Easily Confused Words

A

  • accept and except
  • adoptive and adopted
  • advice and advise
  • adverse and averse
  • affect and effect
  • aid and aide
  • airplane and aeroplane
  • a lot, allot, and alot
  • aisle, isle, and I'll
  • allowed and aloud
  • allude and elude
  • allusion and illusion
  • already and all ready
  • alright or all right
  • altar and alter
  • alternate and alternative
  • altogether and all together
  • among and amongst
  • among and between
  • amoral and immoral
  • amount, quantity, and number
  • angel and angle
  • any one and anyone
  • any thing and anything
  • a part and apart
  • appraise and apprise
  • are and our
  • assistance and assistants
  • assure, ensure, and insure
  • avenge and revenge
  • awe, or, oar, and ore

    • B

  • bare and bear
  • balk, baulk, and bulk
  • ball and bawl
  • bazaar and bizarre
  • being or been
  • beside and besides
  • between and among
  • block and bloc
  • blond and blonde
  • borrow and lend
  • bought and brought
  • brake and break
  • breathe and breath

    • C

  • capital and Capitol
  • can and may
  • can not and cannot
  • canvas and canvass
  • censor, censure, and sensor
  • center on and center around
  • chilly, chili, and chile
  • choose and choice
  • chord or cord
  • cite, sight, and site
  • climactic and climatic
  • coarse and course
  • collectable or collectible
  • complement and compliment
  • compose and comprise (comprise of and 'is comprised of')
  • confident, confidant, and confidante
  • coral and corral
  • council and counsel
  • cow's milk or cows' milk
  • currant and current
  • curb and kerb

    • D

  • dependant and dependent
  • decent, descent, and dissent
  • defuse and diffuse
  • definite and definitive
  • desert and dessert
  • discreet and discrete
  • disloyal and unloyal
  • disinterested and uninterested
  • dived and dove
  • drank and drunk
  • dual and duel

    • E

  • economic and economical
  • effect and affect
  • e.g. and i.e.
  • elicit and illicit
  • elude and allude
  • envelop and envelope
  • empathy and sympathy
  • emigrate and immigrate
  • enquiry and inquiry
  • ensure, assure, and insure
  • envy and jealousy
  • every one and everyone
  • every day and everyday
  • except and accept
    •  
  • explicit and implicit

    • F

  • feel or touch
  • fewer or less
  • flair and flare
  • flier and flyer
  • foul and fowl
  • forego/forgo, forewent/forwent, foregone/forgone
  • fourth and forth
  • further and farther

    • G

  • getaway and get away
  • good and well
  • gotten or got
  • gray and grey
  • grisly and grizzly

    • H

  • hangar and hanger
  • hanged and hung
  • he'll, heel, and heal
  • hear and listen
  • heroine and heroin
  • historic and historical

    • I

  • i.e. and e.g.
  • idol, idle, and idyll
  • if or whether
  • illicit and elicit
  • illusion and allusion
  • immigrate and emigrate
  • immoral and amoral
  • impatient and patient
  • impending and pending
  • imply and infer
  • incidence and incidents
  • incite and insight
  • inquiry and enquiry
  • instance and instants
  • insure, assure, and ensure
  • into, onto, and up to
  • its and it's

    • J

  • jealousy and envy
  • jewelry and jewellery

    • K

  • kerb and curb

    • L

  • law and lore
  • lay and lie
  • lead and led
  • learned and learnt
  • lend and borrow
  • let and let's
  • less and fewer
  • licence and license
  • lightening or lightning
  • loath and loathe
  • look, see, and watch
  • loose and lose

    • M

  • makeup, make-up, or make up
  • male and mail
  • many and much
  • mantel or mantle
  • marinade and marinate
  • material and materiel
  • may and can
  • may and might
  • may be and maybe
  • me and myself
  • misspelled and misspelt
  • moral and morale
  • Ms, Miss, and Mrs
  • mucous mucus
  • mute and moot

    • N

  • no-one and no one
  • notable and noticeable
  • number, amount, and quantity

    • O

  • oar, or, ore, and awe
  • obligated or obliged
  • off and of
  • ordinance or ordnance
  • onto, into, and up to

    • P

  • past and passed
  • palate, palette, and pallet
  • patients and patience
  • peak, peek, and pique
  • plain and plane
  • pleaded or pled
  • pedal and peddle
  • pendant and pendent
  • peace and piece
  • pending and impending
  • personal and personnel
  • poisonous or venomous
  • pore, pour, and poor
  • practice and practise
  • precedence and precedent
  • pray and prey
  • principal and principle
  • precede and proceed
  • premise and premises
  • program and programme
  • prophecy and prophesy
  • proscribe and prescribe
  • provided and providing

    • Q

  • qualitative and quantitative
  • quantity, amount, and number
  • quicker and more quickly
  • quiet and quite

    • R

  • raise, rise, and raze
  • rain, rein, and reign
  • rational and rationale
  • regard or regards
  • revenge and avenge
  • role and roll

    • S

  • saw, soar, and sore
  • see, look, and watch
  • shall and will
  • site, cite, and sight
  • spelled and spelt
  • spilled and spilt
  • spoiled and spoilt
  • stationary and stationery
  • sensor, censor, and censure
  • story and storey
  • sympathy and empathy

    • T

  • tenant and tenet
  • that, which, and who
  • the and thee
  • their, there, and they're
  • then and than
  • tic or tick
  • too or to
  • tortuous or torturous
  • touch and feel
  • toward or towards
  • try and or try to

    • U

  • up to, into, and onto
  • uninterested and disinterested
  • unloyal and disloyal
  • upmost and utmost

    • V

  • vain, vein, and vane
  • vie or vye
  • venomous or poisonous

    • W

  • waist and waste
  • wait and weight
  • watch, look, and see
  • ware, wear, were, we're, and where
  • weather, whether, and wether
  • weaved, wove, and woven
  • well and good
  • whoever and whomever
  • whether or if
  • which, who, and that
  • which and witch
  • while or whilst
  • who or whom
  • who's and whose
  • will and shall
  • with regard to or with regards to

    • X

    Y

  • you're and your

    • Z

    See Also

    Grammar glossary Punctuation lessons Common grammar errors Grammar tests Sayings and proverbs Tattoo fails