Confusables / Leicht verwechselbare Wörter

abuse

misuse

Some sex tourists abuse small children.

If you misuse the machine, it'll break down.

missbrauchen

falsch bedienen

affect

effect

Bad weather affects people’s mood.

Fred effected his escape by stealing a car.

beeinflussen

bewirken

arbitrate

mediate

We asked a court to arbitrate in the dispute.

Senator Mitchell is mediating in Northern Ireland.

schlichten

vermitteln

avoid

evade

It is perfectly legal to avoid paying too much tax.

In most countries it is a crime to evade tax.

vermeiden

ausweichen

become

get

Alison is hoping to become a vet.

In the UK you can get stamps at supermarkets.

werden

bekommen

borrow

lend

Some people borrow money to pay their debts!

It is unwise to lend money to friends.

sich etwas leihen

jmdm. etwas leihen

imply

infer

Are you implying that Tom wasn't really ill?

From what he said, we inferred he liked the idea.

unterstellen

erschließen

lay

lie

The ambulance men laid the boy on a stretcher.

You shouldn’t just lie on the sofa all day.

legen

liegen

prescribe

proscribe

The law prescribes when shops may open.

The EU proscribed smoking in public places.

vorschreiben

verbieten

repel

repulse

The idea of eating dogs repels most Westerners.

The police repulsed the attack with rubber bullets.

abstoßen

abwehren

play

game

Shakespeare's plays make great films.

Football is the world's most popular game.

Theaterstück

Spiel

receipt

recipe

Did you get a receipt when you paid?

Have you got a recipe for cheese sauce?

Quittung

Rezept

variety

versatility

The USA is a country of great variety.

Bernstein was a musician of great versatility.

Vielseitigkeit (Dinge)

Vielseitigkeit (Personen)

continual

continuous

These continual delays are costing a lot.

It was great. We had continuous sunshine.

ständig

unaufhörlich

economic

economical

Russia's economic problems are getting worse.

Small cars are more economical than big ones.

Wirtschafts-...

sparsam

finished

ready

Have you finished the essay yet?

Mary's never ready when I call for her.

fertig = "erledigt"

fertig = "startbereit"

happy

lucky

We're very happy with our new car.

You're lucky to get a job at all these days.

glücklich

Glück haben

industrial

industrious

Dortmund is no longer an industrial city.

I'm afraid Joshua isn't very industrious at school.

Industrie-...

fleißig

practical

practicable

You learn best by doing practical activities.

It's a nice idea, but is it practicable?

praktisch

umsetzbar

social

sociable

Many big towns have serious social problems.

Sociable people love parties.

Sozial-...

gesellig

tasty

tasteful

This chicken salad is great. It's very tasty.

Her web photo wasn't tasteful - too much skin.

lecker

geschmackvoll

advice

advise

He was a fool not to get professional advice.

My lawyer advised me to go to court.

Rat(schlag)

beraten

licence

license

Fifteen is too young to have a driving licence.

You must be licensed to sell alcohol.

Schein

zulassen

practice

practise

Everybody knows that practice makes you perfect.

You must practise the piano every day.

Übung

üben

loose

lose

The accident was caused by one loose screw.

We will lose the match if we don't train more.

locker

verlieren

principal

principle

Cuba's principal exports are sugar and cigars.

I agree with your idea in principle.

Haupt-...

Prinzip

stationary

stationery

The other car was stationary when I ran into it.

Paper, envelopes etc. are called stationery.

stehend

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