Computing Science

18. Word/Phrase choice - mistaken or poorly chosen

Jump to tasks
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 computing science essays, 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 essays.

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:

If you are unsure about which preposition to use, ask somebody. Never just guess.




TaskTask TypeDifficulty
Task 1Multiple choiceModerate
Task 2Word clickEasier
Task 3Word clickModerate
Task 4Word clickMore Challenging
Task 5Word clickModerate
Task 6Word clickModerate
Task 7Word clickEasier
Task 8Word clickEasier
Task 9Multiple choiceModerate
Task 10Word clickEasier
Task 11Multiple choiceMore Challenging
Task 12Multiple choiceEasier
Task 13Word clickMore Challenging
Task 14Word clickModerate
Task 15Word clickEasier
Task 16Multiple choiceModerate
Task 17Word clickModerate
Task 18Word clickEasier
Task 19Word clickMore Challenging
Task 20Multiple choiceEasier
Task 21Word clickModerate
Task 22Word clickEasier
Task 23Multiple choiceMore Challenging
Task 24Word clickEasier
Task 25Word clickEasier
Task 26Word clickEasier
Task 27Word clickEasier
Task 28Word clickEasier
Task 29Word clickMore Challenging
Task 30Word clickModerate
Task 31Word clickModerate
Task 32Word clickModerate
Task 33Word clickModerate