Commonly confused words

1. Commonly confused words English 121

2. Week 1: September 9-13, 2013 • Monday, 9/9/13: Accede vs. Exceed • Tuesday, 9/10/13: NA • Wednesday, 9/11/13: Accept vs. Except • Thursday, 9/12: Access vs. Excess • Friday, 9/13/13: Adapt vs. Adopt

3. Accede vs. exceed • Accede means to agree. • I acceded to Mom’s wishes. • Your sentence: • Exceed means to go beyond. • Don’t exceed the speed limit. • Your sentence:

4. Accept vs. except • Accept is a verb that mean to receive. • Will you accept our thanks? • Your sentence: • Except is usually a preposition meaning but, but it may also be used as a verb that means to leave out or exclude. • Everyone will be there except you. • The government excepts people with very low incomes from paying taxes. • Your sentence:

5. Access vs. excess • Access means admittance. • The thief gained access to the building with a stolen key. • Your sentence: • Excess means a surplus. • We have an excess of musical talent in our class. • Your sentence:

6. Adapt vs. adopt • Adapt means to change or to adjust. • I can adapt to new surroundings easily. • Your sentence: • Adopt means to accept and take as one’s own. • I adopted the stray dog from the shelter. • Your sentence:

7. Week 2: September 16-20, 2013 • Monday, 9/16/13: Advice vs. Advise • Tuesday, 9/17/13: Affect vs. Effect • Wednesday, 9/18/13: NA • Thursday, 9/19/13: Aggravate vs. Annoy • Friday, 9/20/13: all ready vs. already; all right vs. alright

8. Advice vs. advise • Advice is a noun that means an opinion offered as guidance. • My sentence: The teacher gave me some good advice regarding how to write my research paper. • Your sentence: • Advise is a verb that means to give advice. • My sentence: The teacher advised the students about how to write the research paper. • Your sentence:

9. Affect vs. effect (remember the 90% Rule) • Ninety percent of the time, affectis a verb and effect is a noun. • Affect is most often a verb that means to cause a change in or to influence the emotions and thoughts of. • My sentence: The hot weather affected the students’ ability to concentrate. • Your sentence: • Effect is most often a noun that means a result or a consequence. • My sentence: The students’ inability to concentrate was the effect of the hot weather. • Your sentence:

10. Affect vs. Effect (the exception to the rule!) • Sometimes affect will be a noun and effect will be a verb. • Affect sometimes is a noun that is associated with the expression of emotion or one’s attitude. • My sentence: Because of the hot weather, the students had a flat affect. • Your sentence: • Effect sometimes is a verb that means to bring about or to accomplish. • My sentence: The cooler weather has effected a positive change in the students’ affect. • Your sentence:

11. Affect vs. Effect When in doubt, go with the 90% rule: affect is a verb and effect is a noun 90% of the time!

12. Aggravate vs. annoy • Aggravate is a verb that means to make something worse. • My sentence: Alexa’s asthma was aggravated by the cats. • Your sentence: • Annoy is a verb that means to irritate. • My sentence: The cats are annoying! • Your sentence:

13. All ready vs. already • All readyis an adverb-adjective phrase that means completely ready. • My sentence: We are all ready to go to the soccer game. • Your sentence: • Already is an adverb that means before or by this time. • My sentence: The fans were already leaving the ballpark when Mark Rizzo hit a grand slam. • Your sentence:

14. All right vs. alright (This one is easy!) It is unacceptable to use alright in formal writing, so always use all rightand you will always be all rightwhenever you write!