Commonly confused words

BEFORE tackling today’s business I found it worthwhile to clarify further the use of A and An in sentences. Those who read this column a few weeks ago will remember that we defined A and AN, as indefinite articles. The decision whether to use a or an depends upon the first sound of the word that follows the indefinite article, not upon the first letter of that word.

The general rule says: use a before a word that begins with a consonant sound. Examples, a boy, a young ox. Use an before a word that begins with a vowel sound. For instance, an ambulance, an old dog, an oppressed individual. Some words that begin with the letter h do not have the sound of that letter pronounced, and the first sound is a vowel although the first letter is not. It is incorrect to say, a heir, a hour, a honour, a honest man.

However, it is correct to say: an heir, an hour, an honour, an honest man. All together and altogether are commonly confused. All together is an adjective phrase meaning “in a group”. Altogether is an adverb meaning “completely”. It is wrong to say: They sang altogether the new song. But it is correct to say, They sang all together the new song. It is wrong to say, “The noise stopped all together, followed by total silence. The correct expression is: The noise stopped altogether, followed by silence.

Among, Amongst, Between. Among is a shorter form of amongst and the latter is generally unused these days. Among is used when more than two people or things are involved. Between is used when only two things are concerned. Examples: The small amount of food was shared among the six villagers. The money was shared between two students. Angry, Annoyed. Angry expresses a much greater degree of emotion than annoyed does. A person can be annoyed without being angry.

Angry at, angry about and annoyed at are used when the emotion concerns things other than people. For example: He was angry about the damage of his crop. He was annoyed at the lack of attention he received. When the anger or annoyance concerns people, angry with, annoyed by or annoyed with are correct as shown in the following sentences: I was angry with my friend after he lost my watch. She was annoyed with her naughty brother. Exercises on such words lead to great improvement when working with registers, especially when it comes to determining the degree of emotions in various situations.

Accept, Except. Accept and except are sometimes confused because they sound similar. Accept is always a verb meaning “agree with” or “receive willingly”. “I accept your resignation without any reservations”, said the manager. Please accept this present. Except is mainly used as a preposition meaning “other than”. All the prefects took their oath except George who was absent. Advice, Advise. Advice is always a noun usually preceded by the definite article the, a pronoun or a noun.

For instance, Article: The advice she got from the teacher helped her pass her examinations. Pronoun: Her advice proved helpful. Noun: He asked for his sister’s advice. Advise is a verb. The supervisor was advised to keep checking on his workers’ performance. Affect, Effect. Affect is used as a verb meaning “influence”. Effect is mainly used as a noun meaning “result”. Examples of sentences: The drought badly affected the whole country. The effect of the drought was disastrous.

In language there is agreement. Agreement refers to the correct use of words in relation to number, person, case and gender. A verb and its subject must have agreement in person and number. It is wrong to say. They was playing. (They – plural, was singular), so there is no subject verb agreement here. They were playing. Correct. (They and were are both plural.) A pronoun must have agreement in number, person and gender with the word it refers to. It is wrong to say: There were seven birds and he caught it. (Birds plural, it singular) hence no agreement. However, it is correct to say: There were seven birds and he caught them. (Birds and them are both plural,) Wrong – The lion killed the man and ate her. (Man –masculine, her – feminine) hence there is no agreement. It is correct to say: The lion killed the man and ate him. (Man and him are both masculine).

Note: The rules of pronoun agreement are often broken to avoid sexist language. Sexist: Anyone who comes must bring her own food. (Correct language but with a feminine emphasis.) Non-sexist correct language use: Those who come must bring their own food. (Non-sexist. Those and their are both plural.) Bath, Bathe. A person has a bath to get clean. A person bathes something or bathes when swimming. Bath is a noun or a verb whereas bathe is a verb only.

Examples of sentences: The mother gave her baby a bath. It was time to bath her baby. The nurse bathed the man’s wound. They bathe in the lake. Students should attempt to master the usage of the given examples of words and many others if their written work is to improve. Correct usage of such words will lead to better performance in the English examinations. More examples will be given in later articles.

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