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TOEIC Link Part 5: waive versus wave

Waive is a verb meaning to give up a right, fee, or requirement. Wave is a verb meaning to move your hand or a flag, or a noun for a moving ridge of water. They sound identical but never overlap in meaning, and Part 5 leans on the business sense of waive.

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TOEIC Link Part 5: waive versus wave

Waive and wave are homophones — they sound exactly alike — yet they share no meaning. Waive is a verb that means to voluntarily give up a right, a fee, or a requirement. Wave is a verb for moving your hand or a flag, and also a noun for a ridge of moving water or a surge of something. In Part 5 the business contexts pull hard toward waive: fees, penalties, and conditions get waived. For another pair where one letter changes the part of speech, see canvass versus canvas, and for a similar spelling-and-meaning split, see access versus excess.

The core rule: give up a right versus move your hand

  • waive (verb) = to give up or set aside a right, claim, fee, or rule: The bank waived the late-payment fee. / The supplier agreed to waive the minimum-order requirement.
  • wave (verb or noun) = to move the hand or a flag, or a moving ridge / surge: She waved to the visitors at the gate. / A wave of orders followed the announcement.

A memory hook: waive has an i, as in "I give up my right." Wave has no i — just a hand or a ripple of water.

How to read the slot

The object and the context decide it.

  • waive takes an abstract object you can surrender: a fee, a charge, a requirement, a right, a penalty, a condition. If the slot means letting go of one of these, choose waive.
  • wave takes a hand, an arm, or a flag, or describes a surge: wave goodbye, wave a flag, a wave of demand. If the slot is a physical gesture or a moving ridge, choose wave.

So the fastest test: is something being given up (a fee, a rule), or is something moving (a hand, water, a surge)? Giving up is waive; moving is wave.

Common Part 5 traps

  • "(blank) the fee / the requirement / the penalty" is waive. Any object that is a right or charge being set aside signals waive: management waived the cancellation fee.
  • "a (blank) of orders / interest / complaints" is wave. A surge or sudden increase takes the noun wave: a wave of inquiries.
  • Watch the legal phrase "waive the right." TOEIC business and contract passages use waive a right or waive a claim constantly. It is always the i-spelling verb.
  • "(blank) to / at someone" is wave. A greeting or signal with the hand is wave: the manager waved to the new hires.

Quick check

Decide whether the slot means giving up a right or fee (waive) or moving a hand / a surge (wave), then choose.

  1. As a goodwill gesture, the hotel agreed to (blank) the cancellation charge.
  2. A (blank) of last-minute registrations crashed the booking site.
  3. By signing here, the customer does not (blank) any warranty rights.
  4. The CEO (blank) to the staff as she entered the lobby.

Answers: 1. waive — a charge being set aside. 2. wave — a surge of registrations. 3. waive — giving up a right. 4. waved — a hand gesture.

Why this pair matters on TOEIC

Waive is a high-frequency business verb in contracts, invoices, and customer-service replies, where companies waive fees, penalties, and requirements as concessions. Because it is a homophone of the everyday wave, the test can place either spelling in a slot and rely on the grammar and object to separate them. Lock in the rule — surrendering a right or fee is waive; a gesture or surge is wave — and the choice is automatic. For more single-letter, part-of-speech splits, compare eminent versus imminent.