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Tenacious Learner Posted 13 years ago
Grammar

Made - possible synonym

Hi teachers,
Would 'caused' be an appropriate synonym for 'made' in this case?
Perhaps you made too many mistakes.

Thanks in advance.
  

Top answer

It is close but not exactly the same. "caused" puts slightly more distance between the person addressed and the mistakes (even though it still makes them responsible, of course). Also, "make a mistake" is a noticeably a much more common and more idiomatic pattern than "cause a mistake".

— GPY

  • It is close but not exactly the same.
  • "caused" puts slightly more distance between the person addressed and the mistakes (even though it still makes them responsible, of course).
  • Also, "make a mistake" is a noticeably a much more common and more idiomatic pattern than "cause a mistake".
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4 Answers
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It is close but not exactly the same. "caused" puts slightly more distance between the person addressed and the mistakes (even though it still makes them responsible, of course). Also, "make a mistake" is a noticeably a much more common and more idiomatic pattern than "cause a mistake".
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For writing:
Perhaps your essay had too many mistakes.

These are more for behavior, rather than spelling and grammatical errors:

Perhaps you erred too many times.
Perhaps you did too many things wrong ..
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AlpheccaStarsPerhaps you erred too many times.
Hi AlpheccaEmotion: stars,
Thanks! That's an excellent o
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GPYAlso, "make a mistake" is a noticeably a much more common and more idiomatic pattern than "cause a mistake".
Hi GPY,
Thanks! Yes I know that. I'm just trying to explain the meaning of that sentence to the students.
By the way, now I understand that 'cause' has a different interpretation.
When you make a mistak
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