Commonly Misused Words: Vocabulary Tips

[Janetlalbag]

Only
Only is often used to connect 2 statements in a sentence, for example 'I would have gone to the party, only I didn’t know where it was'. Try not to use this in formal written English, as it is technically not correct. Instead , use the negative form of the latter statement, in conjunction with 'if', for example ‘I would have gone to the party, if I had known where it was'.

Possible
Quite often you will hear the phrases that something is 'more possible than' or 'very possible' . In formal English try to avoid this, as the word 'possible' deals with an absolute state, something is either possible or it is not. If you need to talk about the probability of an event happening use phrases such as 'it is more likely' or 'less likely'

Occur
When an event 'occurs', it usually means that it was unplanned or unforeseen, at least from the point of view of the observers. For example, a social gathering can 'happen', but it doesn’t 'occur'
Flaunt/Flout
These are very similar words that have associated meanings. ‘Flout’ to blatantly disregard a law or regulation. Flaunt means to display openly, both have a connotation of arrogance and are used in a negative way. Flaunt is sometimes seen in phrases such as ’to flaunt the regulations’ but this is incorrect. It should be to ’flout the regulations’.

Elicit/Illicit
Illicit means against a law or regulation e.g. 'cannabis is an ellicit substance in many countries'. To elicit something is to bring it out, or provoke it e.g. 'the piece of writing elicits feelings of compassion'.

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