✅ Mysterious is the best word to describe something unknown, strange, or puzzling (a mysterious letter).
✅ Inscrutable is best to describe something that can’t be understood, made sense of, or interpreted (inscrutable decision), and is generally limited to expressions, gestures, statements, and meanings.
↔️ When describing facial expressions, these synonyms can be used interchangeably (a mysterious look; an inscrutable smile), but mysterious sparks curiosity or awe, while inscrutable implies that something is so impenetrable it can’t be figured out at all.
Unlock the secrets of these inscrutable synonyms!
✅ Try and attempt are often used interchangeably, but try is the more general word for putting in effort toward accomplishing a goal (try to finish the book).
✅ Attempt often suggests a stronger effort or a more serious goal (attempt to run a marathon) and that failure is likely or even expected (The contestant will attempt to make a perfect soufflé).
✅ Try can be used on its own or with another verb (I’ll try; I’ll try to change her mind), but attempt always has either an object or another verb following it (I’ll attempt the climb; I’ll attempt to change the tire).
Try using the word attempt in a paragraph describing your goals, with the help of Grammar Coach.
✅ Divide is the best word to mean splitting something according to a plan or measurement, usually into equal parts (divide the winnings).
✅ Separate means to put or break apart things that were previously connected, physically or otherwise (separate the wheat from the chaff), and often suggests keeping things apart, or keeping one thing away from its counterparts (We had to separate the children because they kept getting into trouble).
✅ More figuratively, divide can refer to a difference of opinion, suggesting that this difference is difficult to reconcile (We were divided over the issue), while separate can mean to part company or withdraw from association with a person or a group (The teenagers separated themselves from their parents to find their identities).
Try writing a paragraph about separating two things with the help of Grammar Coach!