Confused Adjectives

Clear and Clean

Rule: Clear means bright, transparent; Clean means free from dirt or stains.

Incorrect Usage: (a) The sky is very clean.

                                (b) We should keep ourselves clear.

Correct Usage: (a) The sky is very clear.

                             (b) We should keep ourselves clean.

Confused Nouns

House and Home

Rule: House can mean any residential building; Home is used when referring to someone’s house in particular.

Incorrect Usage: (a) That home is very beautiful.

                                (b) We should go to our house now.

Correct Usage: (a) That house is very beautiful.

                             (b) We should go home now.

Asyndeton

Asyndeton refers to a writing style in which conjunctions between words/phrases are omitted.

Ex.: “I came, I saw, I conquered” (from Julius Caesar).

          She plays, cricket, basketball, hockey.

Polysyndeton

Polysyndeton refers to a writing style in which a conjunction is repeatedly used in between words/phrases to emphasize each one of them.

Ex.: The candidate had good academic background and great communication skills and excellent writing skills.

When they won the war, people jumped and laughed and cried with joy.

Apostrophe

Apostrophe refers to a figure of speech in someone/something (who is absent/dead) is addressed directly as if they are present/alive.

Ex:

"Death be not proud, though some have called thee”

(John Donne, "Death be not proud") 

“Twinkle, twinkle, little star, how I wonder what you are.”

(Jane Taylor, "The Star", 1806).

Hypallage

Hypallage refers to a figure of speech in which an epithet (adjective or participle) grammatically refers to the less appropriate of two nouns.

Ex:

Sleepy town: The town cannot be sleepy, but the people living in it can be.

Happy mornings: Mornings cannot be happy, but the people getting up can be.

Terrible day: Day itself is not terrible, but it can turn out as a terrible experience for the people.

Syllepsis

Syllepsis refers to usage of a word in such a way that it is related to two or more words in the same sentence, but has a different meaning with respect to each of those words.

He lost his job and his self-confidence.

They sought peace and answers to their inner questions.