Commonly Confused Words

• People commonly misuse words due to similar spellings, pronunciations, mispronunciation, or because they are nonwords.
• Confused words can be pairs, groups, or nonwords.

Confusing Pairs

• Words are often confused because they come in pairs with similar pronunciations or spellings.

• Accept means to agree.

• Except means with the exclusion of.

  • Example: Everyone in my family is vaccinated except for my nephew.

• Through is a preposition indicating entering from one side and exiting from the other.

• Threw is the past tense of "throw," meaning to toss.

  • Example: We had to walk for a couple of hours through the forest.
  • Example: The girl threw her ball in the water.

• Affect is a verb meaning to influence.

• Effect is a noun meaning a result.

  • Example: Global warming affects our planet on a daily basis.
  • Example: The effects of global warming are already seen in the coastal cities.

• Led is the past tense of "lead," meaning to guide.

• Lead is a soft metal element.

  • Example: Since my mom was the only one with a sense of direction, she led the way.
  • Example: Lead is a dangerous neurotoxin.

Groups of Confusing Words

• Some words are confused because they have the same pronunciation but different meanings and spellings.

• To is a preposition meaning towards.

• Two is the number between one and three.

• Too means also.

  • Example: Sally and Jane walk to (towards) school.
  • Example: Sally and Jane are two (2) of the students who walk to school.
  • Example: Sally walks to school; Jane walks to school too (also).

• Your is a possessive pronoun showing belonging.

• You're is the contraction of "you are".

• Yore is a noun meaning long ago.

  • Example: You left your jumpers in the gym locker.
  • Example: You're not lost; you're here (you are).
  • Example: In days of yore (long ago), people did not have access to phones.

• There refers to a place opposite of "here".

• They're is the contraction of "they are".

• Their is a possessive pronoun showing belonging (third person plural or singular gender neutral).

  • Example: Check my website; there you can find all the information you need.
  • Example: They're (They are) in my business class.
  • Example: James and Rufus sent their applications a while ago.

• Write is a verb meaning to make letters or numbers on a surface.

• Right means correct or acceptable.

• Rite is a noun referring to an act that is part of a ceremony.

  • Example: Please write all your answers in ink.
  • Example: That's right (correct); the weather is quite pleasant today.
  • Example: There are many cultures that burn incent in their religious rites (ceremonies).

Nonwords

• Word mistakes can result from the mispronunciation of some words.

• Y'all is used to mean "you all" in the plural.

  • Example: Y'all need to come and visit us.

• Ain't is a contraction to mean am not, is not, are not, and have/has not.

  • Example: It ain't happening.

• Irregardless is likely a result of wrong generalization. The opposite of regular is irregular and rational is irrational; therefore, the opposite of regardless must be irregardless.

  • Example: Irregardless of the amount of experience you have, you can apply for this job.

• Supposably is a mispronunciation of the adverb "supposedly".

  • Example: The new variant of this virus is supposably not as fatal as the previous variants.

• Other nonwords include:

  • bidness instead of business
  • conversate instead of converse
  • excape instead of escape
  • ostensively instead of ostensibly
  • expresso instead of espresso
  • acrossd instead of across

This lesson explains why people commonly misuse words. Words are often confused because they come in pairs with similar pronunciations or spellings. Some examples are: accept/except, through/threw, affect/effect.