well, i come back to go over what was written in The Glosarry of Usage Part I. Check it out
can, may
can indicates capacity or ability
may indicates permission.
Eq: if i may talk with you a moment, i believe i can solve your problem
credible, creditable, credulous
credible means "believable". Eq: it's a strange story but it seems credible to me.
creditable means "deserving of credit or worthy". Eq: Steve gave a creditable performance.
credulous means "gullible" Eq: The credulous claire believe tiem's lies.
Device, devise
device is " noun"
devise is "verb"
Eq: can you devise some device for getting his attention?
disinterested, uninterested
disinterested means "impartial". eq: we choose pete, as a diinterested third party, to decide who was right.
uninterested means "bored" or "lacking interst". eq; unfortunately, pete was completely unintersted in the question.
fewer, less
fewer refers to individual countable item ( a plural count noun). eq: skim milk has fewer calories than whole milk.
less refers to general amounts (a noncount noun, always singular). eq: we have less milk less than i tought.
like, such as
like indicates that two objects are comparable. eq: steve wants to be a great saxaphonist like ben webster ang lee konitz.
such us, precedes an example that represents a larger subjects. eq: steve has recordings of many great saxaphonist such as ben webster, and lee konitz.
