ECHO: Commonly Misused Words

accept / except

accept:

verb meaning "to take/ receive" "Will you accept this advice?"

except:

proposition meaning "not including; other than" "Everyone was invited except me."

advise / advice

advise:

(verb) "Will you advise me on this subject?"

advice:

(noun) "Accept this advice."

affect / effect

affect:

(verb meaning "to influence") "The weather will affect our weekend plans."

effect:

(noun) "What were the effects of the last tax bill?"

effect:

(verb meaning "to bring about or execute") "Will the courts effect the new law on gun control?"

a lot

(as in "a group" or "a bunch"—never "alot")

all right

(not "alright")

already / all ready

already:

(adverb) "They are already late."

all ready:

meaning "completely; all prepared" "The girls are all ready to go."

awhile / a while

awhile:

(adverb) "Wait awhile."

a while:

(noun: use following "for" or "in") "He said he'd be here in a while."

among / between

among:

use when referring to more than two people or things

between:

use when referring to only two people or things

amount / number

amount:

use when referring to things which cannot be counted

number:

use when referring to things which can be counted

desert / dessert

desert:

(noun) "Camels usually live in the desert." (verb) "Don't desert me now when I need you."

dessert:

(noun) "My favorite dessert is cheesecake."

farther / further

farther:

use when referring to physical distance that can be measured

further:

refers to nonphysical distance

few / less

few:

not many (used with count nouns)

less:

smaller in size, extent, degree (used with non-count nouns)

its / it's

its:

possessive pronoun such as "his"—never use an apostrophe

it's:

it is

lie / lay

lie:

"to recline or rest" Never takes a direct object—"Did you lie down all day?"

lay:

"to put something down; to place something somewhere" Always takes a direct object—"Lay the mail on the table.

sit / set

sit:

"to sit down" Never takes a direct object—"Where will we sit?"

set:

"to put in a specified position" Takes a direct object—"Set the book over there."

than / then

than:

used for comparison

then:

denotes time or chronological order

 

their / there / they're

their:

(possessive pronoun) "Is this their house?"

there:

(preposition) "Stand over there."

they're:

they are

to / two / too

to:

(preposition) "Go to the store."

two:

(number two)

too:

(adverb meaning "also; as well; excessively") "My writing suffers from too much neglect." "Do you want to improve too?"

who's / whose

who's:

who is

whose:

(possessive pronoun) "Whose book is this?"

would've

Commonly written "would of." The correct form is "would have."

you're / your

you're:

you are

your:

(possessive pronoun) "Was your car stolen or towed?"