英语中有许多单词形似，但意义却截然不同。这些词的存在让不少人无奈，一不小心就掉入陷阱。
在外网上，老外总结了17组常见的容易混淆的词。来看看有让你头疼不已的那一组吗？
1
beside / besides
beside: 介词，意为“紧挨着，在······旁边”。
例句：
I sit beside John in class.
上课时我坐在约翰旁边。
Could you get me that book? It's beside the lamp.
你能把那本书给我吗？它就放在灯的旁边。
besides: 副词，意为“也”“同样地”；做介词时意为“除此之外”。
例句：
(adverb) He's responsible for sales, and a lot more besides.
（副词）他负责销售，以及其他许多事。
(preposition) Besides tennis, I play soccer and basketball.
（介词）除了网球，我还喜欢足球和篮球。
2
clothes / cloths
clothes: 你穿的衣物，如牛仔裤、衬衫、上衣等。
例句：
Just a moment, let me change my clothes.
等一会儿，让我先换个衣服。
Tommy, get your clothes on!
汤米，把你的衣服穿好！
cloths: 用来做清洁或其他用途的材料。
例句：
There are some cloths in the closet. Use those to clean the kitchen.
壁橱里有一些布。用它们来清洁厨房吧。
I have a few pieces of cloth that I use.
我有一些用过的布块。
3
dead / died
dead: 形容词，意为“死亡的，无生命的”。
例句：
Unfortunately, our dog has been dead for a few months.
不幸的是，我们的狗已经去世几个月了。
Don't touch that bird. It's dead.
别碰那只鸟。它已经死了。
died: 动词die的过去式和过去分词形式。
例句：
His grandfather died two years ago.
他的祖父两年前去世了。
A number of people have died in the accident.
许多人在这场意外中丧生。
4
experience / experiment
experience: 名词，意为某人经历的某事；也可以用作不可数名词，表示“经验，通过完成某事而获得的知识”。
例句：
(first meaning)His experiences in Germany were rather depressing.
（第一种）他在德国的经历相当凄惨。
(second meaning) I'm afraid I don't have much sales experience.
（第二种）恐怕我的销售经验不足。
experiment: 名词，意为“为了得到结果而做的某事”，常在谈论科学家及其研究时使用。
例句：
They did a number of experiments last week.
上周，他们做了许多实验。
Don't worry it's just an experiment. I'm not going to keep my beard.
别担心，只是个实验而已。我不打算留胡子。
5
felt / fell
felt: 动词feel的过去式和过去分词形式。
例句：
I felt better after I had a good dinner.
一顿丰盛的晚饭后，我感觉好多了。
He hasn't felt so well for a long time.
他很久都没有感觉这么好了。
fell: 动词fall的过去式。
例句：
He fell from a tree and broke his leg.
他从树上掉下来，摔伤了腿。
Unfortunately, I fell down and hurt myself.
不幸的是，我掉了下来，受了伤。
6
female / feminine
female: 女人或雌性动物。
例句：
The female of the species is very aggressive.
这种雌性生物极具攻击力。
The question 'female or male' means 'are you a woman or a man'.
这个“女或男”的问题问的是“你是女人还是男人”。
feminine: 形容词，用来描述女性常有的特征或行为方式。
例句：
He's an excellent boss with a feminine intuition.
他是一位优秀的老板，有着女性的直觉。
The house was decorated in a very feminine manner.
这座房子的装饰非常女性化。
7
its / it's
its: 物主限定词（形容词性物主代词），类似于my或your。
例句：
Its color is red.
它是红色的。
The dog didn't eat all of its food.
这只狗什么都不吃。
it's: it is或it has的缩写形式。
例句：
(it is) It's difficult to understand him.
他真是一个让人读不透的人。
(it has) It's been a long time since I had a beer.
我已经很久没喝过啤酒了。
8
last / latest
last: 形容词，常表示“最后的”。
例句：
I took the last train to Memphis.
我乘上了去往孟斐斯的末班车。
This is the last test of the semester!
这是本学期最后一次测验。
latest: 形容词，意为“最近的”或“最新的”。
例句：
His latest book is excellent.
