Confused With and Confused About

Confused With and Confused About Confused With and Confused About Confused With and Confused About By Maeve Maddox Preposition use is tricky. Sometimes a rule can be applied, as in the choice between in and into: The dog jumped from the bank into the water. (connotes movement from outside to within) The drowning man flailed in the water. (connotes containment within) More often, the choice of which preposition to use is idiomatic. That is, speakers use a particular preposition with a certain word because its use has been established by custom. From time to time, the established preposition is replaced by another. Initially, speakers accustomed to the older form express outrage, but in time, as the old-timers die off, the new preposition achieves acceptance. An example of such a change in progress is the use of excited followed by unconventional for instead of the customary about or by. A similar change seems to be in progress regarding the expression â€Å"confused with.† The verb confuse, with its participle form confused, has more than one meaning. If I say, â€Å"I always confuse Barbara with her sister,† the meaning is â€Å"fail to distinguish, erroneously regard as identical, mistake one for another.† This is clearly the definition that applies to the prepositional phrase in the following headlines, but in each case, the writer has used the preposition for instead of with: Knife attack confused for performance art at Art Basel Miami Beach- CNN Local Doctor Confused for Razorback Football Player- Fox16 news Liam Payne Still Gets Confused For Louis Tomlinson- MTV A possible explanation for this growing usage is confusion with another expression close in meaning: â€Å"mistaken for.† The knife attack was mistaken for a performance. The doctor is mistaken for the football player. Liam Payne is mistaken for Louis Tomlinson. The preposition switch in this idiom is not as noticeable as the one that uses â€Å"for† with excited, and it does not provoke the same amount of outrage. Only one reader has ever commented negatively on the use of â€Å"confused for.† My post on â€Å"excited for,† on the other hand, garnered twenty passionate comments and 427 â€Å"Likes.† â€Å"Confused for† may be destined for acceptance, but at present, it is simply careless writing. An even more blatant preposition error with confused is to follow it with of. So far, I’ve noticed this misuse chiefly in badly expressed readers’ comments on tech sites and in social media, but there is a song with â€Å"confused of† in the lyrics- always a bad sign. Here are some examples of the incorrect use of â€Å"confused of†: I’m aware that there’s [sic] licensing fees and such and all this ATHP stuff. I’m confused of the requirements and how to know when you need to register and pay. I am 25 years old and I am confused of what to do in the future professionally. I feel  confused of  the PlayerSetup.cs in Multiplayer FPS tutorial #3. For the few that  are confused of  what is a hero or have courage visit the wounded Warrior Website and find the true answer. We fight and love so much Sometimes I get confused of who we are, - â€Å"We Fight/We Love,† by rapper called Q-Tip In each of these examples, â€Å"confused about† would be the correct usage. Related posts: Excited About, Not For A Chance of Showers Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Expressions category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:50 Slang Terms for Money34 Writing Tips That Will Make You a Better WriterStarting a Business Letter with Dear Mr.

