NDA Paired and commonly confused words previous year questions with solutions

Answer: (c) ‘Principle’ means moral rule, and ‘principal’ means head of an educational institution.

Method. 'principal' = head of an institution; 'principle' = moral rule (OALD)

Principal is the head of a school or college (also the sum on which interest is charged); principle is a moral rule or basic truth. Option c gives each word its right sense; a swaps them, b and d give 'principal' and 'principle' the wrong senses (original sum belongs to principal, not principle).

Answer: (b) ‘Plane’ means the flat surface, and ‘plain’ means not elaborate.

Method. 'plane' = flat surface; 'plain' = not elaborate (OALD)

Plane (noun) is a flat surface in geometry; plain (adjective) means simple, not elaborate. Option d swaps them; a gives 'plain' the sense of an aircraft; c makes plain a 'flat surface', which is loose (a plain is a stretch of flat land) and is the sense of plane.

c is loosely defensible (a plain is flat land) but plane, not plain, is 'flat surface'.

Answer: (c) ‘Pale’ means faded or light in shade, and ‘pail’ means a bucket.

Method. 'pale' = faded, light in shade; 'pail' = bucket (OALD)

Pale means light in colour or shade; pail is a bucket. Options a and d swap or distort the senses; b gives pail the sense 'inferior', which is not a meaning of pail.

Answer: (d) ‘Metal’ is a hard shiny material that is a good conductor, and ‘mettle’ means mental resilience.

Method. 'metal' = hard shiny conductor; 'mettle' = spirit, resilience (OALD)

Metal is a hard, shiny, conducting material; mettle is courage and resilience of character. a and b give mettle a material sense; c swaps the two.

Answer: (b) ‘Hail’ means pellets of frozen rain, and ‘hale’ means strong and healthy

Method. 'hail' = frozen rain pellets; 'hale' = strong and healthy (OALD)

Hail is frozen rain; hale (as in 'hale and hearty') is strong and healthy. c gives hale the sense of the verb 'hail' (to greet); a is wrong; d swaps the words.

Answer: (a) ‘Dissent’ means having ideas different from general beliefs or official position, and ‘descent’ means movement towards a lower place

Method. 'dissent' = disagreement with official view; 'descent' = going down (OALD)

Dissent is holding views different from the official or general position; descent is movement to a lower place. b gives descent the sense 'acceptable' (that is 'decent'); c and d are wrong or swapped.

Answer: (b) ‘Discrete’ means separate and distinct categories of objects, and ‘discreet’ means maintaining confidentiality

Method. 'discrete' = separate, distinct; 'discreet' = careful in speech/⁠action, keeping confidences (OALD)

Discrete means separate and distinct; discreet means careful about what one says or does, so as to keep matters confidential. a and d give 'misuse of authority', which is neither; c swaps the pair.

Answer: (b) Embed means implant and imbue means instil

Method. 'embed' = fix firmly, implant; 'imbue' = fill with a quality, instil (OALD)

Embed is to fix something firmly in a surrounding mass, implant; imbue is to fill or inspire with a feeling or quality (to instil it). a swaps them; c and d are wrong.

Answer: (a) Confident means certain and confidant means close friend

Method. 'confident' = certain, sure; 'confidant' = close friend one confides in (OALD)

Confident (adjective) means certain or self-assured; confidant (noun) is a person trusted with secrets, a close friend. b swaps them; c and d use wrong senses for the noun ('emissary', 'intimate person' is looser and pairs with 'assurance', which is a noun sense).

Answer: (b) Broke means bankrupt and brook means a stream

Method. 'broke' = bankrupt, without money; 'brook' = small stream (OALD)

Broke (informal) means having no money, bankrupt; brook is a small stream. a, c, d give broke wrong senses (abundance, negotiate) or brook 'nonsense'.

Answer: (c) Accept means consent and except means apart from

Method. 'accept' = consent/⁠receive; 'except' = apart from (OALD)

Accept means to agree to or consent to; except means apart from. a swaps; b makes 'except' mean include; d gives 'allude' for accept, which is wrong.

Answer: (d) Accord means agreement and accrued means accumulated

Method. 'accord' = agreement; 'accrued' = accumulated (OALD)

Accord is agreement or harmony; accrued (accrue) means built up or accumulated over time. a swaps; b and c give wrong senses ('arrived', 'received').

Answer: (d) ‘Conscious’ means aware, and ‘conscience’ means sense of right and wrong

Method. 'conscious' = aware; 'conscience' = sense of right and wrong (OALD)

Conscious means aware; conscience is the inner sense of right and wrong. a swaps the senses; b and c give wrong meanings.

Answer: (c) ‘Device’ means a piece of equipment meant for accomplishing a specific task, and ‘devise’ means finding a new way to do something

Method. 'device' (noun) = piece of equipment; 'devise' (verb) = work out a new way (OALD)

Device is the noun for a piece of equipment for a task; devise is the verb meaning to invent or plan a new way of doing something. a, b, d each give a wrong or swapped sense.

Answer: (a) ‘Eminent’ means important and famous, and ‘imminent’ means something about to happen

Method. 'eminent' = famous and important; 'imminent' = about to happen (OALD)

Eminent describes a famous, respected person; imminent means about to happen. b swaps; c and d use 'inherent/⁠existing within', which is the meaning of 'immanent'.

Answer: (a) Seldom means hardly ever and often means time and again

Method. 'seldom' = hardly ever; 'often' = frequently, time and again (OALD)

Seldom means rarely, hardly ever; often means frequently, time and again. b swaps them; c makes seldom 'never' and often 'not at all'; d makes seldom 'frequently'.

Answer: (b) Overview means general idea and review means assessment

Method. 'overview' = general idea/⁠survey; 'review' = assessment (OALD)

An overview is a general description or outline of something; a review is an examination or assessment. a swaps; c gives 'go through' (verb sense) to review and an analysis sense to overview; d ('summary', 'evaluation') is a near miss, since a summary is a condensed account rather than a general survey.

Near-synonym trap: d is arguably defensible (overview ~ summary, review ~ evaluation); b chosen as the finer sense and because a is its planted swap.

Answer: (a) Overcome means triumph over and succeed means to achieve something

Method. 'overcome' = triumph over (a difficulty); 'succeed' = achieve something wanted (OALD)

Overcome means to defeat or triumph over a problem; succeed means to achieve what one aims at. b swaps; c and d give 'winning' and 'rise above' wrongly or misassign senses.

Answer: (b) Emancipate means liberate and empower means authorise

Method. 'emancipate' = set free, liberate; 'empower' = give authority, authorise (OALD)

Emancipate means to free from legal, social or political restriction; empower means to give power or authority, authorise. a swaps; c and d use wrong parts of speech and senses ('liberal', 'encounter').

Answer: (c) Guarantee is a promise and warranty is a service contract

Method. 'guarantee' = a formal promise/⁠assurance; 'warranty' = a written service contract (OALD)

A guarantee is a formal promise or assurance that something will be done or will hold; a warranty is a written contract covering repair or service. All options give warranty the same sense, so the first word decides: 'acceptance' (d) is wrong, 'business agreement' (b) is too narrow, and 'agreement' (a) is looser than the dictionary 'promise'.

Option a ('an agreement') is also defensible as a looser sense; c chosen as the dictionary headword sense (promise).