Word confusion: words mostly misused

Many times, people abuse words by choosing a word that looks or sounds similar to the word they want to use. People often mishear words or only hear rather than read words, and then use those words in the wrong context. But even accomplished writers make mistakes when they use the wrong word, intending to use a different word, but when their brain searches for the desired word, it finds one so close that the author writes it on the page and then later, when checking , the author’s eye may miss the wrong word because the brain mentally substitutes the correct word in its place, fooling the eye.

The following are seven sets of sentences with words that are often misused or accidentally used but are not corrected when revised due to their similarities. For each example below, see if you can determine which sentence is correct.

Example 1

1. I was awarded high cholesterol as a result of my eating habits.
2. I was rewarded with high cholesterol as a result of my eating habits.

The correct answer is 2. An award is something given to you as a result of an achievement, such as an Oscar or an achievement award. A bounty is perhaps best known as something given to you for delivering a wanted criminal “dead or alive”, so the meaning is close, but if you consider it as a result of his actions, then you get a “bounty” . In general, a “prize” is something physical like a trophy, or at least tangible, while a “reward” can be the result of an action he took, such as eating junk food, which resulted in high cholesterol.

Example 2

1. Today it is helping to cure polio.
2. Today he is credited with curing polio.

The correct answer is 2. To contribute is to give something. To be “attributed” to something is to be recognized as connected to it. Another example would be: “I contributed the book to the library” in the sense of giving away or donating the book. Whereas, “The authorship of the book is attributed to the Greek poet Homer” means that the credit/attribution for writing the book goes to Homer.

Example 3

1. Once the shock has resided.
2. Once the shock has subsidized.

The correct answer is 2. Subside means to decrease or go down. To reside is to live in a place or to be situated somewhere. Here’s a sentence that would use both words: “Flooding subsided around the town where they resided. In this case, people live in a town (residing) where the flood water has risen but is now receding (decreased).”

Example 4

1. It happened to me on the road.
2. It happened to me on the road.
3. It’s time for the movie to start.
4. It’s time for the movie to start.

The correct sentences are 1 and 3. “Past” refers to time while “pass” is to go beyond something. The confusion arises because “past” is also the past tense of “past”. If you’re not sure which one to use, remember that “passed” is always a verb. “Past” is the past tense of the verb, or it is a noun in the sense that it is the “past”, the opposite of the future. In sentence 4 above, because the verb is “is”, “past” describes the time as an adjective; therefore “past” as a verb cannot be used to describe anything because it is not an adjective. If you’re still not sure what word to use, try substituting “beyond” or “previous.” If any of those words worked instead, then “past” would be correct in that sentence, but perhaps it would be better to use “beyond” or “previous” instead. For example, “The last contest winner was Joe” would allow “previous” to be substituted, or “I passed him” would allow “beyond” to replace it, but you would not be able to say “He beats me on the road.”

Example 5

1. Everyone was invited except Maria.
2. All were invited to accept Maria.

The correct sentence is 1. “Except” means “make an exception for” and could simply be replaced with “but”. By comparison, “accept” is a verb and really means the opposite of “except.” “Except” means to exclude, whereas if you “accept” something, you would include it. As a verb, you could use “accept” to mean “I accepted the job offer,” but there is no such word as “excepted” that you can use in this situation.

Example 6

1. I don’t think the prophecy is true.
2. I don’t think the prophecy is true.

The correct sentence is 1. I rarely see “prophecy” used and as a result I see “prophecy” frequently misused. Prophecy is a noun. It is the prediction that someone has made about the future. “Prophesy” is a verb and is the act of making a prophecy, a prediction. Here are a couple of sentences that use both words; Note that because “prophesy” is a verb, it has more than one form: “The prophet prophesied a prophecy. He will prophesy another prophecy tomorrow, or so he prophesied he would.”

Example 7

1. As the police detective hit the criminal with questions, the criminal felt frustrated.
2. As the police detective hit the criminal with questions, the criminal felt frustrated.
3. As the police detective hit the criminal with questions, the criminal felt nervous.

Here sentence 3 is correct, and note that the word “nervous” does not exist, but I have seen it in print several times. People misunderstand, mishear or confuse “nervous” and “frustrated” and have combined it into a new word. It’s kind of a clever new word since a person can feel both “nervous” and “frustrated”, but those are two separate feelings. In the example above, the offender should feel “nervous,” meaning that he is nervous and has difficulty answering the questions because of his nervousness. He might be frustrated that the detective didn’t listen or believe him, or he might be frustrated just by being questioned, but in any case, nervous is probably the best choice of word here.

A basic rule of thumb to remember is that whenever two words sound close to each other, it’s always better to ask someone else to proofread your work because it’s too close to your material and your brain can play tricks on you. In some cases, you may also find that you’ve been misusing a word for a long time, so you’ll want to look up the words in the dictionary to make sure you’re sure of their meanings and definitions. It’s never too late to learn more about the English language, and there’s nothing to be embarrassed about asking another writer you trust to proofread your work and give you suggestions.