Problem words (Spelling, pronunciation)

  1. Athletics [noun], Athlete, Athletic [adjective: a tall athletic looking man], Gymnastics [noun], Gymnastic [adjective: a gymnastic display]
  2. Amends [Always plural]
  3. Absence
  4. Accommodate
  5. Achieve
  6. Acquire
  7. Across
  8. Apparent
  9. Awe, Awful, Awesome, Woeful
  10. Accept, Except
  11. Adverse, Averse (Strongly disliking; opposed)
  12. Advice, Advise
  13. Affect, Effect
  14. Aisle (A passage between rows of seats), Isle (An island)
  15. All together (all in one place, all at once), Altogether (Completely; on the whole)
  16. Altar (A sacred table in a church), Alter
  17. Amoral (Not concerned with right or wrong)
  18. Appraise, Apprise
  19. Assent (Agreement, approval), Ascent (the action of rising or climbing up)
  20. Aural (Relating to the ears or hearing), Oral (Relating to the mouth; spoken)
  21. Astronaut
  22. Asterisk
  23. Auditorium
  24. Adjure, conjurer
  25. Addict, Edict

  26. Boredom
  27. Benefit
  28. Benign
  29. Benefactor
  30. Benevolent
  31. Believe
  32. Breathe
  33. Brilliant
  34. Balmy (Pleasantly warm)
  35. Barmy (Foolish, crazy)
  36. Bare, Bear
  37. Bated (In phrase 'with bated breath', i.e. In great suspense)
  38. Baited (With bait attached or inserted)
  39. Bazaar (A middle eastern market), Bizarre (Strange) [‘a bizarre situation’ / ‘his behaviour became more and more bizarre’]
  40. Berth (A bunk in a ship, train, etc.)
  41. Birth (The emergence of a baby from the womb)
  42. Born (having started life)
  43. Borne (Carried)
  44. Bough (A branch of a tree)
  45. Bow (To bend the head; the front of a ship)
  46. Breach (To break through, or break a rule; a gap)
  47. Breech (The back part of a gun barrel)
  48. Broach (To raise a subject for discussion)
  49. Brooch (A piece of jewellery)
  50. Bourse
  51. Column
  52. Courteous [kɜː(r)tiəs]
  53. Clothes [Always plural]
  54. Calendar
  55. Careful           
  56. Category
  57. Ceiling
  58. Cemetery [semətri]
  59. Convenience
  60. Conveyance [kənˈveɪəns]
  61. Canvas (A type of strong cloth)
  62. Canvass (To seek people’s votes)
  63. Censure (To criticize strongly)
  64. Censor (To ban parts of a book or film; a person who does this)
  65. Cereal (A grass producing an edible grain; a breakfast food made from grains)
  66. Chord (A group of musical notes)
  67. Cord (A length of string; a cord-like body part)
  68. Climactic (Forming a climax), Climatic (Relating to climate)
  69. Coarse (Rough)
  70. Course (A direction; a school subject; part of a meal)
  71. Complacent (Smug and self-satisfied)
  72. Complaisant (Willing to please)
  73. Complement (To add to so as to improve; an addition that improves something)
  74. Compliment (To praise or express approval; an admiring remark)
  75. Council (A group of people who manage or advise)
  76. Counsel (Advice; to advise)
  77. Cue (A signal for action; a wooden rod)
  78. Queue (A line of people or vehicles)
  79. Curb (To keep something in check; a control or limit), Kerb (the stone edge of a pavement)
  80. Current (Happening now; a flow of water, air, or electricity), Currant (A dried grape)
  81. Conducive

  82. Deduce
  83. Direct, Director [dəˈrektə(r) / daɪˈrektə(r)]
  84. Data, datum (deɪtʌm, singular)
  85. Dilemma [dɪˈlemə: situation in which you have to make a difficult decision]
  86. Discipline
  87. Definite
  88. Defuse (To make a situation less tense), Diffuse (To spread over a wide area)
  89. Desert (dezə(r)t: A waterless, empty area; to abandon someone), Dessert (dɪˈzɜː(r)t: The sweet course of a meal)
  90. Discreet (Careful not to attract attention)
