Commonly Confused Words — Which One Fits?, Set 2 flashcards
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One sentence for each of the 75 pairs and trios in Set 2: choose the word the clues call for, then read why it fits and the other doesn't.
Learn deck · part of Commonly Confused Words · written against: 150 pairs and trios that usage guides list as commonly confused; mainstream American usage, with disputed points attributed. Updated 2026-10-10.
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Choose: New York State's (capital / capitol) is Albany, a much smaller city than New York City.capitalSound-Alikes
The city where a state's government sits is its capital. The capitol is the building in Albany where lawmakers do their work. -
Choose: To sharpen her (aural / oral) skills, Jo listens to recordings and writes down every melody she hears.auralSound-Alikes
Listening and picking out melodies trains the ear, so aural. Oral skills would involve the mouth or speaking. -
Choose: Our group had one week to (device / devise) a plan for keeping an egg in one piece after a two-story drop.deviseLook-Alikes
After to, the sentence needs a verb meaning to plan or invent: devise. A device is the gadget you might end up building. -
Choose: The red, blue and green teams scored 12, 9 and 7 points, (respectfully / respectively).respectivelyLook-Alikes
The scores match the teams first with first, second with second (red 12, blue 9, green 7): respectively. Nothing here is about showing respect. -
Choose: Shouting a false accusation across the crowded cafeteria is (libel / slander), since nothing was written down.slanderNear Meanings
The false statement was spoken, not written, so it is slander. Libel is defamation in writing or another lasting form. -
Choose: Her (oral / verbal) skills, shown in both her essays and her debate speeches, earned her the scholarship.verbalNear Meanings
Skill with words, written and spoken, is verbal skill. Oral means spoken only, and the essays are written. -
Choose: In her formal lab report, Priya wrote that the experiment turned out exactly (like / as) the team had predicted.asGrammar Pairs
A clause follows (the team had predicted), and in formal writing many guides want as before a clause. Like goes before a noun. -
Choose: Even with his right arm in a cast, Leo (can / may) type fifty words a minute, as his typing test proved.canGrammar Pairs
The test proved Leo's ability, and ability is can. May would suggest permission or only a possibility. -
Choose: Is there (anyway / any way) we could finish painting the scenery before the dress rehearsal?any wayOne Word or Two
Is there needs a noun phrase here, like a way: any way, meaning any method. Anyway is an adverb (in any case) and can't fill that spot. -
Choose: Nana, who keeps to the traditional rule, wrote that she likes to sit on the porch for (awhile / a while) after dinner.a whileOne Word or Two
Traditionally, a while acts as a noun and comes after a preposition like for, since awhile already means “for a while.” Merriam-Webster notes the two are increasingly interchanged.
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About these cards
Review status: Second-reader reviewed, with corrections applied.
Checked against:
- Usage checked against Merriam-Webster.com usage notes, The American Heritage Dictionary (5th edition, ahdictionary.com) and the Oxford and Cambridge learner's dictionaries; all explanations and examples are original.
- Pair selection is our own; no publisher's list is reproduced.
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