Raise Your English Knowledge - Don't Be Bored By A Boor

Following on from last week, today we are going to look at some more pairs or groups of words, that sound similar or the same but have different meanings. The reason we are looking at these words in particular is that we will often see them used wrongly; they are easy to mix up. Hopefully when we have looked at the differences it will help us all to never make these mistakes again.

Here we go:

Raise/ Rise 

It is very easy to see how these two monsters get mixed up; and not just in written English.  It is not unusual to hear the wrong word being said in everyday conversation. However, although they sound similar and have similar meanings, there is a difference and it is important to use the correct word.

“To raise” is a verb meaning to lift something (or someone) up to a higher position.

Example 1  

Kelly raised the trophy over her head, so all the crowd could see it.

It can also refer to an increase in the amount, of or level of something.

Example 2

It was a cold day so Kevin put more logs on the fire to raise the temperature in the living room.

“To rise” means to get up, to assume an upright position, often from a lying, kneeling or sitting position.

Example 3

I like to rise at 6.30am every day.

However it is also used to mean something that goes up or elevates. The main difference here is that when something is raised it has been lifted up by someone or something; when it rises it does this on its own, there is no external force.  

Example 4.

The sun rises in the East.

The easiest way to remember which the correct word to use is is to think is it active or passive. If an action has to be performed to elevate something then it is raised, whereas if something elevates of its own accord, it rises.

Beside/Besides

Although these words look similar they have very different meanings.

Beside is most usually used to mean “near to” or “by the side of”.

Example 5

My new house is being built beside the river.

It can also be used to compare one person or thing with another.

Example 6

This proposal seems very reasonable beside the others.

There is also a commonly used British saying that someone is beside themselves with grief, meaning that they are completely overwhelmed at the loss of a loved one.

Besides on the other hand means “in addition to” or “apart from”.

Example 7

No-one besides the owner could get open the door to the house.

Example 8  

Besides a long weekend in New York, I have never seen the sights in America.   

 

Forward / Foreword

Although these sound very similar, the meaning is completely different.

To go forward is to advance towards a place that is in front of you. To look forward is to look for advancement in the future, rather than raking over the past.

However, a foreword is a section at the beginning of a book that will introduce the book and possibly tell you something about the author. This is usually only a short section, maybe only a couple of paragraphs, and is often written by someone other than the author.

Bore/Boar/Boor

These three homophones (words that are spelt differently but sound the same) have entirely different meanings.

Starting with the first, to bore something can mean to make a hole in something, maybe using a drill or an auger. However, to bore someone, or to be boring, is to be uninteresting or repetitive, causing boredom. Just to confuse things even further, bore is also the past tense of the verb to bear, which is to carry something.

Example 9

Yesterday you bore the wood to the worktable, where you bored a hole in it, but this was a boring job.

A boar is a type of wild pig, or is the correct name for any un-neutered male pig, as opposed to a sow, which is a female pig. You will be please to know that the piggish aspect of this word is the only meaning when it is spelt this way.

Finally we have the last spelling, boor. This word refers to someone who is clumsy in social situations, or even rude and ill-mannered.

I hope we have cleared up some of the confusion that often goes with these words. It may be helpful if you read some of our previous blogs which discuss homophones, homonyms and homographs. Happy reading!

Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook.