Do you write a rough draft or a rough draught? Would you place your clothes in a draw or drawer? Are the two going to have a dual or duel? Will the prisoner be taken to the dudgeon or dungeon?
an array of draught beers served by taps, wikipedia
draft, draught
Draft has many meanings, one of which is an outline or preliminary sketch of something.
Her fans were practically begging to read the rough draft of her next novel.
Draught also has many meanings, one of which is beer that has been drawn from a keg.
Draught beer was served at the party.
draw, drawer
When you draw something, you cause it to move by pulling it, or you make its likeness by sketching lines on a piece of paper.
Will you go draw some water out of the well?
A drawer is a sliding compartment in a piece of furniture.
The secret drawer hid her jewels from the robbers.
drawer, public domain
drawl, droll
Those who speak with a drawl, tend to speak words slowly and prolong the vowel sounds.
She grew up speaking with a pronounced southern drawl.
If something is droll, it is odd in an amusing way.
Her droll illustrations caused many authors to ask her to draw for them.
draws, dross
Draws is a word with many meanings. If one draws, then one creates pictures by drawing lines in a pattern.
Melinda draws sketches of animals and then paints them.
Dross is refuse or waste. It is the scum that forms on the surfaces of molten metals.
Once the dross has been burned out of her life, her true character will show through.
dream of unicorns, www.threadless.com
dreamt, dreamed
Dreamt is the past tense of dream.
Last night she dreamt of unicorns and all kinds of magical creatures.
Dreamed is also the past tense of dream, but it also means imagined or hoped for.
She dreamed of a future where they owed nothing to anyone.
drunk, drank, drunken
If one is drunk, one’s physical and mental capabilities are temporarily impaired by intoxication, or one is overcome by strong feelings or emotions.
The bank robber, who was obviously drunk, failed in his attempt to rob the bank.
Drank is the past tense of drink, to take in liquids.
The robber had drank far too much whiskey and couldn’t walk straight.
Drunken means intoxicated or marked by drunkenness.
They yelled so much during their drunken quarrel that they woke the entire neighborhood.
pistol duel, wikipedia
dual, duel
The word dual pertains to two. Dual ownership means that an item is owned by two people.
You need to go through the dual doors at the end of the hallway to get to the reception room.
A duel is prearranged combat between two people in order to settle their differences.
The two young men arranged for their duel to be witnessed only by their close friends.
ducked, duct
If Samuel ducked, he lowered his head.
Shelly ducked so she wouldn’t hit her head on the top of the low-hanging plant.
A duct is a tube or pipe through which substances flow.
The clean air will be directed into the greenhouse through this duct.
dungeon, flickr
dudgeon, dungeon
Dudgeon is a feeling of offense, resentment, or anger.
Each person present was full of dudgeon and ready to fight to the death.
A dungeon is a dark prison or cell.
The prisoner, in high dudgeon, fought the guards as he was being led to the dungeon.
dully, duly
Dully means in a dull manner.
Many thought that her dully-led life would not make a target of the kidnappers.
Duly means properly or in due manner.
The proud father was duly impressed with the behavior of his daughter during the stressful situation.
elephant ears, wikipedia
dyeing, dying
Dyeing means changing the color of.
The gym teacher is dyeing all of their uniforms to match the school’s colors.
Dying means expiring.
Even though she had kept the plants properly hydrated, all of them were dying.
ear, e’er, ere
The ear is the organ which enables us to hear.
He whispered a secret in her ear.
E’er is the contraction of ever.
Did you e’er discover the reason why?
Ere means before.
Ere you left the meeting, did you remember to find out at what time they are having the dinner?
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Thanks for clearing up the confusion!
I like these sort of post on grammar. It reminds me that some times the English language is not so easy to understand.