Commonly Confused Words

1. Commonly Confused Words 9th English

2. Than & Then • Than – conjunction; used for comparison *I am stronger than she. • Then – adverb meaning at the time *Wear a green hat; then I’ll recognize you.

3. There, Their, & They’re • There – a place; also used as an expletive *We were there at two o’clock. *There were four of us. • Their – possessive *The students bring their own lunches. • They’re – they are *They’re going with us.

4. To, Too, & Two • To – a preposition or part of the infinitive form of a verb *Give the book to me, please. * We will have to leave early. • Too – adverb meaning also or too much *George is a sophomore, too. *It is too late to go now. • Two – number *We had two dollars.

5. Who’s & Whose • Who’s – who is or who has *Who’s coming? *Who’s been here? • Whose – possessive * Whose coat is this?

6. Your & You’re • Your – possessive *Is this your coat? • You’re – you are *You’re a true friend.

7. A / AN • These are called indefinite articles. They refer to one of a general group. Examples: -A woman bought Jerry’s car. -The pioneers came upon a herd of buffalo. -Maria was in an accident in her father’s car. -Jonathan fished for an hour. • Use a before words beginning with a consonant sound; use an before words beginning with the vowel sound. In the examples above , a is used before herd because herd begins with a consonant sound. An is used before hour because hour begins with a vowel sound.

8. ACCEPT / EXCEPT Accept Except is a verb; it means “to leave out”; as a preposition it means “excluding.” -Debbie has a perfect attendance record, if you except the day she stayed home with the flu. -We were busy every evening this week except Tuesday. is a verb; it means “to receive.” Examples: -I accepted the gift gratefully.

9. AFFECT / EFFECT • Affect is usually a verb; it means “to impress” or “to influence (frequently the mind or feeling).” Effect as a verb means “to accomplish, to bring about.” Effect as a noun mean “the result of some action.” Examples: -Try not to let careless remarks affect you. -The school board effected [brought about] drastic changes in the budget. -The effects [results] of the hurricane were shown on the evening news.

10. lay, lie Lay ~ means “to put” or “to place something” -transitive, which means it may have an object or be in the passive voice. -Its principle parts are lay, (is) laying, laid, (have) laid. Lie ~ means “to assume lying position” or “to be in a lying position” -intransitive, which means it never has an object -- It’s principle parts are lie, (is) lying, lay, (have) lain.

11. More lay and lie. . . • INTRANSITIVE: The pattern lies on top of the fabric. [no object] • TRANSITIVE: You lay the fabric on a flat surface. [object: fabric] • INTRANSITIVE: The fabric is laid on a hard flat table. [passive voice]

12. Rise, Raise • The word RISE means to “go up.” • The word RAISE means “to force something to move upward.” • Use RISE when the subject of the verb is itself moving upward. • Use RAISE when the subject of the verb is acting on something, forcing it upward.

13. Already Already vs. All ready • Meaning: previously • Example: I have ALREADY seen the movie twice. All ready • Meaning: all are ready (or wholly ready) • Example: Give the signal when you are ALL READY.

14. All right • Meaning: This word really does not belong in this list, but it is included here because many persons think there is a word spelled alright, as though all right did have a homonym. There is no word alright. The correct spelling is always all right.

15. Altogether vs. All together Altogether All together Meaning: Everyone In the same place. Example: We were ALL TOGETHER at Christmas • Meaning: entirely • Example: She doesn’t ALTOGETHER approve of me.

16. Alter vs. Altar Alter Altar Meaning: a table or stand in a church or a place for outdoor offerings. Example: The priest was standing beside the ALTAR. • Meaning: To change • Example: If we are late, we will ALTER our plans.

17. Born vs. Borne Born Borne Meaning: Carried Example: He has BORNE his hardships bravely. • Meaning: Given birth. • Example: When were you born?

18. Brake vs. Break Brake Break Meaning: To fracture, shatter Example: Try not to BREAK any dishes. • Meaning: Device to stop a machine • Example: A defective BRAKE caused the accident.

19. Capitol vs. Capital Capitol Capital Meaning: City: money or property; also, as an adjective, punishable by death or of major importance Example: Washington is the CAPITAL of this country. Killing a police officer is a CAPITAL offense. That is a CAPITAL idea. • Meaning: Building • Example: The CAPITOL faces a park.

20. Cloths vs. Clothes Cloths Clothes Meaning: Wearing apparel Example: Her CLOTHES are expensive. • Meaning: pieces of cloth • Example: Try the new cleaning cloths.

21. ADAPT / ADOPT • Adapt means “to change in order to fit or be more suitable; to adjust.” Adopt means “to take something and make it one’s own.” Examples: -When it rained on the day of senior class pictures, we adapted our plans. -The Broadway play was adapted from a popular television miniseries. -The couple who adopted the baby read many books and adopted some suggestions for infant care.

