RIC-6242 Primary Grammar and Word Study - Book C

Understanding and
choosing words
Confused words
Focus
quiet/quite, tired/tried, dessert/desert
Explanation
• quiet/quite
Quiet is an adjective that means still or silent.
Quite is an adverb. It can mean:
completely; e.g. to be quite perfect
reasonably; e.g. to be quite proficient.
The pronunciation of each word is different but
if speech is not clear, the difference may not be
apparent.
Confusion occurs in reading and writing as both
words contain the same letters with only the last two
in reverse position.
• tired/tried
Tired is an adjective that means sleepy or worn
out.
Tried is the past participle of the verb to try, which
means to make an effort to achieve something.
The pronunciation of each word is clearly different.
Confusion occurs in reading and writing as both
words contain the same letters with only the second
and third letters in reverse position.
• desert/dessert
Desert is a homograph and has two different
pronunciations and meanings.
One meaning, which is a noun, is ‘a place with little
rainfall’. In speech, the emphasis is on the first
syllable.
The other meaning, which is a verb, means ‘to run
away with no intention to return’. The emphasis is on
the second syllable.
Dessert is a noun which means a ‘sweet meal
eaten after dinner’. The emphasis is on the second
syllable.
Confusion generally occurs with the spelling. A
possible strategy for remembering is that the sweet
meal which we often want more of has a double
consonant (more), and the desert, which has little
rain, has only one consonant (less).
Worksheet information
• Discuss the meaning of each word and highlight the
similarities and differences of the spelling of each
pair.
• In Question 2, give students free rein to explain how
they see the similarities and differences of each pair.
Ideas for further practice
• Dictate a short text including all the words. Students
write the text. Correct as a group/class.
• Make six cards with one of the words written on
each card. In small groups, students place the cards
face down and take turns to choose a card. They
explain to the others how the word is pronounced,
how it is spelt and what it means.
• In groups, students take turns to explain the use of
each pair of words.
Answers
1.
1.
5.
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4.
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e e i i
d e s s e r t
6.
2. Teacher check
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2. 3.
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Primary grammar and word study 54
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