Commonly Confused Words and Pairs
Students must distinguish between similar-sounding words that have different meanings:
- Accept vs. Except: “I accept your apology.” / “Everyone except John was invited.”
- Affect vs. Effect: “The news affected him deeply.” / “The effect of the news was shocking.”
Idiomatic Expressions and Collocations
Idioms and collocations are expressions commonly used in English that have specific meanings not derived from the literal definitions:
- Examples of Idioms: “Break the ice” (make a beginning in a conversation), “Under the weather” (ill).
- Examples of Collocations: “Make an effort,” “Catch a cold,” “Do homework.”
Dangling Modifiers
These occur when a modifier is not clearly or logically connected to the word it is meant to modify:
- Incorrect: “While driving, the car broke down.” (Who was driving?)
- Correct: “While I was driving, the car broke down.”