  91. Discrete (Separate and distinct)
  92. Disinterested (Impartial), Uninterested (Not interested)
  93. Drought (draʊt), Draught (drɑːft: A current of air)
  94. Draft (A first version of a piece of writing)
  95. Draw (An even score at the end of a game), Drawer (A sliding storage compartment)
  96. Dual (Having two parts), Duel (A fight or contest between two people)
  97. Doldrums
  98. Decisive, Divisive
  99. Doctrine [dɒktrɪn]
  100. Desperate
  101. Exaggerate
  102. Excellent
  103. Except
  104. Exercise
  105. Existence
  106. Expect
  107. Elicit (To draw out a reply or reaction), Illicit (Not allowed by law or rules)
  108. Ensure (To make certain that something will happen)
  109. Envelop (To cover or surround), Envelope (A paper container for a letter)
  110. Exercise (Physical activity; to do physical activity)
  111. Exorcise (To drive out an evil spirit)
  112. Ensure, Insure (To provide compensation if a person dies or property is damaged) Empathy, pathetic, apathy, pathos, antipathy
  113. Evacuate, vacate, vacancy, vacuous
  114. Envisage
  115. Eminence
  116. Folk [Always plural]
  117. Fascinating
  118. Four, Fourteen, Forty
  119. Finance, Financial
  120. Fawn (A young deer; light brown), Faun (A mythical being, part man, part goat)
  121. Flaunt (To display ostentatiously)
  122. Flout (To disregard a rule)
  123. Flounder (To move clumsily; to have difficulty doing something)
  124. Founder (To fail)
  125. Forbear (To refrain), Forebear (An ancestor)
  126. Forward (Onwards, ahead), Foreword (An introduction to a book)
  127. Freeze (To turn to ice), Frieze (A decoration along a wall)
  128. Fuss
  129. Fanciful 
  130. Glasses [Always plural]
  131. Grateful
  132. Guarantee
  133. Guidance
  134. Grisly (Gruesome, revolting), Grizzly (A type of bear)
  135. Headquarters [Always plural]
  136. Happiness
  137. Heroes
  138. Humorous
  139. Hymn
  140. Hoard (A store), Horde (A large crowd of people)
  141. Imply (To suggest indirectly)
  142. Index [countable], indices [a plural of index]
  143. Infer (To draw a conclusion)
  144. Immoral (Not following accepted moral standards)
  145. Identity            imaginary
  146. Imitation
  147. Immediately
  148. Incidentally
  149. Independent    
  150. intelligent
  151. Interesting
  152. Interfere
  153. Interpretation
  154. Interruption
  155. Invitation
  156. Irrelevant
  157. Irritable
  158. Island
  159. Jewel, Jewellery
  160. Jealous
  161. Judge, Judgment, Adjudged 
  162. Loath (Reluctant, unwilling), Loathe (To hate)
  163. Loose (To unfasten; to set free), Lose (To be deprived of; to be unable to find)
  164. Laboratory
  165. Loggerheads [Always plural]
  166. Lesson
  167. Lying
  168. Laboratory
  169. Length
  170. Lesson library
  171. License
  172. Loneliness
  173. Losing
  174. Lucid, Translucent, illuminate, elucidate
  175. Manners [plural: You can teach someone manners, not a manner]
  176. Meter (A measuring device), Metre (A metric unit; rhythm in verse)
  177. Mitigate (To make less severe), Militate (To be a powerful factor against)
  178. Mathematics
  179. Medicine
  180. Miniature
  181. Minute
  182. Mysterious
  183. Marriage
  184. Mathematics
  185. Medicine
  186. Miniature
  187. Minute mysterious
  188. Millennium
  189. Maintain, Maintenance
  190. Millionaire
  191. Manicure, pedicure
  192. Mannequin
  193. Necessary
  194. Narcissism, narcissist, narcissistic: a narcissistic personality disorder
  195. Noticeable
  196. Naturally
  197. Necessary
  198. Neighbor
  199. Neither            noticeable
  200. Occasion
  201. Occurred
  202. Official
  203. Often
  204. Omission
