COMMONLY CONFUSED WORDS—HOMONYMS 67
HERE’S A HINT
TRICKY VERBS
These verbs confuse even native speakers of English. To keep them straight, think
about which verb in a pair needs an object (a noun or pronoun that’s acted on by
a verb). Practice using these verbs in context and you will become more comfort-
able with them.Lie Lay
Liemeans to rest, to recline. Laymeans to place, to set down.
(subject) (needs an object)
past tense: lay, had lain I always lay my purse on the table.
Don’t just lie there, do something!Sit Set
Sitmeans to rest. Setmeans to put or place.
(subject) (needs an object)
She always sits in the third row. He set the newspaper on the desk.Rise Raise
Risemeans to go up. Raisemeans to move something up.
(subject) (needs an object)
After it is filled with helium, the The state is raising taxes this year.
balloon rises.You already know many homophones and commonly confused words inside and
out. The ones you don’t know, you simply need to memorize. The question is, how
do you remember these differences in meaning, especially when the words seem so
much alike? The key is to capitalize on the differences in the words. And when it
comes to frequently confused words, mnemonic devices come in especially handy.
Take the commonly confused pair ingenious and ingenuous, for example:
➥ ingenious : marked by inventive skill or creativity; showing inventiveness
and skill, remarkably clever
➥ ingenuous : 1. not cunning or deceitful, unable to mask feelings; artless,
frank, sincere. 2. lacking sophistication or worldlinessThe only difference in the spelling of these words is the i/u. You can use this dif-
ference to remember key words in the definition of each word.