他的新书写得非常棒。
Have you seen his latest painting?
你见过他最新的画作吗？
9
lay / lie
lay: 动词，意为“放下”，过去式为laid，过去分词为laid。
例句：
He laid his pencil down and listened to the teacher.
他放下手中的铅笔，听老师讲课。
I usually lay my pies on the shelf to cool.
我常常把馅饼放在架子上，让它变凉。
lie: 动词，意为“躺下”，过去式为lay，过去分词是lain。
例句：
The girl lay on the bed asleep.
那个女孩躺在床上睡着了。
At the moment, he's lying on the bed.
此刻，他正躺在床上。
10
lose / loose
lose: 动词，意为“丢失”。
例句：
I lost my watch!
我把手表弄丢了！
Have you ever lost anything valuable?
你有没有弄丢过珍贵的东西？
loose: 形容词，意义与“绷紧的”相反。
例句：
Your trousers are very loose!
你的裤子太松了！
I need to tighten this screw. It's loose.
我要把螺丝钉拧紧点，它太松了。
11
male / masculine
male:男人或雄性动物。
例句：
The male of the species is very lazy.
这种雄性生物非常懒惰。
The question 'female or male' means 'are you a woman or a man'.
这个“女或男”的问题问的是“你是女人还是男人”。
masculine: 形容词，用来描述男性常有的特征或行为方式。
例句：
She's a very masculine woman.
她是一个女汉子。
His opinions are just too masculine for me.
他的观点对我来说太大男子主义了。
12
price / prize
price: 名词，你为某物付出的钱。
例句：
The price was very cheap.
价格非常便宜。
What's the price of this book?
这本书多少钱？
prize: 名词，奖励。
例句：
He won a prize as best actor.
他获得了最佳男演员奖。
Have you ever won a prize in a competition?
你有没有在比赛中得过奖？
13
principal / principle
principal: 形容词，意为“最重要的”。
例句：
The principal reason for my decision was the money.
我之所以做这个决定，最重要的原因就是钱。
What are the principal irregular verbs?
有哪些重要的不规则动词？
principle: 规则（常用于科学，但也涉及道德领域）。
例句：
It's the first principle of aerodynamics.
这是空气动力学的第一准则。
He has very loose principles.
他的原则弹性很大。
14
quite / quiet
quite: 副词，意为“非常”或“相当”。
例句：
This test is quite difficult.
这次测验非常难。
He was quite exhausted after the long journey.
长时间的旅行后，他疲惫不堪。
quiet: 形容词，意思与“喧闹的”“嘈杂的”相反。
例句：
Could you please be quiet?!
能请你安静点吗？
She's a very quiet girl.
她是一个非常安静的女孩。
15
sensible / sensitive
sensible: 形容词，意为“有常识的”，即“不笨的”。
例句：
I wish you would be more sensible about things.
我希望，你遇事能够更明智一点。
I'm afraid you aren't being very sensible.
恐怕你不够明智。
sensitive: 形容词，意为“敏感的”或“易受伤害的”。
例句：
You should be careful with David. He's very sensitive.
你跟大卫相处要注意些。他非常敏感。
Mary is a very sensitive woman.
玛丽是一个极易受伤的女人。
16
shade / shadow
shade: 在晴天隔绝太阳的荫凉区。
例句：
You should sit in the shade for a while.
你应该到荫凉处坐会儿。
It's too hot. I'm going to find some shade.
太热了，我要找个地方乘凉。
shadow: 在晴天，由某物制造出的阴影区。
例句：
That tree casts a large shadow.
这棵树投下一大片阴影。
Have you ever noticed your shadow getting longer as it gets later in the day?
你注意到影子会随着天色越晚而拉长吗？
17
some time / sometimes
some time: 指的是未来一个不确定的时间。
例句：
Let's meet for coffee some time.
找个时间一起喝杯咖啡吧。
I don't know when I'll do it - but I will do it some time.
我不知道什么时候会去做——但我会在某个时候去做的。
sometimes: 频率副词，意为“偶尔”。
例句：
He sometimes works late.
他有时候会工作到很晚。
Sometimes, I like eating Chinese food.
有时我喜欢吃中国菜。
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