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# confuse

«confuse» in Mova's school dictionary: **to make them unable to understand or think clearly: «The…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

verb (confuse, confuses, confused, confusing)

### meaning for a pupil

1) To confuse someone is to make them unable to understand or think clearly: «The instructions confused me.» [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/confuse/#m1)

2) To confuse two things is to mix them up and think one is the other: «I always confuse the twins.» [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/confuse/#m2)

3) To confuse a situation is to make it more complicated or unclear. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/confuse/#m3)

### sense in the lessons

In school, some words are easily confused (their/there/they're; affect/effect), and maths symbols can be confused (× and +, < and >). In stories, a mysterious clue confuses the detective. In safety lessons, scammers try to confuse people with tricky messages. Phrases: «confuse A with B», «get confused», «confusing instructions».

### examples

- The long question confused me. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/confuse/#x1)
- I always confuse «there» and «their». [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/confuse/#x2)
- Don't confuse a centipede with a millipede. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/confuse/#x3)
- The new road signs confused the drivers. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/confuse/#x4)
- People often confuse the twins. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/confuse/#x5)
- The magician confused the audience with his trick. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/confuse/#x6)
- I got confused and went to the wrong classroom. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/confuse/#x7)
- If you are confused, ask the teacher to explain again. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/confuse/#x8)
- ‘You confuse the names, Sire,’ said the page hastily. ‘I come on behalf of the Princess Turritella.’ [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/confuse/#x9)

### note

Past: confused. Adjectives: confused (how you feel: «I am confused»), confusing (what causes it: «the map is confusing»). Noun: confusion. Pattern: «confuse A with B». Asking questions when confused is a smart thing to do.

### In the corpora

- [Voice assistants turn sounds into words and then guess what you meant; accents and background noise can confuse them.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/ai/17-voice-assistants-recommendations/5/)
- [Stripes might also confuse a lion trying to pick out one zebra from a running herd, but this is less certain.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/128-madagascar-real-zebras-hippos-and-giraffes/7/)
- [Some deep-sea shrimp squirt a glowing cloud to confuse a hunter, a little like squid ink but made of light.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/175-the-twilight-zone-barreleyes-lanternfish-and-the-biggest-daily-journey-on-earth/12/)
- [Bright beach lights confuse turtle hatchlings, which crawl towards the lights instead of the moonlit sea.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/232-hidden-senses-magnetic-birds-ultraviolet-bees-heat-seeing-snakes/8/)
- [Bright lights at night confuse moths and migrating birds, and baby sea turtles crawl towards lights instead of towards the sea.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/285-what-a-child-can-do-for-nature/14/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «confuse» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/confuse/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.