Myriora English › Words › Chapter 2: How words relate
Words often confused
Ages 9–11Chapter 2 · Lesson 6✓ Watched
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Practise
Ten new questions every time. Answer them all, then check: you get your score, and the working for anything you missed.
In this lesson
- Lose is the opposite of win, and loose means not tight.
- Accept means take, and except means not including.
- Affect is the action, and effect is the end result.
Your turn
Which one fits? The loud music had a strange blank on the dog.
Show the answer
The answer is effect. After the word a, you need a noun, the result: an effect.
The common mistake
Here's a common mistake. Lots of people write: I don't want to loose the game. But the opposite of win is lose, with one O.
Try it at home
Confusion cards: write lose/loose, accept/except and affect/effect on cards. Read a sentence aloud with a gap and hold up the card that fits.
Read the whole lesson
Hello, and welcome to Myriora English! Some pairs of words look and sound so alike that even grown-ups mix them up. Let's sort out three of them.
Lose and loose. Lose, with one O, is the opposite of win, or find. Don't lose your keys! Loose, with two Os, means not tight. My tooth is loose. Here's a trick: loose has lots of room, so it has room for an extra O.
Accept and except. Accept means to take something you're offered. Please accept this gift. Except means not including. Everyone came except Sam. Except and exclude both start with E, X.
Affect and effect. Affect is usually a verb: it's the action. The rain will affect the match. Effect is usually a noun: it's the result. The rain had an effect on the match. Remember: A for action, E for end result.
Let's try one together. Which one fits? My shoelace is blank. Say it out loud!
Loose! The lace is not tight, so it's loose, with two Os. Well done if you said loose!
Here's a common mistake. Lots of people write: I don't want to loose the game. But the opposite of win is lose, with one O.
Your turn! Which one fits? The loud music had a strange blank on the dog. Pick the right card. You've got eight seconds, or pause the video. Go!
Time's up! The answer is effect. After the word a, you need a noun, the result: an effect.
Quick review. Lose is the opposite of win, and loose means not tight. Accept means take, and except means not including. Affect is the action, and effect is the end result. See you next time!