Daily Grammar – Week 7

DAILY GRAMMAR (DG) 17-04-2018

1. Whenever she complains about money, the man neglects her. (No)

Whenever she complains about money, the man ignores her. (Yes)

(To “ignore” means to “deliberately not attend to” at a time while to “neglect” is to “leave unattended to” without reference to a particular moment.)

2. Why did you scrape off your beard? (No)

Why did you shave off your beard? (Yes)

(Though both “scrape” and “shave” are both used for removal, “scrape” is used to describe the removal of solid or viscous materials like mud, paint, soot, etc. while “shave” is used to describe the complete removal of hair.)

3. They cited the new university in her town. (No)

They sited the new university in her town. (Yes)

(To “cite” is to “quote” and to “site” is to “situate” or “locate” somewhere. Another homophone in this category is “sight”, which as a verb or noun has to do with “seeing”.)

Did You Know?

The word “retarded” came into popular use in the 1960s because it was considered less offensive and more politically correct than labelling someone a moron, idiot or imbecile.

Can you differentiate among “moron”, “idiot” and “imbecile”?