Friday, June 12, 2015

unintended, unattended

Unintended or unintended describes something not planned or expected--
The unintended consequences of the decision made the company look bad.
The unintended benefit of the construction work will be a day off for everyone.

Unattended or unattended means not cared for; not watched over--
Children must not be left unattended.
Never leave the grill unattended; the children might get hurt.

Now that you know that, you can say--
"He left the car unattended; the citation was the unintended result."

Note--"untended" means not looked after, as a fire, or kept up, as a garden--
He left his trees untended for two years; they will need to be pruned and fertilized.

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