Commonly Confused

Words
 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.
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.
 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.
 Who’s & Whose
• Who’s – who is or who has
*Who’s coming?
*Who’s been here?

• Whose – possessive
* Whose coat is this?
 Your & You’re
• Your – possessive
*Is this your coat?

• You’re – you are

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

Already All ready

• Meaning: • Meaning: all

previously are ready (or
• Example: I wholly ready)
have ALREADY • Example: Give
seen the movie the signal
twice. when you are
ALL READY.
 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.
 Altogether vs. All together
Altogether All together
• Meaning: entirely • Meaning:
• Example: She Everyone In the
doesn’t same place.
ALTOGETHER • Example: We
approve of me. were ALL
TOGETHER at
Christmas
 Alter vs. Altar
Alter Altar
• Meaning: To change • Meaning: a table or
• Example: If we are stand in a church or a
late, we will ALTER our place for outdoor
plans. offerings.
• Example: The priest
was standing beside
the ALTAR.
 Born vs. Borne
Born Borne

• Meaning: Given • Meaning: Carried

birth. • Example: He has
• Example: When BORNE his
were you born? hardships
bravely.
 Brake vs. Break
Brake Break
• Meaning: Device to • Meaning: To
stop a machine fracture, shatter
• Example: A • Example: Try not to
defective BRAKE BREAK any dishes.
caused the
accident.
 Capitol vs. Capital
Capitol Capital
• Meaning: City: money or
• Meaning: Building property; also, as an
adjective, punishable by
• Example: The death or of major
CAPITOL faces a importance
• Example: Washington is the
park. CAPITAL of this country.
• Killing a police officer is a
CAPITAL offense.
• That is a CAPITAL idea.
 Cloths vs. Clothes
Cloths Clothes
• Meaning: pieces • Meaning:
of cloth Wearing apparel
• Example: Try the • Example: Her
new cleaning CLOTHES are
cloths. expensive.
 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.
 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.
 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.
 learn, teach
• Learn means “to acquire knowledge.”
• Teach means “to dispense
knowledge.”

• If Ms. Green teaches [not learns] us,

we will learn more.
 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.
 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.
 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.
 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.
 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.
Stationary & Stationery
• Stationary – in a fixed position
*The classroom desks are stationary.

• Stationery – writing paper

*I have three boxes of stationery for
writing letters.
 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.
 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.