Some English words appear to be similar but they have different meanings. Here are some of them.
Parlay / parley
‘Parlay’ means ‘to use advantages that you already have, such as your skills, experience or money, and increase their value by using all your opportunities well.’
Joe owned five cinema halls, which he eventually parlayed into reception halls.
A parley is a discussion in which enemies try to achieve peace.
Parsimony / penury
‘Parsimony’ means ‘extreme unwillingness to spend money.’
Penury is the state of being very poor.
Some people die in penury.
Part from / part with
To part from someone is to leave them.
Jack parted from Muriel on the best of terms.
To part with something is to give it away or give it up.
The little girl refused to part with her favourite teddy bear.
Partial / partly
‘Partial’ means ‘unfairly supporting one person or group against another.’
‘Partly’ means ‘to some degree but not completely.’
The driver’s negligence was partly responsible for the crash.
Pastiche / parody
A pastiche is a play, painting or some other creation that imitates styles from other artists.
A parody is a humorous or satirical imitation of another person’s work.
Pastel / pastille
A pastel is a small coloured stick for drawing pictures with, made of a substance like chalk.
A pastille is a small round sweet, sometimes containing medicine for a sore throat.
Peaceful / peaceable
A peaceful time, place, or situation is quiet and calm without any worry or excitement.
We had a peaceful afternoon without the children.
Someone who is peaceable does not like fighting or arguing.
I have always been a very peaceable person.
Peal / peel
A peal is a sudden sound of laughter.
We could hear peals of loud laughter coming from the class.
A peel is the skin of some fruits and vegetables.
Pedlar / pedaller
A pedlar is someone who walks from place to place selling small things.
A pedaller rides a bicycle.
Peep / peek
A peeping Tom is someone who secretly watches the activities of other people.
To peek is to look quickly at something or to look at something from behind something else.
The moon was peeking out from behind the clouds.
Peninsula / peninsular
A peninsula is a piece of land almost completely surrounded by water but joined to a large area of land.
We visited the Jaffna peninsula last year.
Peninsular is an adjective.
People / persons
‘People’ is used as the plural of ‘person’ to refer to men, women, and children.
How many people were at the meeting?
‘Persons’ is used only in formal notices, documents and situations.
All persons born in the island are citizens of Sri Lanka.
Per cent / percent
Per cent or percent is an amount equal to five or ten parts out of a total of 100 parts.
The bank charges 10 per cent interest.
Perceptible / perceptive
Something that is perceptible can be noticed, although it is very small.
Someone who is perceptive notices things quickly and understands situations, people’s feeling well.
Peremptory / perfunctory
Peremptory behaviour or speech is not polite or friendly and shows that the person who speaks expects to be obeyed immediately.
A perfunctory action is done quickly, and is only done because people expect it.
The applause was perfunctory.
Permanent / perennial
‘Permanent’ means ‘continuing to exist for a long time or for all the time in the future.’
I gave up a permanent job to freelance.
‘Perennial’ means ‘continuing or existing for a long time or happening again and again.’
Lack of resources has been a perennial problem since independence.