English Vocabulary Exercises For Grade 6: Troublesome Word Pairs

Troublesome Word Pairs

There are some words in English that sound almost the same or have similar meanings, and so are often used wrongly. Look at each word pair given below and learn the difference in meaning and usage between them.

1. Accept/except

To accept is to receive or agree to something while except means to omit or exclude

For example,
She accepted his offer of marriage.
Everyone was chosen except him.

2. Adapt/adopt

To adapt is to change something to suit a situation or a person; to adopt is to make something one’s own.

For example,
He adapted the advice given to suit his own needs.
They decided to adopt the baby.

3. Affect/effect

To affect is to influence or change; to effect is to cause something to happen

For example,
The civil war will surely affect the tourism industry.
The new law effected a boom in the building industry.

4. Amount/number

Amount applies to quantities that are measured but not counted; number is applied to quantities that can be counted.

For example,
The amount of rice left in the pot is enough for all of us.
There is still a large number of chicken in the coop.

5. Any/either

Any is used when there are three or more choices; either is a choice of one between two.

For example,
Are there any seats left?
You may have either seat 23 or seat 45.

6. Beside/besides

Beside means being next to; besides means as an addition

For example,
The vase has been placed beside the pot.
Do you play any sport besides tennis?

7. Between/among

Between refers to two entities; among refers to more than two entities.

For example,
The little boy sat between his father and mother.
The little boy played among his friends.

8. Briefly/shortly

Briefly is an adverb of time and manner meaning in a few words or for a short period of time; shortly is an adverb of time meaning very soon or after a little time.

For example,
I will tell you briefly what was said at the meeting. (in a few words)
The tour group stopped here briefly before continuing on their journey. (for a short period of time.)
I will be seeing him shortly. (soon)
They will be here shortly. (after a little time)

9. Bring/take

Bring involves movement from there (where you are) to here (where I am). Take involves movement from here (where I am) to there (where you are).

For example,
Bring me my book. Bring it here.
Take this book to Ms. Wong.

10. Bunch/crowd

Bunch is a collection of inanimate things; crowd is a number of people gathered together.

For example,
I found a bunch of keys in the old cupboard.
A big crowd gathered to watch the show.

11. Borrow/lend

We borrow when we take something that belongs to someone else but when we lend we give something that is ours to someone else.

For example,
May I borrow your pencil, please?
I will lend you my pencil but I want it back immediately.

12. Clothes/cloth

Clothes are things that we wear; cloth is a piece of material.

For example,
She wears beautiful clothes.
He rolled out the bundles of cloth he had.

13. Deny/refuse

Deny is to assert that something is not true or to withhold something from a person. Refuse is to reject something that is offered or not do what one is asked to do.

For example,
He denied having copied the answers. (He said it was not true)
The teenagers were denied admission to the theatre. (They were not given permission to go in.)
He refused to sing the song. (He would not sing the song.)
His request was refused. (rejected).

14. Do/make

Do (does, did) means to perform, accomplish or finish something. Make (makes, made) means to construct or create.

For example,
He does his job well.
They did a number of things today.
He made all the toys in this room.
My mother makes her own clothes.

15. Fewer/less

There is little difference in using fewer/less when we speak. However, when we write, we use fewer when a noun is countable and less when the noun is uncountable.

For example,
Fewer bicycles
Fewer cars
Fewer boys
But
Less trouble
Less water
Less chance

16. Good/well

Good is an adjective used to describe a person or thing. However, well is usually used as an adverb and it is used to tell how something is done.

For example,
That was a good game!
We played well, didn’t we?