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4.11 Frequently Confused Words, Noun Agreement, and Logical Comparison

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ACCUPLACER Suite Study Guide Exam

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1 Chapter 1: ACCUPLACER Suite Overview & Testing Mechanics

1.1 The ACCUPLACER Testing System & Computer-Adaptive Mechanics 1.2 Placement Policies, Score Scales & Institutional Cut Scores 1.3 Test-Taking Strategies, Tool Mechanics & Pacing

2 Chapter 2: Next-Generation Reading

2.1 The Reading Test Blueprint: Set-Based and Discrete Items 2.2 Information and Ideas: Close Reading & Central Themes 2.3 Summarizing and Understanding Relationships 2.4 Rhetoric, Text Structure & Author's Purpose 2.5 Analyzing Point of View and Authorial Purpose 2.6 Analyzing Arguments: Claims, Counterclaims, and Evidence 2.7 Synthesis & Paired Text Comparative Analysis 2.8 Vocabulary in Context & Figurative Language 2.9 Passage Genre, Content Area, Mode, and Text Complexity 2.10 Answer-Choice Traps and Evidence Discipline

3 Chapter 3: Next-Generation Writing: Expression of Ideas

3.1 The Writing Test Blueprint: Passage Sets and Content Distribution 3.2 Development: Proposition and Supporting Evidence 3.3 Focus: Adding, Retaining, and Deleting for Relevance 3.4 Organization: Logical Sequence and Paragraph Order 3.5 Introductions, Conclusions, and Transitional Cohesion 3.6 Effective Language Use: Precision and Word Choice 3.7 Concision: Eliminating Wordiness and Redundancy 3.8 Style, Tone, and Voice Consistency 3.9 Syntax: Sentence Combining for Rhetorical Purpose

4 Chapter 4: Next-Generation Writing: Standard English Conventions

4.1 Sentence Boundaries: Fragments, Run-ons, and Comma Splices 4.2 Subordination and Coordination 4.3 Parallel Structure 4.4 Modifier Placement: Misplaced and Dangling Modifiers 4.5 Inappropriate Shifts in Verb Tense 4.6 Inappropriate Shifts in Verb Voice and Mood 4.7 Inappropriate Shifts in Pronoun Person and Number 4.8 Subject-Verb Agreement, Pronoun Case, and Verb Forms 4.9 Possessive Determiners, Contractions, and Confusable Adverbs 4.10 Pronoun Clarity and Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement 4.11 Frequently Confused Words, Noun Agreement, and Logical Comparison 4.12 Within-Sentence Punctuation: Semicolons, Colons, Dashes, and Apostrophes 4.13 Items in a Series and Nonrestrictive Elements 4.14 End-of-Sentence Punctuation, Hyphenation, and Unnecessary Punctuation

5 Chapter 5: Next-Generation Arithmetic

5.1 Whole Number Operations, Estimation & Multi-Step Applications 5.2 Fractions, Mixed Numbers & Operations 5.3 Decimal Operations & Place-Value Conversions 5.4 Percent Calculations, Increase, Decrease, and Applications 5.5 Number Comparisons and Equivalents Across Formats

6 Chapter 6: Next-Generation Quantitative Reasoning, Algebra, and Statistics (QAS)

6.1 Rational Numbers, Absolute Value, and Order of Operations 6.2 Exponents, Radicals, and Scientific Notation 6.3 Ratio, Proportional Relationships, and Unit Conversions 6.4 Creating and Evaluating Algebraic Expressions 6.5 Linear Equations, Inequalities, and Systems of Two Equations 6.6 Linear Applications, Functions, and Graphs 6.7 Probability and Sets 6.8 Descriptive Statistics: Center, Spread, and Graphical Displays 6.9 Geometry for Pre-Algebra and Algebra 1

7 Chapter 7: Next-Generation Advanced Algebra, Quadratics & Polynomials

7.1 Advanced Linear Equations, Systems, and Coordinate Geometry 7.2 Factoring Methods for Quadratics, Cubics, and Polynomials 7.3 Quadratic Equations, Vertex Form & Parabolic Functions 7.4 Polynomial Equations, Roots, and Graphs 7.5 Radical and Rational Equations and Functions 7.6 Geometry for Algebra 1 and Algebra 2

8 Chapter 8: Functions, Exponentials, Logarithms & Trigonometry

8.1 Function Notation, Transformations, Compositions & Inverses 8.2 Domain, Range, and Interpreting Functions in Context 8.3 Exponential & Logarithmic Functions, Laws & Modeling 8.4 Right-Triangle Trigonometry, the Unit Circle, and Radian Measure 8.5 Law of Sines, Law of Cosines, and Trigonometric Equations 8.6 Choosing Your Math Test: Arithmetic, QAS, or AAF

9 Chapter 9: WritePlacer & WritePlacer ESL Essays

9.1 WritePlacer Prompt Format, Planning, and the Writing Process 9.2 The WritePlacer Scoring Rubric & 6 Core Dimensions 9.3 Reading the WritePlacer Score Scale: What Each Band Demonstrates 9.4 Essay Architecture: Thesis, Evidence Integration & Structure 9.5 WritePlacer ESL Scoring Standards & Synthesis

10 Chapter 10: ACCUPLACER ESL Placement Suite

10.1 The ESL Placement Suite: Structure, Scoring, and Score Interpretation 10.2 ESL Reading Skills & Passage Comprehension 10.3 ESL Sentence Meaning & Context Clues 10.4 ESL Language Use & Grammatical Mechanics 10.5 ESL Listening Comprehension & Spoken Contexts

4.11 Frequently Confused Words, Noun Agreement, and Logical Comparison

Key Takeaways Explain This Topic AI

Frequently confused words are pairs like accept and except or allusion and illusion that spell-checkers cannot catch.

