Tag: softskills

In a job context, 'personnel' refers to staff/employees (the department), while 'personal' means private/individual. The sentence is making a point that addressing your application to the wrong type of manager (personnel vs personal) would be inappropriate for an English professor position. This tests a commonly confused word pair.

'Licensed' is the adjective meaning having official permission (the correct form here). 'License' is the verb form (to grant permission) and 'licence' is the noun (the permission document itself). The construction 'Are you [adjective] to run this shop?' requires the adjective form 'licensed'. The -ce/-se pattern is consistent: advice/advise, practice/practise.

In formal British English, 'inquiry' refers to a formal investigation while 'enquiry' refers to a general question. For a scandal investigation, 'inquiry' is the correct term. American English uses 'inquiry' for both. The other options are wrong - 'query' is too minor, 'acquire' doesn't fit the context.

'Criteria' is the plural of 'criterion' (a standard for judgment). The sentence asks about multiple requirements for certifications, so the plural form is needed. 'Requirement' is singular, 'criterias' is not a valid word (criteria is already plural), and 'method' doesn't capture the meaning of standards for evaluation.

'Principal' as an adjective means 'main' or 'primary' - the correct sense here. 'Principle' is only a noun meaning a fundamental rule or truth. 'Priority' and 'important' don't fit grammatically or semantically. The sentence says bringing order was her main/primary goal.

'Beside' is a preposition meaning 'at the side of' or 'next to'. In both instances, the sentence refers to physical location (next to Monica and next to the candy stand). 'Besides' means 'in addition to' or 'apart from', which does not fit the spatial context of the sentence.

The verb 'recommend' is followed by a that-clause (subjunctive), not by an infinitive with 'to'. 'I recommend that you go' is correct. 'I recommend you to go' is a common error but grammatically incorrect. Adding 'should' or 'must' creates unnecessary redundancy - the subjunctive 'that you go' already conveys the recommendation.

Effect is a noun meaning a result or influence. Affect is primarily a verb meaning to impact. The sentence structure requires a noun after strange, so effect is correct. Affection means caring feelings, and reflect means to show an image, neither fits here.

Lonely describes the emotional feeling of isolation or disconnection, even when physically around people. Alone refers to being physically by oneself. The sentence contrasts many people with an internal feeling, so lonely captures that emotional paradox.

Better is the correct comparative form of good. More nice is incorrect because nice becomes nicer. More better is a double comparative error. Best is superlative but the sentence needs comparative (make it better, not best).