When writing an essay or doing an assignment, choosing the correct word or phrase to convey your meaning is vital. Choosing the wrong word or phrase shakes a marker's confidence in your work.

Though all the exercises here are based on real mistakes in real Chemistry texts, you may not find the exact word your marker has queried in your particular essay. I hope, though, that you will find the exercises not only clarify the exact meaning of many commonly misused words, but also help you to make better word/phrase choices in future.

Word Confusions

Many mistakes are made through word confusions. Here are the most common:

In the exercises on this site, you'll come across other confusions too.

Wrongly used prepositions

Prepositions are short words such as in, at, with, on, over, through, between. Prepositions indicate place, time or relationship. Students often choose the wrong preposition, hence:

and wrongly used phrases, the most common of which is:

If you are unsure about which word, phrase or preposition to use, look it up or ask somebody. Never just guess.