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Commonly Confused Words
accept, except. “Accept” is a verb that means “to receive willingly”: I accept
responsibility. “Except” is a preposition meaning “but; not including”: You can borrow
any book except the one that I am reading.
advertising, advertisement. “Advertising” is the activity or profession of producing
advertisements for commercial products or services. An advertisement is a specific
instance of that activity (we often abbreviate the word to “ad”).
adolescents, adolescence. “Adolescence” is a noun referring to the teenage years:
Adolescence is a period of great emotional change and growth; “adolescents” is the
plural of adolescent, which means “a person in his or her adolescence”: Adolescents need
more sleep than adults.
advice, advise. “Advice” is a noun that means “guidance or recommendations”: She was
happier to give advice than to take it; “advise” is a verb that means “to offer advice”: I
advise you to start looking for good sources for your paper as early as possible.
affect, effect. Most of the time, affect with an a is a verb and effect with an e is a noun.
Each of these words can be a verb or a noun, but only “effect,” when it means “a result or
consequence of an action or other cause,” is common as a noun: An important effect of
frequent and vigorous exercise is a lowered risk of heart disease. The noun “affect” is a
psychological term for “an observable expression of emotion”: Psychological disorders
can cause people to display variations in their affect. “Effect” as a verb means “to bring
about”: Therapy and exercise helped to effect a cure for his depression. “Affect” as a
verb usually means “to produce an effect on, to influence”: Physical ailments can affect
mental health. “Affect” can also mean “to act in a way that you don’t feel”: She affected
an air of nonchalance, but she was actually very excited.
bare, bear. “Bare” is an adjective that means not having a covering; not covered by
clothing, shoes, a hat, etc.: His head was bare. “Bear” is a verb that means “to accept or
endure (something)”; “to be worthy of (something)”; “to deserve or allow (something)”;
or “to assume or accept (something, such as cost or responsibility)”: She offered to bear
the cost of her niece’s education.
been, being. “Been” is the past tense of “be”: I have never been this embarrassed
before. “Being” is the present participle of “be,” which means the form of the verb used
in continuous tenses, such as I am being as careful as I can be. It is also a noun meaning
“existence” or “a real or imaginary creature; an entity.
bias, biased. Bias is a noun. The adjective is “biased,” as in “biased commentary.” The
adjective forms of words are often made by adding -ed to the noun forms.
cannot, can not. Technically, both “cannot” and can not” are acceptable, but “cannot”
is the safest choice in most instances because it is far more common and “can not” is
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treated in some style manuals as an error—unless the word “not” is supposed to be
emphasized, as in I can not emphasize this too much.
comprise, compose. “Comprise” means to consist of; be made up of: Our country
comprises fifty states; to make up, constitute: A full pack comprises fifty-two cards.
“Compose” means to write or create; She composed a piano sonata
; to constitute or make up (a whole): the system is composed of a group of computers.
data, datum. “Data” are facts and statistics gathered for analysis; “datum” is the
singular form. He collected a lot of good date for his research paper.
debate. “Debate” is a verb that does not need a preposition; we “debate issues”; we do
not “debate on” or “debate about” issues. They debated raising the minimum wage.
discriminate. “Discriminate” is a verb that needs a preposition; people can “discriminate
against” people; they do not “discriminate people.”
its, it’s. “Its” is the possessive form of “it.” Do not add apostrophes to make pronouns
possessive. (After all, we say, “his,” not “hi’s.”) “It’s” is the contraction of “it is.”
journal, article. A scholarly journal is a type of periodical that contains many articles by
different authors. An article is a short work within a journal (or other medium) with a
specific author or authors. Your source for a paper is the specific article you use, not the
journal itself. Thus, if you are writing a rhetorical précis, the correct genre term is
“article,” not “journal.”
lay, lie. “To lie” is an intransitive verb, which means that it doesn’t take a direct object: I
want to lie down. (“Down” is an adverb, not an object.) “To lay” is a transitive verb,
which means it needs a direct object; we use it when we are doing something to
something: Every evening I lay out the clothes I plan to wear the next day.
literally, figuratively. “Literally” means “exactly”; use it only for something that is
actually true: When I told him to go jump in a lake, I never thought that he would take it
literally and actually jump in a lake. “Figuratively” is the term to use when an
expression is metaphorical (departing from a literal use of words): When I said I was
hungry enough to eat a horse, I meant it figuratively, not literally.
loose, lose. “Loose” is an adjective meaning “not tight”: Since I lost weight, my clothes
feel too loose. “Lose” is a verb meaning “to misplace” or “to be defeated”: Be careful, or
you will lose your money.
media, medium. A “medium” is a singular form of a noun meaning “a means by which
something is communicated or expressed: Text messaging was her preferred medium of
communication. It also refers more specifically to a print or electronic form of
communicating news and information: Television is a more popular medium than radio.
“Media” is the plural form: Television has become more popular than print media.
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novel. The word “novel” refers only to fictional book-length works, not all books.
simple, simplistic. “Simple” means “uncomplicated; not complex”: or “easily
understood or accomplished”: She had a simple plan, and it was simple to carry it out.
“Simplistic” means “treating complex issues as if they were much simpler than they
really are”: Politicians often treat serious problems simplistically.
unique, very unique, quite unique. “Unique” is an adjective that refers to someone or
something that is the only one of its kind; therefore, “very unique” and “quite unique” are
not logical expressions and should be avoided.
weather, whether. “Weather” refers to the state of the atmosphere at a place; “whether”
expresses doubt or choice between alternatives: Whether we go to the beach depends on
how nice the weather is.
which, that. Many grammar experts advise using “which” to introduce nonrestrictive
information and “that” to set off restrictive information: My car, which is currently at the
garage, ran into that tree over there.