Động từ dễ gây nhầm lẫn 6 pot

drug
DRUG
DRAGGED
“Well, look what the cat drug in!” Unless you are trying to render dialectical speech to convey a sense of down-home rusticity, use “dragged” as the past
tense of “drag.”
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dual/duel
DUAL/DUEL
“Dual” is an adjective describing the two-ness of something—dual carburetors, for instance. A “duel”
is a formal battle intended to settle a dispute.
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duck tape
DUCK TAPE
DUCT TAPE
A commercial firm has named its product “Duck Tape,” harkening back to the original name for this adhesive tape (which was green), developed by
Johnson & Johnson during World War II to waterproof ammunition cases. It is now usually called “duct tape,” for its common use in connecting
ventilation and other ducts (which match its current silver color).
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due to the fact that
DUE TO THE FACT THAT
BECAUSE
Although “due to” is now a generally acceptable synonym for “because," "due to the fact that” is a clumsy and wordy substitute that should be avoided in
formal writing. “Due to” is often misspelled “do to.”
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dyeing
DYEING/DYING
If you are using dye to change your favorite t-shirt from white to blue you are dyeing it; but if you

don’t breathe for so long that your face turns blue, you may be dying.
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e.g./i.e.
e.g./i.e.
When you mean “for example,” use e.g. It is an abbreviation for the Latin phrase exempli gratia.
When you mean “that is,” use “i.e.” It is an abbreviation for the Latin phrase id est. Either can be
used to clarify a preceding statement, the first by example, the second by restating the idea more
clearly or expanding upon it. Because these uses are so similar, the two abbreviations are easily
confused. If you just stick with good old English “for example” and “that is” you won’t give anyone a
chance to sneer at you. If you insist on using the abbreviation, perhaps “example given” will remind
you to use “e.g.,” while “in effect” suggests “I.E.”
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each are
EACH
“Each” as a subject is always singular: think of it as equivalent to “every one.” The verb whose
subject it is must also be singular. Some uses, like “to keep them from fighting, each dog has been
given its own bowl,” cause no problem. No one is tempted to say “have been given.” But when a
prepositional phrase with a plural object intervenes between subject and verb, we are likely to be
misled into saying things like “Each of the children have to memorize their own locker
combinations.” The subject is “each,” not “children.” The tendency to avoid specifying gender by
using “their” adds to pressure toward plurality; but the correct version of this sentence is “Each of the
children has to memorize his or her own locker combination.” One can avoid the entire problem by
pluralizing throughout: “All the children have to memorize their own locker combinations” (but see
the entry on singular “they" for more on this point). In many uses, however, “each” is not the subject,
as in “We each have our own favorite flavor of ice cream” which is correct because “we” and not
“each” is the subject of the verb “have.”
“Each other” cannot be a subject, so the question of verb number does not arise; but the number of
the possessive creates a problem for some writers. “They gazed into each other’s eyes” is correct and

“each others’” is incorrect because “each other” is singular. Reword to “each gazed into the other’s
eyes” to see the logic behind this rule. “Each other” is always two distinct words separated by a space
although it functions grammatically as a sort of compound word.
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earth, moon
EARTH, MOON
Soil is lower-case “earth.” And in most uses even the planet itself remains humbly in lower-case
letters: “peace on earth.” But in astronomical contexts, the Earth comes into its own with a proud
initial capital, and in science fiction it drops the introductory article and becomes “Earth,” just like
Mars and Venus. A similar pattern applies to Earth’s satellite: “shine on, harvest moon,” but “from
the Earth to the Moon.” Because other planets also have moons, it never loses its article.
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ecology/environment
ECOLOGY/ENVIRONMENT
“Ecology” is the study of living things in relationship to their environment. The word can also be
used to describe the totality of such relationships; but it should not be substituted for “environment”
in statements like “improperly discarded lead batteries harm the ecology.” It’s not the relationships
that are being harmed, but nature itself: the batteries are harming the environment.
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economic/economical
ECONOMIC/ECONOMICAL
Something is economical if it saves you money; but if you’re talking about the effect of some
measure on the world’s economy, it’s an economic effect.
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ecstatic
ECSTATIC

Pronounced “eck-sta-tic,” not “ess-ta-tic.”
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