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Some word pairs are easily confused because of close similarities in spelling and/or meaning
THE PROBLEM OF TRICKY WORD CONTRASTS
Most users of English have encountered vocabulary items that are easily confused because they resemble each other in spelling and/or meaning. A well-known example – often explained in English language coursebooks – is REFUSE (= reject an offer, request or command) versus DENY (= say that something is not true). The problem is that such pairs are numerous in English, and many are rarely highlighted so that they are likely to remain unrecognised, or at least not fully differentiated.
It is these rarely-considered confusion sources, especially ones likely to occur in professional writing, that are the focus of the present post, just as they are of various others with a similar title (there is a complete list on the page in this blog entitled Posts on Specific Words). Further posts about vocabulary confusions include 16. Ways of Distinguishing Similar Words, 44. Troublesome Prepositional Verbs, 94. Essay Instruction Words, 211. General Words for People and 240. Nouns that End with “-ing”.
For some grammar contrasts, see 100. What is a Grammar Error?, 133 Confusions of Similar Structures 1 and 217. Tricky Grammar Contrasts 1. For some pronunciation ones, see 144. Words that are Often Heard Wrongly.
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LIST OF CONTRASTS
1. ASSURE – ENSURE
ASSURE is primarily a speech verb meaning “respond positively that something desirable is the case”. As such, it needs a human-referring noun as the object of its active form, and it usually links with direct or indirect speech (see 279. Grammatical Differences between Citation Verbs, #2). There are two main ways of introducing indirect speech: either with (that)…, e.g. they assured X (that)…, or with of + noun:
(a) The team assured the coach of their cooperation.
This means the team told the coach that they would cooperate. Used with of, ASSURE is a type of “prepositional” verb (see 123. Prepositional Verbs Containing a Noun). The noun after of must mean something positive and must follow a possessive adjective (their above) referring back to the subject of ASSURE. Some nouns are particularly likely, other examples being interest, loyalty and support.
ENSURE (commonly spelt INSURE in American English) means “make sure that an event or situation happens”. The event or situation may be represented by a noun (e.g. ensured success) or a that statement (e.g. ensured that they would succeed: see 153. Conjunction Uses of “that”, #1). This use of that differs from the one with ASSURE in not requiring a noun just before it and not introducing a report.
Part of the problem with ASSURE versus ENSURE is that ASSURE is increasingly being used with the grammar and meaning of ENSURE. My dictionary says this is particularly likely with the passive form of the verb (e.g. Success is assured), but my investigations show active-form usage to be common too.
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2. “Hopeful” – “Promising”
A basic meaning of the adjective hopeful is expressed in the following:
(b) Hopeful motorists queued for hours for petrol.
(c) Cats’ ears point forwards in hopeful anticipation.
Both of these sentences indicate a living possessor of hope (motorists/cats). In (b), hopeful directly describes the relevant noun, whereas in (c) it describes some associated behaviour (anticipation).
Less commonly, hopeful means giving rather than having hope. This is not a possibility with all nouns, but is quite common with abstract ones, such as a beginning, a development (= occurrence), a future, an outlook, potential, results, a sign and a situation. Concrete nouns are ruled out because the “possessing hope” meaning would be understood instead, regardless of whether it would be logical (with human and animal nouns) or not (with inanimate nouns like a drug).
Promising also means “inspiring hope”. It seems to be usable with a wider variety of nouns. It can describe the same abstract nouns as hopeful meaning “giving hope” (see the list above), but other nouns too. If there is a difference in the first case, it is that promising is slightly more positive-sounding.
One kind of noun with which only promising can mean “inspiring hope” refers to a living being, such as employee. If one is described as hopeful instead, the meaning can only be “possessing hope”. Other nouns with this clear division include doctor, entrepreneur, footballer, researcher, physicist, student and worker. The same division exists with nouns naming an activity by a living being, such as achievement, approach, discovery, display, idea, performance, research and start.
Also usable with only promising are non-living concrete nouns whose meaning cannot logically possess or involve hope, such as a drug or a structure.
Hopeful is not the only adjective with -ful that has some unexpected usage (see 106. Word-Like Suffixes). Its opposite hopeless can also be troublesome (see 284. Words with a Surprising Meaning, #12).
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3. “First” – “Leading”
The adjective first primarily indicates a position in space or time. With this meaning, it normally needs the before it. A typical partner noun might be page, turning, step or day.
