Steady vs. Study

I don’t know that my mother ever misspelled these words, but she always asked me if I had “steadied.” I always answered that I had “studied.”

Study (verb or noun)

• “Study” is related to “student,” spelled with “u.”
• “Study” is a verb, an action.
• A study is also a room, usually with shelves for books and other resources.

Examples:

• The student went upstairs to study for the big test.
• He studied all night but failed the test because he fell asleep ten minutes into the exam time.
• I couldn’t study with all that noise in the next room.
• She keeps her computer and all her references in the study.

Steady

• “Steady” rhymes with “ready.” Both are spelled with “ea” sounding as “eh.”
• “Steady” serves several purposes:
  • as a verb, it means to hold in a constant position or to calm
  • as an adjective, it indicates a consistent development or something fixed, balanced
  • as a noun, it refers to someone’s “regular” boyfriend or girlfriend

Examples:

• It was hard to steady the boat in the wind, even with the sails down.
• Facing the dragon breathing fire, the young knight tried to steady his nerves.
• The steady flames coming at him frightened his horse as well.
• The older man encouraged him to hold steady; the dragon would back off.
• Who was your steady in high school?

Credits: Photo by Joshua Stannard, Photo by Green Chameleon on Unsplash