Similar Nouns That Often Get Confused

1. Similar Nouns That Often Get Confused

2. Introduction Learning English as a foreign language can sometimes be a challenge for learners. Take English nouns for example, many nouns have similar meanings and even the same translation in Chinese. For instance, ‘game,’ ‘race,’ and ‘contest’ are all translated as ‘比賽.’ As a native speaker of Chinese, we may get confused with using these words. Here we are going to do some comparison and contrast between several pairs of nouns.

3. Awardvs.Reward Award: 1. A decision made by a judge. 2. Something awarded,as for achievement; prize. 3. A gift, plaque,or money. e.g. When I graduated from high school, I received awards for good grades and perfect attendance. Reward: 1. Something given in return for service or good deed. 2. Money offered, as for the capture of a criminal. 3. Compensation; profit. e.g. You should do good deeds without thinking of a reward.

4. Hobbyvs.Habit Hobby: Something that someone does for relaxation and pleasure in his spare time. e.g. My hobby is collecting stamps. Habit: Something that one does often, usually without even thinking about it. e.g. He has a habit of blinking his eyes whenever he speaks English.

5. Percentvs.Percentage Percent: You use ‘percent’ to talk about amounts; it is always used after a number Twenty percent of the patients who took the medicine felt relief from their pain. Percentage: A percentage is a fraction of an amount expressed as a particular number of hundredths of that amount; you can’t add numbers to it. A high percentage of graduates from this high school go on to college.

6. Raisevs.Rise Raise: In American English, ‘raise’ means an increase in amount. It is normally used to refer to an increase in salary or wages. I hope I can get a raise next month. Rise: An advance in status, rank; or an increase in degree, amount. The other workers were jealous of Peter’s quick rise from clerk to vice-president. (Note: In British English, ‘rise’ is used to mean an increase in salary.)

7. Sound vs.Voice Sound: A sound is any noise that can be heard. It can be made by someone. Peter heard the sound of gunfire. Voice: A voice is the sound of a human being when he or she talks. It can also mean someone’s opinion on a particular topic and what they say about it. I knew it was you on the telephone because I recognized your voice.

8. Holiday vs.Vacationvs.Day off Holiday: A day when people do not go to work or school because of a religious, traditional or national festival. New Year’s Day is a public holiday throughout Taiwan. Vacation: A period of the year when people don’t have to go to school or work. Not everybody has vacation at the same time. During his summer vacation he visited Rome. Day off: A day when you do not go to work, even though it’s usually a working day. e.g. It was Tom’s day off, and Paul was on duty in his place.

9. Game vs. Contest vs. Race ‘Game’ and ‘contest’ are both activities or sports which requires a particular skill or knowledge; but they are used to name different sports. A ‘race’ goes from a starting line to a finish line, to see who is the fastest. baseball game speech contest car race basketball game dance contest horse race football game cooking contest bicycle race soccer game foot race

10. It’s Your Turn To Try ! award reward Award / Reward: • She presented a bravery to schoolgirl Caroline. • The police are offering a of $10,000 for information about the murder. • The Booker prize is Britain’s top for fiction. Hobby / Habit: • Smoking is a bad . • My are letter writing, football, music, and tennis. • It’s important for children to learn good study . Percent / Percentage • 20 to 40 of the voters are undecided. • Only a few vegetable-origin foods have such a high of protein. award habit hobbies habit percent percentage

11. rise rise Raise / Rise: • There has been a big in prices recently. • Foreign nationals have begun leaving because of a sharp in violence. Sound / Voice: • I like to listen to Sara talk because she has a pretty . • Lisa was so frightened that she couldn’t make a . • There was no disagreement; there were no dissenting . Holiday / Vacation / Day off: • Sara caught a cold, so she took a . • We went on to Europe. Game / Contest / Match: • It was a wonderful of football. • I joined a writing last week. voice sound voices day off vacation game contest