By contrast, first without the typically describes a rank in a formal competition. For example, one might say that a football team is currently first in the league. In this use, first is usually in the complement position – placed after its noun with a link verb like BE in between (see 184. Adjectives with Limited Mobility, #6). A correct way to express the rank meaning directly before a noun is with first-placed. If the verb before first is COME (X came first), the ranking is a final one (see 290. Ways of Using COME, #14).
Leading also indicates a rank, but mostly outside of formal competition. Like rank-indicating first, it is grammatically restricted, but not in the same way, as it must normally go directly before its noun. To follow its noun with BE or similar in between, it needs to accompany …one(s). Leading also differs from rank-indicating first in being unable to drop the, except to replace it with a(n) before a noun representing only some of a wider leading group – for example X is a leading brand. Other typical partner nouns include advocate, company, expert, playwright, politician and protagonist.
For a different use of first, see 20. Problem Connectors, #8.
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4. “In view of” – “With a view to”
Like many multi-word prepositions, these two carry a metaphorical meaning of a key word (view) within them (see 221. Multi-Word Prepositions, #1). They differ in the kind of view that they represent.
The shared metaphorical meaning of view is mental consideration rather than visual observation. With in view of, the consideration is of something that has already happened or already exists. This is named as a reason for someone (usually the subject of the sentence) thinking or acting in a particular way:
(d) In view of the rainy weather, we are cancelling the event.
(e) In view of the rainy weather, I am not surprised that the event was cancelled.
Here, in view of introduces adverb-like sentence components. However, it is also usable in an adjective-like way, describing a preceding noun (e.g. cancellation in view of…).
Sometimes, the person taking the consequent action is only implied. For example, (d) could end …the event has to be cancelled, (e) …it is not surprising that….
Similar to reason giving is cause giving. For information about numerous cause-giving prepositions in English, see 72. Causal Prepositions.
With a view to expresses mental consideration of a future purpose, very much like with the purpose of:
(f) Discussions were held with a view to reducing costs.
Note the use of reducing here instead of reduce: a sign that to is a preposition (as in LOOK FORWARD TO), rather than the start of an infinitive verb (see 35. Words Followed by “to -ing”). This use of with a view to is adverb-like, but adjective-like use is again possible, for example by placing it after There were discussions… .
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5. “Informative” – “Informational”
If something is informative, it gives helpful information. As a result, informative is a positive-sounding adjective – it has what is technically called a “positive connotation” (see 16. Ways of Distinguishing Similar Words, #2).
Informational, by contrast, has a neutral connotation. It just means “acting as information”. For example, if something is described as having informational value, we understand that it provides information, but there is no indication of whether or not the information is helpful. Other nouns often used with informational include difference, event, influence, role, support and website.
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6. “A turn” – “A turning”
One of the numerous meanings of the noun turn is the idea of changing one’s movement in a particular direction into movement in a new direction. With this meaning, a turn is an “action” noun (see 131. Uses of “Action” Nouns). Its countable nature is unusual for action nouns, but typical of those spelt the same as their related verb (see 249. Action Noun Endings). Sometimes a turn combines with MAKE, e.g. made a quick turn (see 173. “Do Research” 0r “Make Research”?); sometimes it directly precedes the adjective left or right.
A turning, by contrast, is a place where a traveller along a road or path meets the start of a new road or path going off to the side, so that a choice is created between continuing straight on and taking the new direction. It is not to be confused with a crossing, where both sides of the road offer the option of turning. Both turning and crossing well illustrate how -ing does not always indicate a verb (see 240. Nouns that End with “-ing”).
Confusingly, when the meaning of a turning needs to be combined with left or right, English speakers sometimes say a left/right turn. Sometimes, however, they say a left-hand (or right-hand) turning, or the first (etc.) turning on the left/right.
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7. DEPEND ON – RELY ON
DEPEND ON usually introduces a condition for something to happen or exist. For example, plants may be said to depend on sunlight, suggesting they die without it. NEED can express a similar meaning (see 129. Differences between Necessity Verbs, #3), but perhaps allows a less absolute necessity. A further aspect of DEPEND ON is that it does not typically imply a conscious or purposeful choice.
RELY on, however, does usually imply purposeful choice. Thus, plants cannot be said to rely on sunlight. Rather, one might say that a farmer who chose to plant a hot-weather crop was relying on the weather acting as hoped. It would also be possible to say s/he was depending on it, though that would be directing attention more to the existence of her/his need.
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