Here are the answers to the short practice exercises that accompany each set of words in our Glossary of Usage.
- A, An, & And
(a) Writing is just having a sheet of paper, a pen, and not a shadow of an idea what you are going to say.
(b) A good coach is an understanding tyrant and a hard-headed friend. - Accept, Except, and Expect
(a) Because nobody except Shrek would accept your excuse, I expect an apology.
(b) I expect you to pay the rent by Friday, and I'll accept no more excuses. - Adapt and Adopt
(a) We must adapt ourselves to changing circumstances.
(b) "Morality is simply the attitude we adopt towards people whom we personally dislike." (Oscar Wilde) - Adverse and Averse
(a)"I didn't like the play, but then I saw it under adverse conditions: the curtain was up." (Groucho Marx)
(b)Reclusive in recent years, he was not always averse to publicity, posing naked for a perfume ad in 1971. - Advice and Advise
(a) Advice after injury is like medicine after death.
(b) I advise you to mind your own business. - Affect and Effect
(a) Scientists continue to study the effects of sweeteners on humans.
(b) Controversies over sweeteners have not seriously affected the sales of diet soft drinks. - Aggravate and Irritate
(a) I try to be patient with Charles, but his loud laugh irritates me.
(b) Since grief only aggravates your loss, grieve not for what is past. - Allude and Elude
(a) In last night's speech, Bill Clinton alluded to Barack Obama without ever mentioning the new president by name.
(b) Basketball fans were amazed that the blatant foul had somehow eluded the referee. - All Ready and Already
(a) The ballplayers have already taken batting practice.
(b) The players are all ready to start the game. - All Together and Altogether
(a) The clowns stood all together at the front of the chapel.
(b) Despite their painted smiles, the clowns' sorrow was altogether clear. - Allusion and Illusion
(a) A pleasant illusion is better than a harsh reality.
(b) The mayor's remark "Ich bin ein Springfielder," was an allusion to President John Kennedy's famous speech in West Berlin. - Allusive and Elusive
(a) Bob Lind sang about "the bright elusive butterfly of love."
(b) The book's allusive title, Bound Upon a Wheel of Fire, is from a line in Shakespeare's King Lear. - A Lot (Much, Many)
(a) Professor Legree received a lot of complaints. (informal)
(b) Professor Legree received many complaints. (formal) - Altar and Alter
(a) "No passion in the world is equal to the passion to alter someone else's draft." (H. G. Wells)
(b) "I have sworn upon the altar, eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man." (Thomas Jefferson) - Ambiguous and Ambivalent
(a) "The stammerer is ambivalent about communicating with others: he desperately wants to communicate, but is afraid of revealing himself." (Ted Morgan)
(b) "Journalists do not like to report on uncertainties. They would almost rather be wrong than ambiguous." (Melvin Maddocks) - Amoral and Immoral
(a) Her new play examines society's amoral fascination with technological progress for its own sake.
(b) "All the things I really like to do are either immoral, illegal, or fattening." (Alexander Woollcott) - Amount and Number
(a) Expect a certain amount of madness when you marry someone with pets.
(b) A great number of pets can drive you mad. - Anxious and Eager
(a) "There is a great deal of difference between an eager man who wants to read a book and the tired man who wants a book to read." (Gilbert K. Chesterton)
(b) "No good work is ever done while the heart is hot and anxious and fretted." (Olive Schreiner) - Anyone and Any One
(a) Does anyone know who first said, "You can't trust anybody over 30"?
(b) If any one of the 25 barons should die, the remaining barons shall choose a replacement. - Appraise and Apprise
(a) The capacity to locate, access, and appraise information is an important skill.
(b) She forgot to apprise the defendant of his rights. - Are and Our
(a) "Plans are nothing; planning is everything." (Dwight D. Eisenhower)
(b) "We shape our buildings; thereafter they shape us." (Winston Churchill) - Assure, Ensure, and Insure
(a) Don't insure your car for every nick and scratch.
(b) "In real life, I assure you, there is no such thing as algebra." (Fran Lebowitz)
(c) Federal drug regulators need more power and money to ensure the safety of the nation’s drug supply. - Baited and Bated
(a) I'm hoping with crossed fingers and bated breath that gas prices will soon go down.
(b) A line, with a baited hook, was tied to the leg of a goose. - Beside and Besides
(a) Thoreau lived beside a pond.
(b) Few people besides his aunt ever visited him. - Breath and Breathe
(a) I held my breath as I watched Merdine shinny up the flag pole.
(b) I was too anxious to breathe. - Capital and Capitol
(a) The United States Capitol is the capitol building that serves as the location for the United States Congress.
(b) It is located in Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. - Censor and Censure
(a) If found guilty, the player would face a fine or censure.
(b) The government tried to censor a book that no one had read. - Choose, Chose, and Chosen
(a) Fate chooses our relatives, but we choose our friends.
(b) Last year, she chose to ignore me, but now I have chosen to ignore her. - Cite, Sight, and Site
(a) The National Palace stands on the site of Montezuma’s castle.
(b) Every student in the class cited the same article.
(c) Of all the senses, sight must be the most delightful. - Clothes and Cloths
(a) Crazy Jane's clothes appear to have been made out of old cloths.
(b) Gus left his new work clothes hanging on the line. - Complement and Compliment
(a) Last night I complimented Jocko on the fine meal that he had prepared.
(b) The fine meal was complemented by the excellent service. - Conscience and Conscious
(a) No pillow is as soft as a clear conscience.
(b) I am always conscious of my faults. - Continual and Continuous
(a) Throughout her four years as a college student, Emma was in a continuous state of debt.
(b) She faced continual threats from bill collectors. - Council and Counsel
(a) "Evil counsel travels fast." (Sophocles)
(b) All wars are planned by old men in council rooms.
