Similar & Confused Verbs

Form

Verbs get confused for a few reasons: who does what, what has to follow the verb, which part of speech the word is, and how much attention the action takes.

Direction sorts out the first group — you lend or teach something away from yourself, you borrow or learn it toward yourself, and you bring something to where you are but take it somewhere else (I lent her my car. She borrowed my car.). What follows sorts out the second — say is normally followed by the words and tell by the person (She said that the meeting was canceled. She told me that the meeting was canceled.), make goes with a decision, a mistake, a call or a difference while do goes with work, homework, research and the dishes, and rise never takes an object while raise always does. Part of speech sorts out affect and effect: affect is the verb, and effect is almost always the noun. Attention sorts out see, look and watch.

When to Use It

1. 1

   Choose lend or borrow by direction, since you lend to someone and borrow from them

   Could you lend me your pen? I borrowed one from Dana yesterday.

2. 2

   Choose say or tell by what comes next, because tell is normally followed by a person

   She told me the news, and she said it was urgent.

3. 3

   Choose bring or take by where the speaker is

   Bring me a glass of water, and take these files to the archive.

4. 4

   Choose affect or effect by part of speech

   The policy will affect prices, and the effect was immediate.

5. 5

   Choose rise or raise by whether something takes an object

   The temperature rose, and the board raised salaries.

6. 6

   Choose see, look or watch by how much attention each one takes

   I saw the mountains, looked at the map, and watched the game.

Common Mistakes

• Borrow for lend: write Could you lend me $20?, not Could you borrow me $20? — you borrow from someone, and they lend to you.
• Say with a person straight after it: write She told me that the meeting was canceled, not She said me that the meeting was canceled — tell takes the person directly, say does not.
• Make for do: write I need to do some research, not I need to make some research — do goes with work and tasks, make with what you produce.
• Affect as a noun: write The policy had a significant effect on prices, not The policy had a significant affect on prices — effect is the noun, affect the verb.
• Learn for teach: write My grandmother taught me how to bake bread, not My grandmother learned me how to bake bread — the one who has the knowledge teaches.