Usage Challenge: Can You Pick the Correct Word?

Do you think you know words well? Take this challenge: Pick the correct word or phrase in every sentence below. No peeking at the answer key until you have finished!

1. This site/sight/cite is ideal for our conference.

2. John made less/fewer trips to Chicago than Karl. 

3. Give your input to Lucia or I/me/myself.  

4. Heavy traffic is the principle/principal reason for the change. 

5. This wine compliments/complements the dish perfectly. 

6. The amount/number of applicants surprised us. 

7. I will flush/flesh out my resume with my nonpaid positions. 

8. He pours/pores over your reports looking for good news. 

9. Does this withdrawal reoccur/recur each month? 

10. Turn your receipts in to/into Accounting for reimbursement.

11. The capitol/capital of Ghana is Accra. 

12. We are scheduled to meet some time/sometime next week. 

13. Who's/Whose the right person to talk with about parking?

14. Don't worry--your comment did not phase/faze Jeremy.  

15. Kendra is discrete/discreet about people's problems. 

16. My sister-in-law's sister, i.e./e.g. Julia, lives in Mexico.

17. Is the new CEO likely to affect/effect major changes? 

18. Pass around the clipboard before everyone disperses/disburses. 

19. Regretfully/Regrettably, we were unaware of the problem. 

20. A/An FDA inspector will tour the plant on Thursday. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Are you confident of your choices? Then compare your answers with mine:

 

1. site

2. fewer  

3. me  

4. principal  

5. complements   

6. number   

7. flesh  

8. pores  

9. recur  

10. in to  

11. capital  

12. sometime  

13. Who's  

14. faze  

15. discreet  

16. i.e.  

17. effect  

18. disperses  

19. Regrettably  

20. An 

 

 

How did you do? Be sure to check a style guide or dictionary if you doubt the answers above.

Would you like to increase your word skills? Get my booklet (printed or PDF) 60 Quick Word Fixes. 

Lynn
Syntax Training

Comments

[Kevin S]

My poor results reinforce my need to support professional writers!

That was great fun. Thanks Lynn!

[Jolene]

I missed two. Now to go look up why. :)

Thanks for the brain jolt!

[Alex]

Hi, aren't both answers for 17th question valid?

[Lynn Gaertner-Johnston]

Thanks for taking the challenge, Kevin, Jolene, and Alex.

Kevin, thanks for supporting writers!

Jolene, only two wrong is excellent. Nice work!

Alex, the context in 17 should make it clear that the meaning is "bring about." That meaning requires "effect."

Lynn

[Suzan St Maur]

Re: number 5 ... although "complements" is more appropriate, you could also use "compliments" if the wine really raises the food's game!
Sz x

[Linda Sweeney]

I struggle with #8. Pores is a noun as a follicle or opening. Whereas pours is a verb.

[Lynn Gaertner-Johnston]

Hi Suzan,

Thanks for stopping by.

Actually "complement" has the meaning of "raising the food's game." "Compliment" means only "pay a compliment to" or "present with a token of esteem." If you have a talking wine, it can compliment the food.

Lynn

[Lynn Gaertner-Johnston]

Hi Linda,

Check your dictionary. You will find that "pores" is a verb that means "read or study attentively" among other definitions.

No more struggling with that one!

Lynn

[Deborah]

14 right! Not bad for a non-native English speaker, isn't it?
My mistakes were:
7 (flesh) - 8 (pores) - 14 (faze): didn't know the idiom, I expected these to be wrong
10 (in to): read too quickly
16 (i.e.) - 19 (Regrettably): I should study the actual meaning of these words!

[Lynn Gaertner-Johnston]

Deborah, that's excellent work. And now you will know the ones you missed.

Lynn

[Lilli]

So many people are "flushing" out things these days. Thanks for helping socialize clarity on that one- drives me CRAZY!

[Lynn Gaertner-Johnston]

Lilli, I agree. I frequently see and hear "flushing out."

Lynn

[Sang Tran]

Thanks, Lynn, for effecting this quiz.

[Lynn Gaertner-Johnston]

Hi Sang Tran,

Thanks for using one of the trick words in your sentence. It's not quite the correct way "effecting" is used. Similarly, one would not write "Thanks for bringing about the quiz."

Or were you just kidding me? In any case, thanks for commenting!

Lynn

[Olivia MacDonald]

Lynn, a late comment/question: I thought "sometime" was an adjective meaning "occasional" or "at some point in the past," and that "some time" would be correct in #12 because it meant "at a specific but unknown or unstated time." Where did I go wrong?

Thanks for your challenges. They make us think!

[Lynn Gaertner-Johnston]

Hi Olivia,

You are right that "sometime" can be an adjective, but it's not an adjective in Number 12. It's an adverb.

My MERRIAM-WEBSTER'S says "sometime" is an adverb meaning "at some time in the future" and "at some not specified or definitely known point of time."

Lynn

[Olivia MacDonald]

Aha, I didn't think of it that way but I see now. I appreciate your responding to my delayed question.

I'm always happy to see a Business Writing entry in my email. The article I found this morning (March 3) is excellent. Your book Business Writing with Heart, mentioned in that article, offers valuable ideas for writing in a variety of tricky situations.

Thanks much.

[Lynn Gaertner-Johnston]

I am glad you like my book, Olivia. Thanks for the plug.

Lynn