Commonly Confused Words Explained
English language has many commonly confused terms. These words look and sound alike, but have entirely different meanings. The issue is determining the correct use of these words is quite challenging. To make things simple, we’ve gathered here a list of some commonly confused words so that you can use them at the right places.
- Accept VS Except
Accept (verb) means ‘to receive’.
Example: Give her some time to accept the idea.Except (conjunction) means ‘apart from’.
Example: She packed everything except the sink.
- Affect VS Effect
Affect (verb) means ‘influence’.
Example: The cat’s death affected its keepers.Effect (noun) means ‘outcome’ or ‘result’.
Example: The overall effect was amazing.
- A Lot VS Allot
A lot (noun) means ‘many’.
Example: I have a lot of friends.Allot (verb) means ‘distribute/assign’
Example – He has been allotted fifteen minutes to finish his speech.
- Cash VS Cache
Cash (noun) means ‘money’.
Example: I need cash to make a payment.Cache (noun) means ‘a secure location to store items’.
Example: The archeologist wanted to discover the former king’s cache of diamonds.
- Breath VS Breathe
Breath (noun) means ‘respiration’.
Example: Linda caught her breath and sat up elegantly.Breathe (verb) means ‘to exhale and inhale’.
Example: Just relax and breathe.
- Illusion VS Allusion
Illusion (noun) means ‘an untruthful idea or belief’.
Example: I am not sure whether it’s a fact or an illusion.Allusion (noun) means ‘a hint or an indirect reference’.
Example: I could not completely comprehend the allusions to China.
- Bad VS Badly
Bad (adjective) means ‘not good’.
Example: It was a bad day for him.Badly (adverb) means ‘unwell, sinfully, unpleasantly’.
Example: He plays cricket very badly.
- Compliment VS Complement
Compliment (noun) means ‘praise or flattery’.
Example: He gave me a nice compliment.Complement (noun) means ‘counterpart or companion’.
Example: This color complements your skin tone well.
- Desert VS Dessert
Desert – It can be used both as a verb or a noun.Desert (verb) – to abandon
Example: Army shouldn’t desert their posts.Desert (noun) – barren, desolate
Example: The world’s biggest desert is Sahara.Dessert (noun) means ‘a sweet treat’.
Example: My favorite dessert is brownies.
- Illicit VS Elicit
Illicit (adjective) means ‘against the law or prohibited’.
Example: The invigilator found the illicit drug in John’s desk.Elicit (verb) means ‘to draw out or evoke’.
Example: The organization uses images of poor children to elicit charity from people.
- Hone VS Home
Hone (verb) means ‘to sharpen’.
Example: Daily writing practice will hone your skills.Home (noun) means ‘a place where one can live’.
Example: My home is next to Martha’s house.
- Imitated VS Intimated
Imitated (verb) means ‘pretend to be or mimic’.
Example: Don’t ever try to imitate me.Intimated (verb) means ‘suggest or affirm’.
Example – As previously intimated, our proficiency of past climates is a priori of fossils.
- Its VS It’s
Its – A possessive pronoun which means ‘made by’.
Example: The water is in its container.It’s – It’s basically the contraction of it and is.
Example: It’s a beautiful car.
- Principal VS Principle
Principal (noun) means ‘importance, governing officer’.
Example: The principal of this school is very competent.
