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Writing Center ECHO: Commonly Misused Words

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Writing Center

(405) 682-1611 Ext. 7379

7777 South May Avenue

Oklahoma City, OK 73159

An educational resource of Division of Arts, English, and Humanities

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?"

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