  205. Operate
  206. Optimism
  207. Original
  208. Ought  paid
  209.  Occasion
  210. Occurred
  211. Omission
  212. Operate
  213. Optimism
  214. Original
  215. Ought  paid
  216. Psychology, Psychiatrics, Psychiatric [adjective: psychiatric nursing/disorders]
  217. Palate (The roof of the mouth), Palette (A board for mixing colours)
  218. Pedal (A foot-operated lever), Peddle (To sell goods)
  219. Pole (A long, slender piece of wood), Poll (Voting in an election)
  220. Pour (To flow or cause to flow), Pore (A tiny opening; to study something closely)
  221. Practice (The use of an idea or method; the work or business of a doctor, dentist, etc.), Practise (To do something repeatedly to gain skill; to do something regularly)
  222. Prescribe (To authorize use of medicine; to order authoritatively), Proscribe (To officially forbid something)
  223. Principal (Most important; the head of a school), Principle (A fundamental rule or belief)
  224. Parallel
  225. Particularly
  226. Peculiar
  227. Perceive          
  228. Permanent
  229. Persevere
  230. Personally
  231. Persuade
  232. Picture
  233. Piece
  234. Planning
  235. Pleasant
  236. Political            
  237. Possess
  238. Possible
  239. Practical
  240. Prefer
  241. Prejudice         
  242. Privilege
  243. Probably
  244. Professional
  245. Promise
  246. Parallel
  247. Particularly
  248. Peculiar
  249. Perceive         
  250. Perform
  251. Permanent
  252. Persevere
  253. Possess
  254. Prefer
  255. Prejudice
  256. Privilege
  257. Promise
  258. Psychology
  259. Pseudonym
  260. Plagiarist
  261. Parity
  262. Quite [1. Fairly but not very: I was feeling quite tired after our walk. 2. Completely: Are you quite sure you know what to do?. 3. Very: They have achieved something quite extraordinary.], Quiet, Quit
  263. Quantity
  264. Quarter
  265. Quake
  266. Quack
  267. Questionnaire
  268. Receive
  269. Retrieve
  270. Receive
  271. Revision
  272. Repeat, Repetition
  273. Restaurant
  274. Rhythm
  275. Ridiculous
  276. Realize
  277. Recommend
  278. Reference
  279. Religious
  280. Resent
  281. Scissors [Always plural]
  282. Species [no singular]
  283. Social, Sociology [səʊʃiˈɒlədʒi]
  284. Sceptic (A person inclined to doubt), Septic (Infected with bacteria)
  285. Sight (The ability to see), Site (A location)
  286. Stationary (Not moving), Stationery (Writing materials)
  287. Storey (A level of a building), Story (A tale or account)
  288. Secretary
  289. Separate
  290. Soldier
  291. sacrifice
  292. safety
  293. secretary
  294. separate
  295. similar
  296. sincerely          
  297. Sentient
  298. Serenity
  299. Titillate (To arouse interest), Titivate (To make more attractive)
  300. Tortuous (Full of twists; complex), Torturous (Full of pain or suffering)
  301. Temperature
  302. Temporary
  303. Thorough, through
  304. True, Truly
  305. Twelfth
  306. Till, Until
  307. Thanks [Always plural]
  308. Trousers [Always plural] Terrain, territory, extraterrestrial, terrace
  309. Weird
  310. Welcome
  311. Woeful
  312. Weather, WhetherWreath (A ring-shaped arrangement of flowers etc.), Wreathe (To surround or encircle)
  313. Who and whom: Who and whom perform two roles in English: they act as relative pronouns and interrogative pronouns. The basic grammatical rules which govern who and whom are simple to follow: you use who as the subject of a verb and you use whom as the object of a verb or a preposition. Wednesday
  314. Yolk (The yellow center of an egg), Yoke (A wooden crosspiece for harnessing a pair of oxen)





Learn English through Everyday Expressions (Set 8)