How to Conjugate the Verb Dovere in Italian

How to Conjugate the Verb 'Dovere' in Italian Since people often talk about being obligated to do something, the Italian verb dovere comes in handy. The verb means to have to, to be obligated to, supposed to, and to owe.  Dovere is  a second-conjugation irregular verb, so it doesn’t follow the typical -ere verb ending pattern.   Dovere Basics Dovere is  a transitive verb, so it takes a  direct object. When it’s used as a modal verb, it usually takes the auxiliary verb required by the verb with which it is paired. Additionally: The infinito (infinitive) is dovere.The participio passato is dovuto.The gerund form is dovendo. The past gerund form is avendo dovuto. Conjugating Dovere The tables and explanations below show how to handle the verb in  all of its conjugations. Where available, links provide access to further information on the tenses and moods. Example Italian sentences and their translations follow each table. Indicativo (Indicative) Il presente io devo noi dobbiamo tu devi voi dovete lui, lei, Lei deve Essi, Loro devono Esempi   Examples: Devo veramente fare questi compiti? Must I really do this homework?Lei deve imparare l’Italiano, perchà © si trasferisce in Italia. She must learn Italian because she’s moving to Italy. Il passato prossimo io ho dovuto noi abbiamo dovuto tu hai dovuto voi avete dovuto lui, lei, Lei, ha dovuto loro, Loro hanno dovuto Esempi Examples: Leri ho dovuto comprare una macchina nuova perchà © la mia si à ¨ rotta. Yesterday I had to buy a new car because mine broke.In quel periodo, l’Internet non esisteva, quindi ha dovuto imparare l’Italiano da sola. During that time, the Internet didn’t exist so she had to learn Italian on her own. L’imperfetto io dovevo noi dovevamo tu dovevi voi dovevate lui, lei, Lei doveva loro, Loro dovevano Esempi: Dovevo incontrare il mio ragazzo proprio adesso, ma deve essere in ritardo! I think I was supposed to meet my boyfriend right now, but he must be late!E poi dovevamo trasferirci negli Stati Uniti per cominciare una nuova vita. And then we had to move to the United States to start a new life. Il trapassato prossimo io avevo dovuto noi avevamo dovuto tu avevi dovuto voi avevate dovuto lui, lei, Lei aveva dovuto loro, Loro avevano dovuto Esempi: Le ho raccontato tutto quello che avevamo dovuto fare per mantenerla all’Universit. I told her everything we had to do in order to support her during her university years.Mi dissero che avevano dovuto scendere dal treno perchà ¨ non avevano il biglietto. They told me they had to get off the train because they didn’t have a ticket. Il passato remoto io dovei/dovetti noi dovemmo tu dovesti voi doveste lui, lei, Lei dovette/(dov) loro, essi doverono/dovettero Esempi: Quando mia nonna ebbe quindici anni, dovette sposarsi. When my grandma was fifteen years old, she had to get married.Nel 1935 doverono lavorare tutto il giorno per guadagnare abbastanza soldi per sopravvivere.   In 1935, they had to work all day to earn enough money to survive. Il trapassato remoto io ebbi dovuto noi avemmo dovuto tu avesti dovuto voi aveste dovuto lui, lei, Lei ebbe dovuto loro, essi ebbero dovuto This tense is rarely used, so don’t worry too much about mastering it. You’ll find it in very sophisticated writing. Il futuro semplice io dovr noi dovremo tu dovrai voi dovrete lui, lei, Lei dovr loro, Loro dovranno Esempi: Dovremo andare in Toscana invece che in Lazio, perchà © non avremo abbastanza tempo per vedere tutto. We will have to go to Tuscany instead of Lazio, because we will not have enough time to see everything.Al termine della cena dovrà ² solo avviare la lavastoviglie e tutto sar pulito. At the end of the dinner, I will only have to start the dishwasher and everything will be clean. Il futuro anteriore io avr dovuto noi avremo dovuto tu avrai dovuto voi avrete dovuto lui, lei, Lei avr dovuto loro, Loro avranno dovuto Esempi: Per superare tutti gli esami, avr dovuto studiare per sette giorni su sette. In order to pass all of the exams, she will have had to study every day.Avrai dovuto avere tanta pazienza con i tuoi figli! You will have to had a lot of patience with your children!! CONGIUNTIVO (SUBJUNCTIVE) Il presente che io deva/ debba che noi dobbiamo che tu deva/debba che voi dobbiate che lui, lei, Lei deva/debba che loro, Loro devano/debbano Esempi: Peccato che debbano partire questa settimana! It’s a shame that they must leave this week!Mi dispiace che dobbiate andare a letto cosà ¬ presto! I’m sorry you have to go to bed so early! Il passato io abbia dovuto noi abbiamo dovuto tu abbia dovuto voi abbiate dovuto lui, lei, Lei abbia dovuto loro, Loro abbiano dovuto Esempi: Sono felice che abbiano dovuto aspettare il treno, altrimenti non avrebbero avuto vedere Marco. I was happy that they had to wait for the train, otherwise they wouldn’t have seen Marco.Mi dispiace che lei abbia dovuto lasciare l’Italia, non sapevo che la amassi cosà ¬ tanto. I’m sorry that she had to leave Italy, I didn’t know you loved her so much. L’imperfetto io dovessi noi dovessimo tu dovessi voi doveste lui, lei, Lei dovesse loro, Loro dovessero Esempi: Non pensavo che lui dovesse imparare il sardo, à ¨ cosà ¬ difficile! I didn’t think he had to learn the Sardinian language, it’s so difficult!Non sapevamo che dovessimo fare il checkout alle dieci! We didn’t know that we had to check out at ten! Il trapassato prossimo io avessi dovuto noi avessimo dovuto tu avessi dovuto voi aveste dovuto lui, lei, Lei avesse dovuto loro, Loro avessero dovuto Esempi: Se io avessi dovuto trasferirmi in un altro paese domani, avrei scelto la Nuova Zelanda. If I had to move to another country tomorrow, I would have choose New Zealand.Se avesse dovuto cercare un nuovo lavoro, avrebbe voluto fare l’insegnante.   If she had to look for a new job, she would have liked to be a teacher. CONDIZIONALE (CONDITIONAL) Il presente io dovrei noi dovremmo tu dovresti voi dovreste lui, lei, Lei dovrebbe loro, Loro dovrebbero Esempi: Dovrei studiare oggi, ma non voglio. I should study today, but I don’t want to.Dovremmo andare al mare, che ne pensi? We should we go to the sea, what do you think? Il passato io avrei dovuto noi avremmo dovuto tu avresti dovuto voi avreste dovuto lui, lei, Lei avrebbe dovuto loro, Loro avrebbero dovuto Avresti dovuto dirmelo! You should have told me!Avrebbero dovuto studiare di pià ¹. They should have studied more.