15 Commonly Confused Words

DAWN MCFARLAND

Learn English with Dawn

By Dawn Thomas-McFarland

It’s easy to get confused when learning English.

Some English words are written similarly and are even pronounced the same way.

We call them homophones. Homophones are words that are pronounced the same as another word but differ in spelling and meaning.

Sometimes you can get away with using a homophone incorrectly when speaking. Because it’s spoken, no one will know the difference. However, once you have to write a homophone, you have to make sure you write it correctly.

For example, how many times have you seen “your” in an email when the writer really meant, “you’re”. Some readers won’t notice typos but most of them will. Further, many native English readers will notice this mistake.

I’ve compiled a list of 15 pesky words that I’ve noticed most in professional emails, reports and college papers. Along with the meaning of these words I added in the parts of speech so you can truly understand when to use them based on what you’re trying to say.

As you read through this list, try to say and spell each word to yourself. Knowing the difference could save you time and some embarrassment.

ACCEPT / EXCEPT

Except is a preposition and a conjunction. Except means to exclude or to not include. Accept is a verb that means to receive or to take.

I decided to accept the company’s job offer. I’ll be working 9-5 except on Fridays.

ADVICE / ADVISE

Advice is a noun. Advice is to give or receive guidance or a suggestion on what you or another person should do. On the other hand, advise is a verb. It is the action of giving advice or guidance to someone.

The pronunciation between these two words are different. The c in advice sounds like a /s/ and the s in advise sounds like a /z/.

My counselor has advised me my entire college career and I’ve always taken her advice.

AFFECT / EFFECT

There are a few exceptions when affect can be used as a noun and effect as a verb. However, in the majority of cases, affect is usually a verb that means to produce change; or to make impact and effect is usually used as a noun that means to have a result or a consequence.

Smoking has horrible side effects.
Climate change has affected weather patterns all over the world.

If you’re still confused, a good trick to use to remember this rule is to spell the word RAVEN.

R– remember

A– affect is a

V– verb

E– effect

N– is a noun

APART / A PART

We use a part when we want to express that something is connected or a piece of a group. We often use a part with the preposition of.

James just became a part of our sales team.
My daughter just got a part in the school play.
I lost a part of the puzzle and couldn’t finish.

Apart means to be separated and excluded from. We often use the preposition from with the word apart.

I hate to be apart from you.
We assembled the table incorrectly; we’ll need to take it apart.
Apart from the weather, the event was great.

COMPLIMENT / COMPLEMENT

A compliment is a remark that expresses admiration or something good about someone or something.

I received so many compliments on my new haircut.
I’m always embarrassed when complimented.

A complement is used to mean something that completes something else and something that enhances something else.

Those shoes really complement your suit.
A glass of Cabernet Sauvignon is a great complement to steak.

EMPATHY/ SYMPATHY

Empathy and sympathy are so often confused that you may not get corrected if you used it incorrectly when speaking. However, these words have different meanings and should not be used interchangeably.

Sympathy is to feel sorry for someone’s misfortune. We show our sympathy by showing support or giving sympathy cards. Think about when you have to write someone a letter or a card that says, “we’d like to express our deepest sympathies” We never say we’d like to express our empathies.

Empathy on the other hand, is the ability to understand what someone is going through even if the situation isn’t happening to you; or maybe it has happened to you which makes your ability to feel or express empathy even easier. Essentially, it is the ability to put yourself in someone else’s shoes.

ENSURE / INSURE / ASSURE

These three words are confusing because they have similar meanings which is to make certain that something happens or even that something doesn’t happen. Let’s start with the word ensure.

Ensure is to make sure that something happens or doesn’t happen. But you ensure an outcome by the actions you take.

I worked diligently to ensure that our next project launch goes off without a hitch.

We use assure a little differently. We assure when we want to make someone feel confident that something will be fine. The goal is to remove all doubt and to give “assurance.”

My boss assured me that I was up next for a promotion.

Insure is to protect oneself against damage with insurance as in “it’s very expensive to insure all staff members.”

We will only insure full time staff members.”

FARTHER / FURTHER

Farther is used to explain physical distance as in “he ran farther than any other runner.” Further is used figuratively as in “we will discuss the matter further next week.”

IT’S / ITS

It’s vs its is a common mistake because most of us don’t know the grammar rules. The words “it’s” with an apostrophe is the contraction of it is or it has. A good trick to know whether you should use it’s or its, is if you can replace “it’s” with it is or it has then it’s correct to use the apostrophe.

For example: It is a beautiful day or It’s a beautiful day. It has been a long time or It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you.

Its is a possessive pronoun as in, “The house is very old. Its architectural style is from the 1800s.”

LAY / LIE

To lay or to lie, that is the question? The answer to this question is definitely a head scratcher but let’s tackle it here.

To lay is to place something or someone down. The key here is that we typically use a direct object with lay.

Lay the table cloth on the table.
Lay the baby in the crib.

In both sentences, something or someone is being placed.

To lie means to be in a horizontal or reclining position. Unlike lay, we don’t use a direct object. This is an act people usually perform on themselves.

After tomorrow’s big exam, I plan to lie in bed for the rest of the day.
You seem tired, you should lie

However, you should know that the past of lie is to lay. Ugh, I know, just when you were getting it! But not to worry, I’ve broken down the conjugations below.

Verb	Present	Past	Participle
To lay	lay	laid	laid
To lie	lie	lay	lain

LOOSE / LOSE

I didn’t want to include this in the list but I see this used incorrectly, literally everywhere and even by native speakers of English. The definitions are very different, but the spelling is close in manner.

Lose is a verb that means to misplace something, fail to win or to have less of something.

The account manager may lose his most lucrative account.
Did you lose your keys?
I hope to lose five pounds.

Loose is an adjective that means the opposite of tight or loosely attached.

I have a loose
All of my clothes are loose due to my diet.
My shoelaces are loose, can you tie them?

MORAL / MORALE

Morale, is a noun that describes the emotional state of a person or a group of people. This group of people may have a great deal of confidence in a company or lack enthusiasm in its direction.

The morale has been low since management reorganization.

Moral, which is an adjective, describes socially accepted behaviors. One is considered to be moral if he or she knows right from wrong.

Do medical physicians have a moral obligation to serve everyone?

PERSONAL / PERSONNEL

Personnel is a group of people employed in an organization or company. However, when we use personal we should think of a person. We use personal for anything concerning an individual and their privacy.

All personnel are required to have a bachelor’s degree.
We donated personal hygiene products to the flood victims.

PRINCIPLE / PRINCIPAL

Principle refers to a guiding system of beliefs or standards of behavior. A person with good principles is thought to be good and ethical.

It is against our company principles to take funding from gambling institutions.
Jake has no principles and a cut throat type of working style. He’ll do anything for a promotion.

As an adjective, principal means the first or the most important. As a noun, is a person in a leading position or the person of highest authority.

John McRay is the principal actor in the movie.
The principal goal of the project is to increase revenue by 20%.

THEY’RE / THEIR / THERE

They’re, their and there are homophones meaning each word sounds the same but are spelled differently. The difference between these three words seem fairly obvious, but you’d be surprised how many people use them incorrectly.

They’re is the contraction of they are as in, “they’re in the room next door.”

Their is a possessive adjective that expresses ownership.