Noun agreement requires that paired nouns match in number, as in students becoming engineers rather than an engineer.

Conventional expression covers idiomatic combinations, especially which preposition a given verb or adjective takes.

A logical comparison must compare like with like, using that of, those of, or a possessive to supply the missing term.

Incomplete comparisons using other or else are needed when comparing a member of a group against the rest of that group.

Last updated: August 2026

Three Skills, One Underlying Demand

Three of the eight Conventions of Usage sub-skills share a common demand: choosing words that are individually correct and sensible in combination.

Frequently confused words: ...instances in which a word or phrase is confused with another (e.g., accept/except , allusion/illusion ).

Noun agreement: ...lack of agreement between nouns.

Logical comparison: ...cases in which unlike terms are compared.

Conventional expression: ...cases in which a given expression is inconsistent with Standard Written English.

Part One: Frequently Confused Words

These survive spell-checking because both words are real. The College Board names two pairs explicitly; the working inventory is larger.

  • Pair Meanings
  • accept / except receive willingly / excluding
  • allusion / illusion indirect reference / false impression
  • affect / effect (v.) influence / (n.) result
  • than / then comparison / time
  • principal / principle chief, or head of a school / a rule
  • complement / compliment complete or pair with / praise
  • cite / site / sight quote a source / location / vision
  • elicit / illicit draw out / illegal
  • precede / proceed come before / continue
  • discreet / discrete tactful / separate
  • eminent / imminent distinguished / about to happen
  • adverse / averse unfavorable / opposed
  • assure / ensure / insure reassure a person / make certain / cover financially
  • lie / lay recline / place something
  • fewer / less count nouns / mass nouns
  • Two Worth Extra Attention

Affect / effect. The default is affect = verb, effect = noun:

The delay affected morale. The effect was immediate.

But effect is also a verb meaning "bring about" ( to effect change ), and affect is a noun in psychology ( flat affect ). The default covers the great majority of test items.

Fewer / less. Fewer for things you can count; less for quantities you cannot:

  • ✓ fewer applicants , less funding , fewer errors , less delay
  • Part Two: Noun Agreement

A less familiar skill: nouns that refer to the same entities must match in number .

✗ Several students in the cohort intend to become an engineer . ✓ Several students in the cohort intend to become engineers .

Multiple students become multiple engineers. The singular is a logical mismatch, not a verb error.

✗ Both candidates served as chair of the finance committee. ✓ Both candidates served as chairs of the finance committee.

A genuine exception exists when the role is inherently singular and shared over time — both candidates served as chair can be defensible if they held the same single office successively. On the test, the plural is expected unless the passage clearly establishes a single shared position.

Part Three: Conventional Expression

Idiom, not logic, governs these — which is why they resist reasoning and simply have to be known. Most involve prepositions :

  • Standard Non-standard
  • different from different than (disputed; prefer from)
  • capable of capable to
  • comply with comply to
  • consists of consists in (different meaning)
  • preferable to preferable than
  • independent of independent from
  • in accordance with in accordance to
  • interfere with interfere to
  • based on based off / based off of
  • regardless irregardless (non-standard)
  • could have could of
  • a large number of a large amount of (with count nouns)

Could of , should of , and would of arise from mishearing the contractions could've , should've , would've . They are never correct.

Part Four: Logical Comparison

The most consequential of the four, because these errors make sentences state something false .

Comparing Unlike Terms

✗ The tuition at private colleges is higher than public universities.

This compares a cost to institutions . Repairs:

✓ The tuition at private colleges is higher than that at public universities. ✓ The tuition at private colleges is higher than public universities' tuition .

The repair devices, worth memorizing:

  • that of / that at — singular
  • those of / those at — plural
  • possessive form — than public universities'

✗ Unlike the 1994 flood, the 2011 event had minimal structural damage. — compares a flood to an event's damage.

✓ Unlike the 1994 flood, the 2011 event caused minimal structural damage.

The Other and Else Requirement

When comparing one member of a group to the rest of that group, you must exclude it from itself:

✗ Denver receives more annual sunshine than any city in the region.

Denver is in the region, so this claims Denver exceeds itself. Repair:

✓ ...more annual sunshine than any other city in the region.

Same with people:

✗ She has published more than anyone on the faculty. (she is on the faculty)

✓ She has published more than anyone else on the faculty.

No other is needed when the subject is genuinely outside the comparison group:

  • ✓ Denver receives more sunshine than any city on the East Coast. ✓
  • Incomplete Comparisons

✗ The new filtration system is more efficient. — More efficient than what?

✓ The new filtration system is more efficient than the unit it replaced .

A comparative adjective — more , -er , better , greater — requires a stated second term.

Scanning Habit

Whenever you encounter than , as , like , unlike , or compared with , stop and name both things being compared. If they are not the same kind of thing, the sentence needs a that of , a those of , or a possessive. If one member belongs to the group it is measured against, it needs other or else .