Vocabulary & Language Usage Flashcards

Which sentence uses 'fewer' correctly?

Answer: There are fewer students in the class today.

'Fewer' is used with countable nouns (students), while 'less' is used with uncountable nouns (water, patience, time).

What does the word 'mitigate' mean?

Answer: To make something less severe or harmful

'Mitigate' means to lessen the severity, seriousness, or painfulness of something.

Which of the following is an example of personification?

Answer: The wind whispered through the trees.

Personification gives human qualities to non-human things; the wind 'whispering' attributes a human action to nature.

Choose the word that means 'to officially take back or withdraw a statement':

Answer: Recant

'Recant' means to publicly withdraw or renounce a previously held belief or statement.

What is the correct plural of 'criterion'?

Answer: Criteria

'Criterion' is from Greek, and its correct plural is 'criteria,' following the original Greek pluralization.

Which of the following words has a negative connotation compared to its neutral counterpart?

Answer: Stubborn (vs. determined)

'Stubborn' carries a negative connotation, implying unreasonable refusal to change, while 'determined' is neutral or positive.

Select the sentence that correctly uses a colon:

Answer: She needed three things: dedication, practice, and patience.

A colon is correctly used after a complete independent clause to introduce a list.