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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 later (= happening in subsequent time) versus latter (= second of two just-mentioned ideas). 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. Eager(ness) – Willing(ness)
The adjective willing and related noun willingness are obviously both derived from the word will. However, their meaning differs in a subtle enough way to make them unsuitable for expressing the idea of will in adjective or noun form.
The most familiar use of will is as an auxiliary verb, as in …will happen. Its typical suggestion is, of course, the idea of “future”, but this is usually alongside a secondary meaning like “promise” or “prediction” (see 147. Types of Future Meaning). In rare cases, for example when will is spoken with emphasis or used after if, the secondary idea is of wanting something (see 316. Future Verbs without “Will” or “Shall”, #4).
This idea of wanting something becomes the main meaning of will when it is used as an ordinary rather than auxiliary verb:
(a) Everyone was willing the initiative to succeed.
The underlined words here are a past continuous form of the verb WILL, not BE before the adjective willing. This is clear from the subsequent wording: object + to verb (see 208. Verbs with an Object + Infinitive, #5), replacing that…should…. The idea of wanting something is also present in the noun will, whether used countably (= inheritance document) or uncountably (= wish).
The frequency of the idea of wanting in will is logical grounds for seeing the same idea in willing and willingness. However, the logic is misleading: these words both indicate agreement to do something without indicating how much it is wanted. An action that someone is willing to perform might be a totally hated one, like eating disgusting food, the agreement to perform it being based on a very different stimulus from the attraction of the food, such a desire to avoid offending someone. One close synonym is prepared(ness).
Suitable alternatives for expressing the idea of wanting are the adjective-noun pairs eager(ness) and keen(ness). Like willing(ness), both can be followed directly by a to verb.
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2. AGREE – ACCEPT
AGREE is usable with either a that statement or a to (infinitive) verb (as well as with various prepositions – see 44. Troublesome Prepositional Verbs, #1). Before that, it typically means “concur”:
(b) Caesar agreed that he / the journey was taking too long.
(c) Caesar agreed that he / troops would make the journey.
These suggest Caesar, the subject of agreed, had heard the opinion of someone else about the journey, and had decided that it either matched or should match his own opinion. The focus of (b) is an existing situation, that of (c) a future action. The subject of the verb after that may be either the same as that of AGREE (he above) or different (troops/the journey).
Sometimes, an additional suggestion with an agreed future action is of steps being taken to bring it about – the idea of consent as well as of concurrence. It is only possible if the subjects of AGREE and the verb after it are different, and if the subject of AGREE is understood to have the power to arrange the relevant event. In sentence (c), Caesar and he meet these conditions.
With a directly-following infinitive, by contrast, the idea of consent is the main meaning of AGREE. The subject of the infinitive can only be the same as that of AGREE.
ACCEPT is an object-dropping verb with the fundamental meaning of “choose to keep”. With an explicit or implicit noun or pronoun object representing a gift or offer, the choosing is implied to be gracious; but with one representing something undesirable, such as poverty or discomfort, there is an implication of resignation, stoicism or heroic suffering. Neither of these implications, though, is present with other objects. All noun objects refer to a past or existing situation, not a future one.
An alternative kind of ACCEPT object is a that statement. This allows only the implication of resignation etc. Unlike noun objects, that statements can refer to a future situation (…that mistakes would be made), as well as a past or present one. However, they still indication resignation, not consent.
The most common confusion of AGREE and ACCEPT is in the giving of consent to a future action. Only AGREE can express this meaning: agree to do for one’s own future action, agree that X will for someone else’s. ACCEPT with a following infinitive (*accept to do) is ungrammatical, while ACCEPT that … will indicates resignation rather than consent.
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3. Proposal – Proposition
These two countable nouns – both derived from the verb PROPOSE – may express either the action of that verb or its outcome (see 280. Alternative Meanings of Action Nouns).
Both words reflect the fundamental “suggest” meaning of PROPOSE, but differ in the type of suggestion that they indicate. Proposals are suggested plans or actions, propositions suggested ideas:
(d) Ali’s proposal is to store all the data in one place.
(e) The project will explore the proposition that productive workers are the happiest.
Note the infinitive verb after proposal and the that statement after proposition. That… is also possible after proposal, but infinitives are unlikely after proposition. Because proposal is future-referring, it allows the option of putting the verb after that into the “subjunctive” form (see 316. Future Verbs without “Will” or “Shall”, #5).
Propositions are especially likely in Law, Mathematics and Philosophy, where they are presented as possible truths, often in preparation for their systematic analysis. Elsewhere, they may mean “challenges”. In romantic situations, a proposition is an invitation to engage in sexual activity, whereas a proposal is a request for marriage.
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4. Suspect – Suspicious
Although suspect can be a verb, noun or adjective, it is the last of these that I wish to concentrate on because of the exclusively adjective nature of suspicious. The adjective suspect is, like the noun but unlike the verb, pronounced with stress on sus-, causing the “u” vowel to be pronounced fully as /ʌ/ rather than weakly as /Ə/ (see 125. Stress and Emphasis).
Suspect usually indicates the existence of a hidden problem within what it is describing, leading to a negative impact on people’s trust in it. It mostly describes objects, substances or abstract ideas. For example, a bridge might be described as suspect if it moved unexpectedly when in use, and an argument could be called suspect if unconvincing. If a living thing is called suspect, it is similarly believed likely to possess a hidden weakness, such as an inability to cope with pressure.
Suspicious too can say its noun idea is mistrusted by its observers. However, the noun idea is more likely to be behaviour by a living being than a physical quality in an object. An example of suspicious behaviour might be somebody on a low income regularly purchasing expensive luxuries.
Suspicious can also describe an observer of suspicious behaviour, its meaning then being “having suspicion” rather than “causing suspicion”. A car owner, for example, might be suspicious after their newly-serviced car still performed poorly. The person causing the suspicion can be named in an of phrase after suspicious (e.g. suspicious of the garage).
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5. In a Position – In Position
It is surprising how often in English just including or excluding a(n) or the within a fixed phrase can make a significant meaning difference. For numerous examples with the, see 235. Special Uses of “the”, #9.
The two expressions above usually precede a to (infinitive) verb. In a position is a formal way of saying “able”:
(f) Our organization is in a (good) position to offer its help.
Without a, by contrast, the meaning is “in a/the correct place”, and the context is likely to be sporting:
(g) The goalkeeper was in position to stop the shot.
Note, though, that an adjective added before this latter use of position needs to be accompanied by a or the, e.g. …was in a suitable (or the right) position to….
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6. At/On/In the Scene
The noun the scene changes its meaning according to the preposition used before it. After on, it refers to a particular area of activity, such as politics, sport or education. For example, a politician mentioning new people appearing on the scene would probably mean people newly entering politics.
After at, the scene refers to a place where something has recently happened or is still happening. Crime and disaster locations are especially likely to be involved. Newspaper reports, for example, will often say at the scene of the theft.
After in, the scene usually refers to a shortish segment of a book, play or film, usually involving a single event or location. As an example, one might hear that a film director made a brief appearance in the fight scene.
For more about nouns after a predictable preposition, see 252. Descriptive Wording after Nouns 1, #2.
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