Linguistic commentary on unit 8.

Adjectives which have sounds [k(ə)l] at the end are spelt with ‘cal’: medical, practical. Nouns with the same sounds at the end have letter combinations ‘cle’, sometimes ‘ckle’: circle, tickle, fickle.

Words with the endings ‘-ent’ and ‘-ence’ are more numerous than words with ‘-ant’ and ‘-ance’. Sounds [s], [∫], [dg] are usually followed by ‘-ent’ and ‘-ence’: absent, adjacent, efficient, urgent, etc. (exceptions: conversant, convulsant, depressant, dispersant, incessant, suppressant, sergeant, pageant).

Letter combination ‘qu’ is always followed by ‘-ent’: consequent, eloquent, frequent, etc. (there is only one exception: piquant – French word).

Sounds [t], [k], [g], [f] are usually followed by ‘-ant’: accountant, applicant, arrogant, infant (exceptions: competent, consistent, existent, persistent; words with sounds [k], [g], [f] can never be followed by ‘-ent’).

Some nouns are spelt with letter ‘c’ which is pronounce as [s] while verbs derived from them are spelt with ‘s’ which is pronounced as [z]: advice – to advise, device – to devise. But practice – to practise and licence – to license are always pronounced with sound [s].

Unit 9. Homonyms.

Exercise 1. Choose the word in brackets which rhymes with the word underlined.

1. Row the ………. across the river (now, boat).

2. We mustn’t have a row ………. in front of the children – they don’t like us arguing (now, boat).

3. When you ………. your watch, you’ll need to wind it up (find, thinned).

4. The strong wind ……….his hair (find, thinned).

5. You must take ………. not to tear that dress (near, care).

6. When she cried, a tear fell ………. his hand (near, care).

7. ………. many times must I bow to the king (go, how)?

8. ………. and put on a bowtie – it’s a very formal occasion (go, how).

9. I ………. to read newspapers in my job (need, bed).

10. Yesterday I read all the papers in ………. (need, bed).

11. Close the door before he ………. (goes, most).

12. ………. shops are very close (goes, most).

13. It’s no use, there isn’t enough ……… (shoes, mousse).

14. Use my ………. (shoes, mousse).

15. He lives on the money his father ………. him (drives, gives).

16. The way he ………., he needs nine lives (drives, gives).

17. The ………. live in the same barn as the sows (mows, cows).

18. The farmer ………. the field and then sows the seed in it (mows, cows).

Exercise 2. Correct the spelling and write the proper homophone.

1. A sun is male.

2. Soul is a kind of fish.

3. An ore is used for rowing.

4. A rein can be a downpour.

5. Hare is on the head.

6. An air can inherit money.

7. Letters and postcards are male.

8. A beech has sand.

9. A beat is a vegetable.

10. Boats may have sales.

11. Bread is made of doe.

12. A person’s way of walking is his gate.

13. A beet is a measure of rhythm.

14. A pain is a part of a window.

15. A cent is a smell.

16. A plane is where cattle graze.

17. A blind man has lost his site.

18. A pair is a kind of fruit.

19. Fur is a kind of tree.

20. Stares are in the house.

21. A beach is a kind of tree.

22. A tale is part of an animal.

23. A pane is a hurt.

24. A 747 is a plain.

25. Two things are a pear.

Exercise 3. Fill in the gaps with the proper word.

1. Go ………. down the road and then turn left at the lights (straight, strait).

2. Go ………. in peace (forth, fourth).

3. Go away! ………. (shoe, shoo).

4. Go out and check the ………. box, please (male, mail).

5. Go to the end of the ………. and wait your turn (cue, queue).

6. He ………. her fingers loose from the package (pride, pried).

7. He ………. my day when he said he likes my hair (made, maid).

8. His car broke down so he called for a ………. truck (toe, tow).

9. He found a new ……… to go to school (root, route).

10. He made a ………. to the right to catch his opponent off guard (faint, feint).

11. He stood for a long time on the ………. (peer, pier, pear).

12. She is a ………. girl, always giving herself airs (vain, vein, vane).

Exercise 4. Choose the appropriate word.

The weather/whether today was fowl/foul, but I’d promised to meat/meet granddad at half passed/past two/to/too. He was already/all ready there. He waived/waved when he saw/sore me. He said he’d only had a short wait/weight. He asked if I’d mist/missed him – of course/coarse! It was poring/pouring with rain, but we wandered/wondered along the beech/beach anyway. He sad/said I’d groan/grown since he’d last scene/seen me – what a compliment/complement! I said he should try dyeing/dying his white hair/hare. He laughed, and tolled/told me that he hated the whole/hole business of getting old. He said it seemed only yesterday when he used to read bedtime/bad time stories/storeys aloud/allowed to me. We talked about how board/bored I am at school. Granddad said I should know/no that every lessen/lesson is important, and that my opinion will altar/alter. That maybe/may be sow/so/sew, but I’m shore/sure I’ll never enjoy chemistry! I lead/led the way to the station to ensure/insure that he didn’t get lost. He asked me to right/write soon, and gave me some stationery/stationary with my name and address at the top of every peace/piece of paper.

