We are going to look at some interesting and confusing pairs of words today. Words that have a misleading prefix, and are called False Synonyms.
Sometimes prefixes and suffixes can help us to find the meaning of words, which is great, but sometimes they just DO NOT help at all!
Because English is a language with many different influences, prefixes and suffixes have come from different sources. Sometimes the same prefix can have two seemingly opposite or at least very different meanings. Therefore, occasionally in a pair of words, the prefixes or suffixes can mean the same thing.
It is easy to look at these words and think that they must be synonyms. But, as you will find out today, that is not always the case.
I have talked about false synonyms previously, in a video for lower-level learners. But today’s words are a little bit more difficult – perfect for intermediate learners.
Here they are – 5 false synonyms:
- Creation / recreation
- Miss / remiss
- Decision / incision
- Spite / respite
- Trite / contrite
I hope it helps. If you found these a little too easy, don’t despair! Look out for my video with advanced vocabulary on the same topic.
As always, comments can be left under the video on YouTube.
Until next time!
