Kopiervorlage
suspense /tension
replace /substitute
compare to/with
discreet /discrete
imply/ infer
flaunt /flout
flounder/founder
compose /comprise /consist
Can you complete the following sentences with
the correct variant in each case?
© fotolia.com /eyezoom1001
Here are some more examples arranged in the form of a short test paper. Go on, try your luck!
1. The chapter begins on a low key, then the (suspense/tension) builds up slowly but surely.
By the end you can hardly bear the (suspense/tension) any longer.
2. In this recipe you can (replace/substitute) yoghurt for cream if you want less fat.
And if you want to (replace/substitute) the apples with pears, that’s just fine.
3. Shall I compare thee (to/with) a summer’s day? –
Comparing her first husband (to/with) her second, Kate came up with a long list of points.
4. Her new jewellery was far from flashy; it was (discreet/discrete) in the extreme. –
These two words should not be confused; they are (discreet/discrete) words with their
own distinct meanings.
5. Are you (implying/inferring) that I’m a liar? How dare you! –
From his behaviour you’d be justified in (implying/inferring) that Hugh had drunk
too much that night.
6. Everyone is guilty of bending the rules sometimes, but deliberately (flaunting/flouting)
the law is an unwise choice. –
Wealth? Why not? If you’ve got it, (flaunt/flout) it, that’s what I say!
7. Custom dropped off sharply so that the business threatened to (flounder/founder). –
Toby was out of his depth with the exam paper. He (floundered/foundered) for a while
before finally giving up and handing in his work unfinished.
8. All the parts (compose/comprise) the whole; the whole (composes/comprises) the parts. –
The group (comprised/consisted) of five players.
Best practice Juni 2011• Copyright © 2011 Cornelsen Verlag, Berlin
2
Solutions
overlap between these two items, most
native speakers would probably agree that
‘tension’ is more appropriate in the first
sentence, ‘suspense’ in the second. Both
are of course Spannung in German, but
whereas ‘tension’ is the more general term,
with a much broader spectrum of meaning,
‘suspense’ refers specifically to the feeling
aroused by a typical ‘cliffhanger’ situation.
© fotolia.com /AardLumens
1. Although there is undoubtedly an area of
2. Although there is a special ‘football/sports usage’ of the verb ‘substitute’, where ‘A is substituting B’
means ‘A is replacing B’, in normal everyday usage the distinction is, or should be, clear: ‘substitute’
in the first sentence means use in the place of something else, ‘replace’ in the second sentence
means remove something and put something else in its place.
3. In Shakespeare’s famous simile (… compare thee to …) the two items to be compared are
basically dissimilar; the writer wishes to draw our attention to perhaps surprising points of similarity.
In the second example, two basically similar items are to be examined with a view to points of
similarity and dissimilarity. Here the preposition ‘with’ is more appropriate, although ‘to’ is not
wrong.
4. Confusion arises of course because of the two words’ identical pronunciation. However, their
meanings really are quite distinct, ‘discreet’ being the appropriate word in the first example,
‘discrete’ in the second.
5. The very common error here is to use ‘infer’ meaning ‘imply’. In the first sentence above ‘implying’
is correct, in the second ‘inferring’.
6. ‘Flaunt’ means show off, display ostentatiously; ‘flout’ means contravene, disobey, so there’s
actually no confusion at all. However, because ‘flout’ and ‘flaunt’ sort of sound similar, speakers
do tend to get them muddled, especially using ‘flaunt’ where ‘flout’ would be correct.
7. It’s the same trouble with this pair, their so similar sound tempting users to plump for the wrong
one. ‘Founder’ means fail or sink (as a ship), ‘flounder’ (often with ‘about’ or ‘around’) is what
you do in mud or, metaphorically, in testing circumstances, i. e. struggle or behave in a rather
helpless manner.
8. Parts go together to ‘compose’ the whole, while, conversely, the whole ‘comprises’ all the
constituent parts (not ‘is comprised of’!). A whole can, however, ‘consist of’ parts, this latter,
again, not to be confused with ‘consist in’, which means ‘have as the essential or principal
element’, e. g. True love consists in accepting each other’s nature.
Best practice Juni 2011• Copyright © 2011 Cornelsen Verlag, Berlin
3