22. ALL THE FARTHER / ALL THE FASTER • USE INFORMALLY IN SOME PARTS OF THE COUNTRY TO MEAN “AS FAR AS, AS FAST AS” Examples: -Dialect – Thirty miles per hour was all the faster the first plane could travel. -Standard – Thirty miles per hour was as fast as the first plane could travel.

23. ALLUSION / ILLUSION • An allusion is a reference to something. An illusion is a mistaken idea. Examples: -In her essay she made many allusions to the American pioneers. -the behind-the-scenes report destroyed her illusion of Hollywood.

24. in, into • In Standard formal usage, observe the difference in meaning between these two words. • in means “within” • into suggests movement from the outside to the inside. • FORMAL: Feeling nervous, I walked into[not in] the personnel office. • INFORMAL: We threw some pennies in the well and made a wish. • FORMAL: We threw some pennies into the well and made a wish.

25. Invent, discover • Do not use invent to mean “discover.” • Invent means “to make something not known before, to bring something into existence.” • Discover means “to find something that has been in existence but was unknown.” • Elias Howe invented the sewing machine. • The engineers discovered new oil deposits in Michigan.

26. kind, sort, type • In standard formal usage the adjectives this, these, that, those are made to agree in number with the words kind, sort, type; this kind, these kinds; that sort, those sorts. • We prefer this kind of magazines. • We prefer these kinds of magazines.

27. kind of, sort of • In standard formal usage, avoid using these expressions to mean “rather” or “somewhat.” • INFORMAL: I feel kind of depressed today. • FORMAL: I feel rather [somewhat] depressed today.

28. kind of a, sort of a • The a is superfluous. • What kind of [ not kind of a] sports car is this?

29. Would of, could of, should of • Don’t; just don’t! • The phrases should be would have, could have andshould have. • People say would’ve, could’ve, and should’ve and they sound like there is an of there, but it’s really just a contraction.

30. learn, teach • Learn means “to acquire knowledge.” • Teach means “to dispense knowledge.” • If Ms. Green teaches[not learns] us, we will learn more.

31. Fewer / Less • Use fewer when you can count the items. Also, use fewer when referring to people. • Ex: Due to his weight loss, he has fewer clothes in the closet than before; hence, he needs to go shopping. • Ex: There are fewer students in the class than there once were; therefore, we will change the seating arrangement. • Use less when you are unable to count the items or when referring to time, money, distance, and weight. • Ex: There was less sand on the beach after the massive hurricane. • Ex. He has less money than he did before, because he spent it wildly at the amusement park.

32. leave, let • Leave (left) means to “go away.” • Let means “to allow, to permit” • NONSTANDARD: Leave us finish our dinner. • STANDARD: Let us finish our dinner. • NONSTANDARD: He shouldn’t have left us borrow his car. • STANDARD: He shouldn’t have let us borrow his car. • The expressions “Leave me alone” and “Let me alone are both correct and commonly used interchangeably. “Leave me alone” suggests that you want somebody to go away, leaving you by yourself. “Let me alone” suggests that you want somebody to stop bothering you.

33. scarcely • Never use scarcely with not. • It would create a double negative. • EX: There isn’t scarcely enough time to eat lunch. • There is scarcely enough time to eat lunch.

34. shall, will • Shall and will are usually interchangeable. • EX: I shall be glad to mail your package. • I will be glad to mail your package. • Except in cases where changing shall to will changes the meaning of the sentence. • EX: Shall we go? • Shall I help you?

35. sit, set • Sit means “to assume or to be in an upright, sitting position: • EX: Don’t sit on the wet paint. • Set means “to put, to place something” • EX: Mr. Han told me to set the equipment on his desk.

36. slow, slowly • Slow is an adjective. • EX: The line at the bank was slow because only one desk was open. • Slowly is an adverb. • EX: The old woman drove slowly.

37. so • Avoid using so too much. • POOR: The car ran out of gas so we walked two miles to the nearest service station. • BETTER: When the car ran out of gas, we walked two miles to the nearest service station • BETTER: Because the car ran out of gas, we walked two miles to the nearest service station.

38. some, somewhat • Use somewhat rather than some as an adverb. • EX: The rate of inflation in Europe has slowed somewhat.

39. take, bring • Use take when the meaning it to convey something away for the person speaking. • EX: Take your warm jacket when you go to the game this afternoon. • Use bring when the meaning is to convey something to the person speaking. • EX: Remember to bring you new albums when you come to my house.

40. this here, that there • The here and there are unnecessary. • EX: This here shop has the best bargains. • This shop has the best bargains.

41. Stationary & Stationery • Stationary – in a fixed position *The classroom desks are stationary. • Stationery – writing paper *I have three boxes of stationery for writing letters.

42. Waste & Waist • Waste – unused material or to squander *Don’t waste your time. *Pollution can be caused by industrial wastes. • Waist – middle part of body *Wear a belt around your waist.

43. Anyway / Anyways • Anyway is the correct form. • Any is a singular pronoun, so there should only be one way. • Anyways - informal/dialectical/colloquial variant of the word and should not be used in formal writing.