" is now an established term for
"prejudiced against homosexuals."
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SC - Confusable words Part-17

HOW TO/HOW CAN I
You can ask someone how to publish a novel; but when you do, don't write "How to publish
a novel?" Instead ask "How can I publish a novel?" or "How does someone publish a novel?"
If you're in luck, the person you've asked will tell you how to do it. "How to" belongs in
statements, not questions.

HYPOCRITICAL
"Hypocritical" has a narrow, very specific meaning. It describes behavior or speech that is
intended to make one look better or more pious than one really is. It is often wrongly used to
label people who are merely narrow-minded or genuinely pious. Do not confuse this word
with "hypercritical," which describes people who are picky.

HYSTERICAL/HILARIOUS
People say of a bit of humor or a comical situation that it was "hysterical"--shorthand for
"hysterically funny"--meaning "hilarious." But when you speak of a man being "hysterical" it
means he is having a fit of hysteria, and that may not be funny at all.

I/ME/MYSELF
In the old days when people studied traditional grammar, we could simply say, "The first
person singular pronoun is "I" when it's a subject and "me" when it's an object," but now few
people know what that means.
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