Affect or Effect? Commonly Confused English Words: questions and answers
Study every question with its correct answer and explanation.
1. Choose the correct word: "The weather can ___ your mood."
- A. effect
- B. affect
- C. afford
- D. effort
Answer: affect
"Affect" is usually a verb meaning "to influence"; "effect" is usually a noun meaning "a result". Tip: the weather Affects you (Action), and that has an Effect (End result).
2. Choose the correct word: "___ going to the cinema tonight."
- A. There
- B. Their
- C. They're
- D. Theirs
Answer: They're
"They're" is short for "they are": "They are going to the cinema." "Their" shows possession (their house), and "there" refers to a place (over there).
3. Choose the correct word: "Please don't ___ your keys again."
- A. lose
- B. loose
- C. loss
- D. lost
Answer: lose
"Lose" (one o, rhymes with "shoes") is a verb meaning to stop having something. "Loose" (two o's) is an adjective meaning not tight, as in "loose clothes"; "loss" is a noun.
4. Choose the correct word: "The dog wagged ___ tail."
- A. it's
- B. its
- C. its'
- D. it is
Answer: its
"Its" (no apostrophe) means "belonging to it". "It's" always means "it is" or "it has", and "its'" is never correct.
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5. Choose the correct word: "She is taller ___ her brother."
- A. then
- B. that
- C. as
- D. than
Answer: than
Use "than" for comparisons (taller than, better than). "Then" is about time or order: "First we ate, then we left."
6. Choose the correct word: "Everyone came to the party ___ Sam."
- A. accept
- B. expect
- C. except
- D. excess
Answer: except
"Except" means "not including": everyone came apart from Sam. "Accept" is a verb meaning to receive or agree to something, as in "accept a gift".
7. Choose the correct word: "Please keep ___ in the library."
- A. quiet
- B. quite
- C. quit
- D. quietly
Answer: quiet
"Quiet" (two syllables: QUI-et) means making little or no noise. "Quite" (one syllable) means "fairly" or "completely", as in "quite good".
8. Choose the correct word: "After dinner, we had ice cream for ___."
- A. desert
- B. dessert
- C. deserted
- D. dissert
Answer: dessert
A "dessert" is the sweet course at the end of a meal; a "desert" is a dry, sandy land like the Sahara. Tip: dessert has two s's because you always want seconds of something sweet.
9. Choose the correct word: "___ bag is this?"
- A. Who's
- B. Who
- C. Whom
- D. Whose
Answer: Whose
"Whose" asks who something belongs to. "Who's" is short for "who is" or "who has", as in "Who's calling?"
10. Choose the correct word: "We walked ___ the park to reach the station."
- A. threw
- B. though
- C. through
- D. thorough
Answer: through
"Through" means from one side to the other. "Threw" is the past of "throw", "though" means "however", and "thorough" means careful and complete.