Paronyms not to be confused
Posted: Wed Feb 12, 2025 7:12 am
French is full of traps like paronyms. These are words that have a sound, a tone, a pronunciation, very close, but which are nevertheless different and do not mean the same thing at all.
This can be confusing for native speakers, but even more so for learners.
Today we're going to look at seven pairs of paronyms so that you never confuse them again. Let's go!
Hi and thanks for joining me for this new video. So today we're going to talk about paronyms which are words that sound alike.
Sometimes the only difference between these kuwait whatsapp number data two words is a vowel or just a syllable or a letter, a very small difference. These are not homophones. Homophones are pronounced exactly the same, but have different meanings.
They are not the same words, but they are pronounced the same. Here, for paronyms, there is a small difference that can be detected by ear. Sometimes, we tend to confuse these words because their sound is very similar or sometimes because their meaning is similar too.
It is therefore important to differentiate them well so as not to make mistakes. Before moving on to the content, I would like to remind you that you can download your free PDF sheet . It covers everything we are going to see today, the seven pairs of paronyms with their definition, the examples.
This will be a great revision tool for you. It's the first link in the description. You click on the link, enter your email address and you immediately receive your free PDF sheet .
First pair of paronyms, accident and incident. The word accident has two meanings.
It could be an unexpected or unforeseen event, or an event that causes damage. For example, I'm sorry I dropped your phone, it was an accident. Or, I had an accident, my car is completely broken. Or, I had an accident, my car is badly damaged.
An incident is an unforeseen event that disrupts an action. Synonyms would be obstacles or glitches. The difference between an accident and an incident is that an accident always has negative consequences. On the other hand, an incident is just an interruption and sometimes the consequences are not negative from a material point of view.
Imagine for example that you are in the subway, the subway stops and on the microphone, someone announces that there is a technical incident. It just means that you will remain stopped, but the train or subway will continue its route later. It is just an interruption.
Whereas an accident in the subway would mean that the carriage or train had a collision and that would be something much more serious.
So you understand the difference between accident and incident.
Second pair, allusion and illusion. The only difference is the vowel at the beginning. Allusion, illusion. An allusion is the act of implying something. We insinuate something, we try to convey an idea without giving it directly.
It is often used in the form of "to allude to something". For example, this passage from the film alludes to World War II. It does not clearly state that it is talking about World War II, it is just a small indirect allusion to remind people of World War II.
Or "I don't like it when you mention my weight." It means "I don't like it when you bring up my weight in a slightly indirect and roundabout way." An illusion is a false interpretation of what we see or hear.
This can be confusing for native speakers, but even more so for learners.
Today we're going to look at seven pairs of paronyms so that you never confuse them again. Let's go!
Hi and thanks for joining me for this new video. So today we're going to talk about paronyms which are words that sound alike.
Sometimes the only difference between these kuwait whatsapp number data two words is a vowel or just a syllable or a letter, a very small difference. These are not homophones. Homophones are pronounced exactly the same, but have different meanings.
They are not the same words, but they are pronounced the same. Here, for paronyms, there is a small difference that can be detected by ear. Sometimes, we tend to confuse these words because their sound is very similar or sometimes because their meaning is similar too.
It is therefore important to differentiate them well so as not to make mistakes. Before moving on to the content, I would like to remind you that you can download your free PDF sheet . It covers everything we are going to see today, the seven pairs of paronyms with their definition, the examples.
This will be a great revision tool for you. It's the first link in the description. You click on the link, enter your email address and you immediately receive your free PDF sheet .
First pair of paronyms, accident and incident. The word accident has two meanings.
It could be an unexpected or unforeseen event, or an event that causes damage. For example, I'm sorry I dropped your phone, it was an accident. Or, I had an accident, my car is completely broken. Or, I had an accident, my car is badly damaged.
An incident is an unforeseen event that disrupts an action. Synonyms would be obstacles or glitches. The difference between an accident and an incident is that an accident always has negative consequences. On the other hand, an incident is just an interruption and sometimes the consequences are not negative from a material point of view.
Imagine for example that you are in the subway, the subway stops and on the microphone, someone announces that there is a technical incident. It just means that you will remain stopped, but the train or subway will continue its route later. It is just an interruption.
Whereas an accident in the subway would mean that the carriage or train had a collision and that would be something much more serious.
So you understand the difference between accident and incident.
Second pair, allusion and illusion. The only difference is the vowel at the beginning. Allusion, illusion. An allusion is the act of implying something. We insinuate something, we try to convey an idea without giving it directly.
It is often used in the form of "to allude to something". For example, this passage from the film alludes to World War II. It does not clearly state that it is talking about World War II, it is just a small indirect allusion to remind people of World War II.
Or "I don't like it when you mention my weight." It means "I don't like it when you bring up my weight in a slightly indirect and roundabout way." An illusion is a false interpretation of what we see or hear.