Vocabulary and Word Skills Set 8
Vocabulary and Word Skills Set 8 focuses on pairs of words that are frequently confused because they look, sound or mean almost the same but are not interchangeable, "less" and "fewer", "amount" and "number", "imply" and "infer", "historic" and "historical". These pairs appear often in SPaG questions and in pupils' own writing, and using the wrong one is one of the most common ways a fluent piece of writing loses marks for precision.
Before you start
Make sure you're comfortable with these topics first:
Method
- Learn that "fewer" is used for things you can count individually, fewer biscuits, fewer pupils, and "less" is used for amounts that cannot be counted one by one, less time, less sugar.
- In the same way, learn "number" goes with countable things, a number of pupils, and "amount" goes with uncountable quantities, an amount of effort.
- Learn that "imply" is what a speaker or writer does, to suggest something indirectly, and "infer" is what a listener or reader does, to work out or deduce something from clues, so they describe opposite directions of the same exchange.
- Learn that "historic" describes something important or famous in history, a historic decision, while "historical" simply means relating to history or the past in general, a historical novel, historical records.
- When unsure between a confused pair, test whether the noun involved can be counted one by one, use fewer or number, or not, use less or amount, or work out whether the sentence describes speaking or listening, imply or infer.
- Build your own small reference list of confused pairs as you meet them, since this is a skill of noticing and remembering specific pairs rather than applying one single rule to every case.
Worked example
Choose the correct word: "The results suggested (1)_______ people were choosing to walk to school this year." A) less B) fewer
- Identify the noun the missing word describes: "people", which can be counted individually, one person, two people, three people.
- Recall the rule: "fewer" is used with countable nouns, "less" is used with uncountable quantities.
- Since "people" is countable, "fewer" is the grammatically correct choice, not "less".
- Check by substituting: "fewer people were choosing to walk" sounds correct and standard, while "less people" is a common error.
- Final answer: B) fewer.
Practice questions
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Q1Choose the correct word: "There has been a considerable (1)_______ of rainfall this month." A) amount B) numberShow answer
Answer: A) amount (rainfall is uncountable).
Q2Choose the correct word: "(1)_______ than twenty pupils attended the after-school club." A) Less B) FewerShow answer
Answer: B) Fewer (pupils are countable).
Q3Explain the difference between "imply" and "infer", using each in a short sentence.Show answer
Answer: "Imply" means to suggest something indirectly, the speaker or writer's action, for example "Her tone implied she was annoyed." "Infer" means to work out or deduce something from clues, the listener or reader's action, for example "I inferred from her tone that she was annoyed."
Q4Choose the correct word: "The museum houses several (1)_______ artefacts from the Roman period." A) historic B) historicalShow answer
Answer: B) historical (relating to history or the past generally, not necessarily famous).
Q5Choose the correct word: "Signing the peace treaty was a (1)_______ moment for both countries." A) historic B) historicalShow answer
Answer: A) historic (an especially important, famous moment in history).
Q6Why is "less" generally considered incorrect in the sentence "There were less cars on the road today"?Show answer
Answer: Because "cars" is a countable noun, they can be counted one by one, so the correct word is "fewer", not "less", which is reserved for uncountable quantities.
Exam-style questions
Written in the style of a 11+ exam paper, with a full mark scheme.
Identify and correct the four confused word pairs in this passage: "A large amount of visitors attended the historical opening of the new bridge. There was less traffic than expected, which meant an increased amount of pedestrians could cross safely." (5 marks)
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Explain the difference in meaning between "imply" and "infer" by describing what each word tells you about who is doing the communicating and who is doing the interpreting. (3 marks)
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Free printable worksheet
Want more practice on paper? Download the vocabulary and word skills set 8 worksheet pack - 13 pages of exam-style questions with a full mark scheme. One email opens every download in this browser for 14 days - no account, no card. Print it for personal and classroom use.
This topic is chapter 32 of 11+ English Workbook 3, the whole course as one free printable PDF.
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