Grammatically Correct: The writer's essential guide to punctuation ...

PROBLEM WORDS
construction (uncommunicative or noncommunicative, mistreated
or maltreated), you must be aware that a dictionary may
permit variants that many readers would view as incorrect. For
example, you would be advised to go with infeasible rather than
unfeasible and antihero rather than nonhero, even though these
variants are listed in some dictionaries. (See the discussion of prescriptive
and descriptive dictionaries on page 17.)
In a few cases, different prefixes added to the same base word
create different meanings. Some common misuses are shown below.
Exercise
Correct the following sentences.
She was disinterested in his story, and tried to change the subject.
Children's pajamas should be made of inflammable material.
Statistical analysis found the results to be insignificant.
Many of the inmates came from highly nonfunctional families.
Young children start out immoral, and must be socialized.
If the pegs don't fit in the holes, check to see if they're nonaligned.
The coach stated that he was very unsatisfied with the refereeing.
Her office was wildly unorganized.
The foreign minister was an expert at planting misinformation.
Answers
She was disinterested in his story, and tried to change the subject.
Should be uninterested-bored by. Disinterested means impartial
or objective; that is, having no personal stake-interest-in an outcome
(they agreed to have their dispute arbitrated by a disinterested
third party).
Children's pajamas should be made of inflammable material.
Should be nonflammable-not easily ignited. Inflammable means
flammable! (As in inflame.)
Statistical analysis found the results to be insignificant.
Should be nonsignificant-failing to reach a certain criterion that
would indicate that an experimental effect was real, not occurring by
chance. Insignificant means trivial, unimportant, inconsequential
(she always managed to make him feel small and insignificant).
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