Exercise 5. Substitute the parts underlined with one of the following words: there, there’s, their, theirs, they’re.

1. Look! There is Michelle!

2. Look at that, over in that direction!

3. I know they are going away today.

4. The house belonging to them is huge.

5. I want one just like the one they have.

6. There has been a dreadful accident.

7. Drop it! It’s the one belonging to them.

8. There has been a snowfall overnight.

9. I liked the friends belonging to them.

10. Have some more. There is plenty left.

11. I hate going to that place.

12. They are always arguing.

Exercise 6. Choose the appropriate word.

1. They decided to higher/hire a car and did so.

2. In Britain dessert/desert means fruit and nuts; in America they call pies, cakes, puddings, and ice-cream, desserts/deserts.

3. The letter put them off the sent/cent/scent, and the whole business failed.

4. We had a nice soul/sole for lunch.

5. We had difficulty in ceiling/sealing the leak.

6. The pane/pain was almost more than he could bare/bear.

7. The couple approached the alter/altar for the wedding ceremony.

8. The car’s new brakes/breaks held on the steep incline.

9. With her new glasses, her site/sight/cite was once again perfect.

10. They picked out a beautiful sight/site/cite overlooking a lake for their new home.

11. John is worried about his past/passed deeds.

12. The plane/plain dress suited the gravity of occasion.

13. The path cut strait/straight through the woods.

14. The monarch’s rain/rein/reign was marked by social unrest.

15. The religious leader performed the necessary rights/rites.

16. The superstitious villagers accused her of being a witch/which.

17. It was impossible to pass threw/through the airplane isle/aisle during the meal service.

Exercise 7. Explain the difference between the following words.

Accept/except

affect/effect

allusion/illusion

assure/ensure/insure

blonde/blond

canvas/canvass

capital/capitol

climatic/climactic

complement/compliment

complementary/complimentary

corps/corpse

counsel/council/consul

elicit/illicit

envelop/envelope

extant/extent

healthy/healthful

historic/historical

loose/lose

moral/morale

orient/orientate

principal/principle

quiet/quite

raise/rise/raze

stationary/stationery

unexceptional/unexceptionable

usage/use

proceed/precede

dye/die

adapt/adopt

eminent/imminent/immanent

formally/formerly

persecute/prosecute

pray/prey

rein/reign

whether/weather

Exercise 8. Choose the appropriate word.

1. He made an allusion/illusion to her, but it was not clear that he was talking directly about her.

2. He is a privileged owner of one of the few extent/extant pieces of ancient pottery.

3. He walked for days in dessert/desert without seeing another living thing, only sand.

4. Conscience/consciousness/conscientious is the voice that tells you not to do something after you have done it. He is a conscience/consciousness/ conscientious student. I’ll do it with a clear conscience/consciousness/ conscientious.

5. When working at the book, he made use of the artist’s letters and dairy/ diary. Butter, milk and cream are dairy/diary products.

6. The flies are kept at the personal/personnel Department. He said he was a personal/personnel friend of the President.

7. They rise/raise/rose their glasses and drank to absent friends. By how much did the taxes rise/raise/rose? The trip is sure to rise/raise/rose your spirits. His voice rise/raise/rose in anger when he saw them again.

8. Look! What a cute blonde/blond boy!

9. Stephen was faced with the moral/morale dilemma of whether to return the money he had found. Moral/morale is low, and many people are disillusioned.

10. She rammed into a stationery/stationary vehicle at the side of the road. His stationery/stationary was perfect – with the name of a company on it.

11. The counsel/council is responsible for the library service. Privately, the president was being counselled/councilled to end the war. Take counsel/council of your pillow. Sleep on it.

12. The Home Secretary has been canvassing/canvasing support for his new crime bill. We spent three months living under canvas/canvass.

Exercise 9. Choose the correct pronunciation of the homographs.

1. Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed the tear.

2. The bandage was wound around the wound.

3. We must polish the Polish furniture.

4. The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.

5. A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.

6. There was a row among the oarsmen about how to roe.

7. They were too close to the door to close it.

8. The wind was too strong to wind the sail.

9. When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.

10. The buck does funny things when the does are present.