Commonly confused sound-alike words: Vol. Q-R
The latest installment in this series about verbal cousins whose meanings, spellings and pronunciations can confound writers and speakers alike.
My cumulative list of “words commonly confused” continues with 10 that begin with the letters Q and R. The confusion relates to spelling or meaning.
1. quote/quotation
Traditionally, quote is a verb and quotation is a noun:
May I quote you on that? (verb)
I used a quotation from Dr. Johnson as an epigraph. (noun)
The Chicago Manual of Style includes a note on these words in the “Good usage versus common usage section,” apparently preferring to preserve the distinction in formal writing.
The CMS note also suggests that a difference may exist in the minds of some writers between quote as a noun and quotation as a noun:
quotes: contemporary remarks usable in their writing.
quotations: wisdom of the ages expressed pithily.
2. quiet/quite
This is a spelling problem for speakers who aren’t in the habit of looking closely at words.
Quiet functions as noun, adjective and verb:
In the old days, librarians insisted on absolute quiet from the patrons. (noun)
Parents often worry when their children are excessively quiet. (adjective)
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