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It sounds like the tutorial is saying (a video link with a time stamp)

the first thing I want to show you is that one of the reasons why these verbs are so frequently confused

where confused is in the form of passive voice.

confuse has this meaning

Someone who confuses one thing with another thinks the first thing is the second

I rewrote the example in cambridge dictionary as

Jim is confusing Alice with her sister – she’s the one who moved to Colorado

question

which one in the following is idiomatic? (maybe both are)

  1. Jim is confused
  2. Alice and her sister are confused
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In the context of your sentence about Jim, neither (1) nor (2) mean the same thing.

Jim is confused means that he is muddled in his thinking (either about a particular issue, or in general), and Alice and her sister are confused would be understood to mean the same. It's OK to say these verbs are confused because there's no danger of that being understood in the other sense (although you could add with one another.)

You could say Jim has confused Alice with her sister. or Alice and her sister are sometimes confused with one another.

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  • Thank you! Your answer is very helpful. Could I say "Alice and her sister are sometimes confused by Jim"? – peterpanai Feb 6 '20 at 1:36
  • You could, although out of context that sentence could also be taken to mean that they find something about him confusing. – Kate Bunting Feb 6 '20 at 8:57

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