{"id":2313,"date":"2015-10-01T13:07:13","date_gmt":"2015-10-01T20:07:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/?p=2313"},"modified":"2020-12-10T13:45:08","modified_gmt":"2020-12-10T21:45:08","slug":"tricky-english-grammar-commonly-confused-verbs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/tricky-english-grammar-commonly-confused-verbs\/","title":{"rendered":"Tricky English Vocabulary: Commonly Confused Verbs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Let\u2019s face it: Typos happen to everyone. When you\u2019re writing your TOEFL essays on test day, making one or two small spelling mistakes or typing errors probably won\u2019t affect your score. However, once they start to change the meaning of your sentences, these little errors can start adding up big-time. While your scorers won\u2019t know whether you\u2019re saying \u201csee\u201d or \u201csea\u201d in the speaking section, they will definitely be able to read the difference in your essays. Learning to distinguish between some of English\u2019s trickier verbs, many of which are homonyms, or words that sound like other words, can make a big\u00a0difference on test day.<\/p>\n

One set of verbs that even native English speakers often misuse is to lay<\/strong> vs to lie<\/strong>. The similar sounds, as well as the similar–but not identical–past tenses (laid vs lain), and the fact that the past tense of \u201cto lie\u201d is \u201clay,\u201d \u00a0make this verb all the trickier. If you\u2019re going to use either of these verbs in your essay, remember that if you\u2019re talking about placing something somewhere, or putting something somewhere, you\u2019re talking about laying it. For example, \u201cMy sister always lays her coffee cup down without using a coaster.\u201d However, \u201cMy sister decided to lie down after dinner.\u201d In the first case, we\u2019re conjugating \u201cto lay.\u201d In the second case, however, we\u2019re actually conjugating \u201cto lie.\u201d See? Tricky.<\/p>\n

Not all tricky verbs are tricky for the same reason. A lot of the time, writers confuse a word that is a different part of speech for the verb that it sounds like. It sounds complicated in theory, but in practice, it\u2019s extremely common. Don\u2019t believe me? How about affect <\/strong>vs effect<\/strong><\/a>? \u201cAffect\u201d is a usually a verb, while \u201ceffect\u201d is usually a noun. For example, \u201cThat movie affected me deeply,\u201d vs \u201cThat movie had a profound effect on me.\u201d Be careful, though, because in less-common scenarios, \u201caffect\u201d can be a noun meaning the visible influence of emotions on behavior, and \u201ceffect\u201d can be a verb, meaning \u201cto bring about\u201d (sorry!) We can therefore correctly write that \u201cHer affect was good throughout the film,\u201d meaning that she seemed well, or that \u201cThe movie effected change throughout Hollywood,\u201d meaning that it caused Hollywood to change.<\/p>\n

Some other common errors include:<\/p>\n