Quiz: Words Frequently Confused

Fill in the blank in each sentence by selecting the word you think most appropriate from the words in parentheses.

1. Don’t let my opinion _______________ your decision.
(affect, effect)
2. The railroad was ordered to _______________ a reduction in rates.
(affect, effect)
3. The drought has _______________ the corn crop in our vicinity.
(affected, effected)
4. St. Paul is the _______________ of the State of Minnesota.
(capital, capitol)
5. However, it is not the _______________ city in the state.
(principal, principle)
6. After studying journalism for a year, he decided that he was _______________ in it.
(disinterested, uninterested)
7. She was asked to be on the committee because she was _______________ person.
(a disinterested, an uninterested)
8. My mother is of Norwegian _______________.
(decent, descent)
9. Her parents _______________ from Sweden to this country in the 1890s.
(emigrated, immigrated)
10. The weather forecaster refused to _______________ whether there would be rain at the time of the game.
(prophecy, prophesy)
11. He said, however, that rain was _______________.
(eminent, imminent)
12. Let me _______________ an example to illustrate the point.
(cite, site, sight)
13. His parents wanted him to attend college but they could not _______________ him to do so.
(convince, persuade)
14. Do you mean to _______________ that I am not telling the truth?
(infer, imply)
15. From what you have said I have reason to _______________ it.
(infer, imply)
16. The committee chairmen in Congress belong to the _______________ political party.
(predominate, predominant)
17. Arizona is a _______________ climate for people suffering from respiratory diseases.
(healthful, healthy)
18. She recognized the words “All the world’s a stage” as an _______________ to Shakespeare.
(allusion, illusion)
19. The radio is another good _______________ of communication for this purpose.
(median, medium)
20. Nothing that he said afterward in his speech could _______________ from the favorable impression he made at first.
(detract, distract)
21. Tests showed that the soil was seriously lacking in _______________.
(phosphorous, phosphorus)
22. The home economist wishes to produce the most palatable, _______________, and nutritious product possible.
(economic, economical)
23. The student will learn from this course what colors V their coloring and figures.
(complement, compliment)
24. The prospect of a holiday greatly improved the students’ _______________.
(moral, morale)
25. My lunch is incomplete if I do not have a _______________.
(desert, dessert)
26. For several summers I was a _______________ in a boys’ camp.
(councilor, counselor)
27. This bill is so important that it must take _______________ over all others.
(precedence, precedents)
28. When dieting, a person must not _______________ weight too rapidly.
(lose, loose)
29. You might say that Eisenhower did not choose to run for a second term; he was _______________ to run.
(chosen, choosen)
30. To perform this exercise you must _______________ deeply.
(breath, breathe)
31. His experience have _______________ him to suspect everyone of dishonesty.
(lead, led)
32. For that work you should wear _______________ clothes.
(every day, everyday)
33. When we arrived the others had _______________ gone.
(all ready, already)
34. I make _______________ mistakes in punctuation than my roommate does.
(fewer, less)
35. The law, _______________ antagonizing labor, was difficult to administer.
(beside, besides)

(From Four Powers of Effective Communication: skills for effective learning / J. Michel Bennet. 122 pages. McGraw-Hill, Inc. USA 1991)