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Easily Confused Words
What Are Easily Confused Words?
Easily confused words are word pairings that share a similar sound or spelling. The meanings of the words in these pairings can be very different (e.g., bare/bear) or close (e.g., breath/breathe).As the sounds, spellings, or meanings of the words in such pairings are the same or similar, writers often choose the wrong one, causing a writing error.
In English, there are hundreds of pairs of easily confused words. Our glossary contains 220 pairs.
Table of Contents
- Top 10 Easily Confused Words
- Homonyms, Homophones, and Homographs
- Spelling Errors Undermine Your Work
- A-Z Glossary of Easily Confused Words
Top 10 Easily Confused Words
Here are the top 10 most confused word pairings (ordered from most to least common).- effect and affect
- its and it's
- you're and your
- that and which
- their, there, and they're
- who or whom
- who's and whose
- loose and lose
- lay and lie
- adverse and averse
Homonyms, Homophones, and Homographs
Some of the easily confused pairs are homonyms. These are words that either sound exactly the same or look exactly the same.Homonyms that sound the same (e.g., bare/bear) are called homophones, and homonyms that look the same (e.g., lead of a pencil/lead a team) are called homographs. In writing, homophones are the ones that cause problems.
Most of the easily confused pairs of words are near homonyms. In other words, they are pairs that nearly sound or look the same.

Spelling Errors Undermine Your Work
Choosing the wrong one in a pair of easily confused words is usually classified as a spelling error rather than a grammatical error, but you cannot rely on your spellchecker – or your grammar checker for that matter – to spot your error because there's a fair chance the error will be a feasibly sound piece of English text. For example:- He had bare hands (no gloves).
- He had bear hands (hands like a bear).
- He went forth (forward).
- He went fourth (one after third).
If you're presenting a new idea or something controversial, your thinking could be ignored if your writing contains errors.
A-Z Glossary of Easily Confused Words
Here is our A-Z list of 220 easily confused word pairs.(Every link leads to a lesson with an interactive exercise, which is printable and sendable.)
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
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 more or anymore
- any one and anyone
- any thing and anything
- anywhere or any where
- 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
- fish or fishes
- flair and flare
- flier and flyer
- foul and fowl
- forego/forgo, forewent/forwent, foregone/forgone
- fourth and forth
- further and farther
G
H
- hangar and hanger
- hanged and hung
- he'll, heel, and heal
- hear and listen
- heroine and heroin
- historic and historical
- high and tall
I
- i.e. and e.g.
- idol, idle, and idyll
- if or whether
- ill and sick
- 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
K
L
- lasagna and lasagne
- 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
O
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
R
- raise, rise, and raze
- rain, rein, and reign
- rational and rationale
- regard or regards
- remember or remind
- revenge and avenge
- role and roll
S
- saw, soar, and sore
- see, look, and watch
- shall and will
- site, cite, and sight
- somewhere or some where
- spelled and spelt
- spilled and spilt
- spoiled and spoilt
- stationary and stationery
- sensor, censor, and censure
- story and storey
- sympathy and empathy
T
- teach and learn
- 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
- trier or tryer
- try and or try to
U
V
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
Z
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