  1. Some people are able to / can walk on their hands.
  2. I’m unable to / can’t understand what she wants.
  3. Can you knit? Do you know who to knit?
  4. One day scientist will be able to find a cure for cancer.
  5. What have you been able to find out?
  6. I might be able to help you.
  7. He can’t be understood.
  8. Don’t go out now — we’re about to have lunch.
  9. I was about to go to bed when the telephone rang.
  10. I was about to pay 100 dollars for that dress.
  11. The water came up above/over the knees.
  12. Can you see the helicopter above/over the palace?
  13. We’ve got a little house above the lake.
  14. There is cloud over the South of England.
  15. He put on a coat over his pyjamas.
  16. The plane was flying over/across Denmark.
  17. Electricity cables stretch over/across the fields.
  18. The temperature is three degrees above zero.
  19. The summit of Everest is about 8,000 metres above sea level.
  20. She’s well above average in intelligence.
  21. You have to be over 18 to avail the national ID.
  22. The police said he was driving at over 110 mph.
  23. There were over 100,000 people at the festival.
  24. The above rules and regulations apply to all students.
  25. For prices and delivery charges, see above.
  26. There are cheap flights at weekends.
  27. I agreed to meet them here.
  28. According to Harry, it’s a good film.
  29. The train gets in at 8.27, according to the timetable.
  30. According to Jon, her friend is brilliant. (if true)
  31. In my opinion, Jon’s friend is an idiot. (not according to me)
  32. His village is just across/over the border (see also along)
  33. See if he can jump across/over the stream.
  34. Why are you climbing over the wall?
  35. He walked right across the desert. (on/to other side of a flat area or surface)
  36. It took him two hours to row across the lake. (on/to other side of a flat area or surface)
  37. I’m going over to John’s. (short journey)
  38. Shall we drive over and see your mother?
  39. We walked across the ice.
  40. I walked through the wood.
  41. We drove across the desert.
  42. We drove through several towns.
  43. It’s over 100 kilos. Let me look. Yes, the actual weight is 108 kilos.
  44. I’ve got a new job. Actually, they have made me sales manager.
  45. It takes me an hour to drive to work, although the actual distance is only 20 miles.
  46. She was so angry that actually tore up the letter.
  47. The book says she died aged 47, but her actual age was 43.
  48. In 2010 the population of Canada was higher than it is now.
  49. He’s going out with a rich businesswoman.
  50. That dress is new, isn’t it?
  51. My elder sister is a pilot. She is three years older than me.
  52. He is one of my old friends. (referring to relationships that have lasted for long)
  53. He’s is a mere child.
  54. I’ve lost a mere two pounds.
  55. Her comments are mere opinion, not fact.
  56. It’s sheer madness
  57. Mark succeeded through sheer hard work.
  58. The journey to work every day was sheer hell.
  59. The baby’s asleep.
  60. Are you asleep yet?
  61. The children are fast asleep in their rooms.
  62. I groped for the phone, still half asleep.
  63. She was groping around in her bag for her keys.
  64. I groped my way to the door.
  65. She was so tired she fell asleep sitting in her chair.
  66. The ship’s still afloat.
  67. We managed to get the boat afloat again.
  68. £1 million is needed to keep the institution afloat.
  69. Nurses take care of sick people.
  70. I’ll get the car ready. [Verb+object+adjective]
  71. Do I make you happy?
  72. Let’s paint the kitchen yellow.
  73. Send all the tickets available.
  74. It’s the only solution possible/possible solution.
  75. Snowden’s a proper mountain, not a hill.
  76. After two days crossing the foothills, they reached the mountain proper.
  77. We’re looking for people skilled in design.
  78. We’re looking for people who are skilled in design.
  79. Have you read anything interesting lately?
  80. Let’s go somewhere quiet.
  81. I’ve as good a voice as you.
  82. She’s too polite a person to refuse.
  83. How good a pianist is he?
  84. I couldn’t afford that big a car.
  85. It was so warm a day that I could hardly work.
  86. The man was too kind to refuse.