1. Commonly Confused Words Week #8 Anderson & Bult

2. Vary vs. Very  Vary = to change  Very =  Adverb: extremely; exceedingly  Adjective: precise; particular; sheer; utter  The answers will ________.  “Be ________ quiet – the rabbits are sleeping.” –Elmer Fudd  I cringe at the ________ sound of his voice.  The levels at which you read will ________.  Her wedding gown was woven with ________ lace. vary very vary very

3. Quite/Quiet/Quit  Quite = completely, wholly, or positively  Quiet = silent, calm, not loud  Quit = to stop  Barbara was _______ certain that she would win.  I wish that you would _______ bothering me.  The library is a _______ place.  _______ being so _______ and sing!  It would be _______ silly to _______ being _______ now. quite quit quiet Quit quiet quite quit quiet

4. Through/Threw/Thorough/Though/Thru  Through = by means of; finished; into or out of  Threw = past tense of “to throw”  Thorough = careful or complete  Though = however; nevertheless  Thru = slang for through; not appropriate in standard writing  He’s really a sweet __________ he looks tough on the outside.  She __________ away his love letters.  He plowed right ___________ the opposition’s defensive line.  Bert was very __________ when cleaning his room.  She lost points for writing __________ instead of __________.  Even __________ he passed, his work was not very __________. though threw through thorough thru through though thorough

5. Could of/Might of/Must of/Should of/Would of  The helping verb “have”, not the preposition of, should follow could, might, must, should, or would.  Using “of” is never correct!  To make the statement negative, put “not” before “have”.  It was so cold I could have seen my breath.  I might have said that, but I don’t remember.  They must have left for lunch early.  We should not have driven.  Then we would not have been late.