i need some explenation (examples) & diferences between these three : confusing words, ambiguous words & false friends
2006-07-31 19:50:07 · 9 answers · asked by sister 1 in Education & Reference ➔ Words & Wordplay
Hi!
You must be a student of ESL/EFL to have met these terms.
Ambiguous words/phrases or more often sentences are ones where the meaning isn't clear. This may be fixed with punctuation, choice of words or putting the words or information in a different order.
Ex: The baby wouldn't drink from the bottle, so I heated it a little.
Confusing words are ones that are similar in form and different in meaning, such as accept, except or recipe, receipt. Excited, exciting are other examples.
False friends are words which look like they should mean something similar to a word in your own language but through time the two words have developed quite different meanings. 'Sensible' in English does not have the same meaning as in French, for example, but they both probably did 900 years ago. Also you get false friends within the same language: the adverb 'hardly' does not come from the adjective 'hard' even though it looks like it should.
2006-07-31 20:59:44 · answer #1 · answered by Bart S 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Confusing words - words spelt differently but pronounced the same, or spelt the same but pronounced differently.
Ambiguous words - words which could have different meanings from what you intended to say, or whose meaning is not immediately obvious because of the way that the sentence is written (or spoken).
False friends - words which mean something completely different if used in a different language.
I hope this is clear enough for you to understand.
2006-08-01 10:33:44 · answer #2 · answered by Robert C 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well when you learn how to spell explanation is when we can move onto what words with more than 2 syllables mean. 'K !
Oh shite...thanks to the dude above me too...yeah sweetheart GRAMMAR! *sigh* Really sad.....it is and I am not playing! This is 3rd grade grammar and spelling. (Hell I'm surprised you got ambiguous correct...admirable)
2006-08-01 02:53:48 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Are these made up Literary words? I've never heard these terms used in 10 years of American English classes.
Ambiguous, however, means referring to more than one thing (open to interpretation). For example: I watched him frequently walk around the park.
(Did you watch him frequently, or did you watch him as he walked around the park frequently?)
2006-08-01 02:55:52 · answer #4 · answered by The Way Out 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
grammer? Grammar not grammer. Were you asleep during English class?
2006-08-01 02:53:20 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
i cant answer your question on grammar, but since you are asking about the english language, i feel i need to correct your spelling. it is grammAr and not grammer.
2006-08-01 02:53:19 · answer #6 · answered by laura 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
...and it's explanation...not explenation
..man, talk about confusing, ambiguous and false !!
2006-08-01 02:54:51 · answer #7 · answered by daddydoggie 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
hammer and stammer
2006-08-01 02:54:44 · answer #8 · answered by GoingNoWhereFast 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
http://m-w.com/
cheers !!!!
2006-08-01 02:55:27 · answer #9 · answered by Seven double O 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