11 Commonly confused words about Legal issues with Sentences

Very often, you would notice people using the words 'robbery' and 'burglary' as replacements for each other. Although they both refer to crime but former is a crime related to people and latter is a property related crime.

You may also notice people getting confused between 'crime', 'sin' and 'vice'. The requirement is to understand the difference between these words and use them appropriately.

So, here we get you 11 such most confusing word-pairs related to legal issues with their meanings, differences and examples:

1. Bail and Bale

While pronouncing these two words, they sound same but they actually differ in their meanings.

Bail - When you pay an amount to a law court for a person accused of a crime, you help him to be released on bail.

For e.g. After his hearing, the judge decided to reduce his bail to 50%.

Bale is a large bundle of materials that are tightly wrapped with wire or rope.
     
For e.g. We can make bales from materials like cotton, hay, paper, wool and so on.

2. Prosecute and Persecute

Prosecute means to take legal action against any person or group regarding a crime.
     
For e.g. The preachers of religious intolerance were prosecuted and punished for their offence.

If you are treated harshly or cruelly by the people owing to your religion, race and political beliefs, you are persecuted by them.
    
For e.g. Black people are still persecuted by the fair people.

3. Illicit and Elicit

Illicit means illegal or anything that is prohibited by the laws and rules.
    
For e.g. He was sentenced to jail for smuggling illicit drugs into the country.

When you draw out or provoke someone for response, you elicit them.
    
For e.g. The police tried to elicit the information from the criminal by torturing him.

4. Licence and License

Licence is an official document that permits you to use or have something.

For example, when you are eligible to drive a bike or car, you receive a driving licence.

For e.g. She got the driving licence at the age of 21.

License is used as a noun which means when someone has got the authority to do something.
     
For e.g. He finally got the license to construct a commercial building on the land retained by the Government.

5. Lawyer and Liar

Lawyer - A professional who advices about the law and represents someone in legal matters in court is known as lawyer.
    
For e.g. We appealed the High Court for a decision on our agricultural land.

Liar - Liar refers to a person who speaks lies or does not tell the truth.
    
For e.g. She remarked, "Be careful while calling a customer a liar".

6. Patrol and Petrol

Patrol is the act of moving around the area by a group of police or soldiers for observation and inspection.
     
For e.g. Some gamblers were caught by the police while patrolling.

Petrol is a liquid substance refined from petroleum which is used as a fuel to drive the internal combustion engines of the vehicles.

For e.g. Delhi government has increased the price of petrol due to ban on diesel vehicles in NCR.

7. Crime, Sin and Vice

All three words are related to some acts against rules and regulations.
Hence, they are used in different context accordingly.

Crime - An illegal act committed by someone for which they are punished legally.     

For e.g. Last year, crime against women increased by 10 percent across the country.
     
Sin is an act of committing wrong things against religious or moral laws.
     
For e.g. Committing murder is not considered as a sin, in fact, it is a crime.

Vice - It refers to an immoral behavior or criminal activities as per law.
     
For e.g. Its difficult for any girl to marry him. Vices like drinking and gambling are his dear friends.

8. Confess and Admit

Confessing something means to reveal the truth particularly in the context of sin or crime.
     
For e.g. The culprit confessed his mistake and asked for forgiveness.
   
When you admit your mistake, it means that you accept your guilt without expecting forgiveness.
     
For e.g. The man admitted that he had committed a crime.

9. Obvious and Oblivious

Obvious means to express something very clearly that can be easily understood.
     
For e.g. After talking to John for few minutes, it was obvious that he was very good at English.

Oblivious describes someone who is unaware of people or things going nearby.
     
For e.g. You should not be oblivious about the needs of your family.

10. Differ and Defer

Differ - Subjects that are not related to each other or which have opposite meaning.
      
For e.g. Sometimes, we read questions, like, how does the cost differ from price? or what are the reasons that differ solids from liquids?
It means the particular things which do not match each other in any way.

Defer - When you delay something for sometime, you defer it.

For e.g. In absence of the required facts, the decision on the issue has been deferred till tomorrow.

11. Heir and Air

Heir - A person who is legally entitled to inherit the property of another person.
      
For e.g. Being the only son, Yuvraj is the obvious heir of Oberoi Group of Industries.

Air - An invisible substance which is a mixture of nitrogen, oxygen and other gases that surrounds earth and forms atmosphere.
      
For e.g. Please, can you open the window for ventilation of fresh air?