Commonly Confused Words

Scrape vs. Scrap

1 min read

Scrape and scrap look and sound somewhat similar, but their meanings are completely different. One is about rubbing or scratching a surface, and the other is about throwing something away or keeping leftover pieces.

Scrape

Scrape means to rub, scratch, or remove something from a surface — often causing a mark or small injury.

Be careful not to scrape your knee.
I had to scrape ice off the car window.
The chair scraped loudly across the floor.

Scrap

Scrap has two main meanings:

A small leftover piece of something (paper, metal, food).
To throw something away or cancel it.

He wrote the number on a scrap of paper.
They decided to scrap the project and start again.
The factory recycles metal scraps.

💡 Tip

Scrape = scratch a surface → think of the sharp “scr-” sound.
Scrap = a leftover piece or cancel → think of “a scrap of paper.”

Test your knowledge 📝

Question 1 sur 8Score: 0/8

Be careful not to ___ your knee on the pavement.

Discover the app: Shaky English

Join 100,000 people who are improving their English skills on the Shaky English app

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Commonly Confused Words

Scrape vs. Scrap

1 min read

Scrape

Scrape means to rub, scratch, or remove something from a surface — often causing a mark or small injury.

Be careful not to scrape your knee.
I had to scrape ice off the car window.
The chair scraped loudly across the floor.

Scrap

Scrap has two main meanings:

A small leftover piece of something (paper, metal, food).
To throw something away or cancel it.

He wrote the number on a scrap of paper.
They decided to scrap the project and start again.
The factory recycles metal scraps.

💡 Tip

Scrape = scratch a surface → think of the sharp “scr-” sound.
Scrap = a leftover piece or cancel → think of “a scrap of paper.”

Test your knowledge 📝

Question 1 sur 8Score: 0/8

Be careful not to ___ your knee on the pavement.

Discover the app: Shaky English

Join 100,000 people who are improving their English skills on the Shaky English app

Other similar rules

Common confusions

“Different from” vs. “Different than”

Vocabulary

Punctuation in Parentheses

A bit of theory

The correct use of “anxious”

Conjugation

Collective/plural nouns: People, Police, Staff

Vocabulary

Commas

Common confusions

Who vs. Whom

Conjugation

Articles: A, An, The

Vocabulary