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 Home Links Newsletter03 Sep. 2010   
Language Holidays

Interpreting - Translation
Confusing Words
Does “bored” mean the same as “boring”? What’s the difference between “funny” and “fun”? Here are some commonly confused English word pairs.


(a) few and (a) little
     
accept or except

action and campaign
     
advice and advise

ago and before
     
all and every

all ready and already
     
all ways and always

altar and alter
     
among and between

amount and number
     
apartment and flat

appointment – date
     
audience and auditorium

back and backside
     
been and gone

before and in front of
     
beside and besides

borrow and lend
     
both, either, neither

brave and well-behaved
     
bring up and educate

Briton and Britain
     
by and until

choose or chose
     
clothes and cloth

colleague and college
     
come and go

cooker and cook
     
critic and review

cuisine and kitchen
     
currant and current

desert and dessert
     
donate and spend

during and for
     
e.g. or i.e

effective and efficient
     
fabric and factory

felt or fell
     
female and feminine; male and masculine

finished and ready
     
fit and suit

foreigner and stranger
     
fun and funny

genie - genius
     
guilty - valid

happy or lucky
     
hard and hardly

high and highly
     
homework and housework

housemaid and homemade
     
it's and its

lack and lacquer
     
lay and lie

learner and teacher
     
less and fewer

little and few, a little and a few
     
lose and loose

made of - made from
     
marmalade and jam

marriage and wedding
     
massage and message

much and many
     
news or message

open and opened
     
overtake and take over

past or passed
     
personal and personnel

politics and policy
     
practice and practise

prospect, prospectus and brochure
     
quiet and still

quite or quiet
     
salary and wages

sell and sale
     
sensible and sensitive

shade and shadow
     
technique and technology

temperature and fever
     
vacancy - vacation / holiday

watch and clock
     
whose or who's

wild and game
     
your or you're


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