effect<\/strong> is usually a noun: The effect of raising interest rates is that fewer people borrow money.<\/p>\nHowever, there is a noun “affect” (pronounced with the emphasis on the second syllable instead of the first, AF-fect) which is used in psychology to mean “the ability to feel things”: He suffered from flat affect.<\/p>\n
And there is a verb “effect” meaning “to bring about”, usually applied to change: The new government plans to effect an immediate change in interest rates.<\/p>\n
The safest thing with this pair is to check every time.<\/p>\n<\/p>
alight\/light<\/h3>
A bird can alight<\/strong> on a branch (meaning land).
\nA lantern or a fire can be referred to as alight<\/strong> (meaning it’s been lit).
\nBut you cannot alight a fire<\/del>. You light<\/strong> a fire.<\/p>\n<\/p>allude\/elude<\/h3>
allude<\/strong> means to refer: He alluded to the Noodle Incident.
\nelude<\/strong> means to escape: He eluded his pursuers.<\/p>\n<\/p>allusive\/elusive\/illusive<\/h3>
allusive<\/strong> means making use of allusion (that is, references to things).
\nelusive<\/strong> means hard to catch.
\nillusive<\/strong> is an old-fashioned word meaning illusionary, not real.<\/p>\n<\/p>any more\/anymore<\/h3>
any more<\/strong> means “a further quantity”: He didn’t want any more beer. (He had already had enough beer.)
\nanymore<\/strong> always refers to time, when something has changed from how it used to be: He didn’t like beer anymore. (He used to like beer, but now he didn’t.)<\/p>\n<\/p>ascribe\/subscribe<\/h3>
You ascribe<\/strong> a quality to someone or something, meaning that you believe that it has that quality. It is a synonym of attribute<\/strong>.
\nYou subscribe<\/strong> to a belief or philosophy. You do not ascribe to it.<\/p>\n<\/p>backward\/backwards<\/h3>
A backward<\/strong> society is not advanced.
\nA backwards<\/strong> society would be one in which things were wrong way round.<\/p>\n<\/p>base\/bass<\/h3>
The base<\/strong> of something is the bottom of it.
\nbass<\/strong> (pronounced the same) is the lowest part of music.<\/p>\n<\/p>bear\/bare<\/h3>
To bear<\/strong> something means to carry it. Think of a bear carrying something, if it helps.
\nTo bare<\/strong> something means to reveal it, to strip off its covering.<\/p>\n<\/p>belie\/betray<\/h3>
His open, honest face belied<\/strong> his devious nature. (It gave an impression that was the opposite of the truth.)
\nHer worried glance betrayed<\/strong> her concern. (It gave the truth away.)<\/p>\nAs a general observation, add the “be-” prefix with care. It often changes the meaning of the root word. Don’t use it simply to give an “old-timey” feel to language without understanding the meaning of the resulting word.<\/p>\n<\/p>
boarder\/border<\/h3>
A boarder<\/strong> is someone who either pays you money to live in your house, or is trying to force their way onto your ship.
\nA border<\/strong> is a line between two areas, such as two countries.<\/p>\n<\/p>born\/borne<\/h3>
born<\/strong> refers to the process of birth: Macbeth could not be killed by one of woman born.
\nborne<\/strong> is the past tense of bear: The coffin was borne on their shoulders.<\/p>\nTo add to the confusion, a bourn is a small stream.<\/p>\n<\/p>
brake\/break<\/h3>
break<\/strong> means to smash: I’m going to break your face!
\nbrake<\/strong> means to slow down: He braked the car.<\/p>\n<\/p>breach\/breech<\/h3>
A breech<\/strong> is the back end of something (like a gun): The cartridge jammed in the breech. This is also the spelling for breeches (meaning trousers); they go on your back end.
\nA breach<\/strong> is a break, usually one that lets something through: The enemy poured in through the breach in the wall.<\/p>\n<\/p>breath\/breathe<\/h3>
A breath<\/strong> is air you take into your lungs. It is a noun.
\nTo breathe<\/strong> is to take air into your lungs. It is a verb.<\/p>\n<\/p>broach\/brooch<\/h3>
broach<\/strong> is a verb meaning to break open: He broached the cask.
\nA brooch<\/strong> is a decorative piece of jewellery.<\/p>\n<\/p>canon\/cannon<\/h3>
A canon<\/strong> is a group of creative works (or a functionary in a cathedral, or a kind of musical piece).
\nA cannon<\/strong> is a large artillery weapon.<\/p>\n<\/p>canvas\/canvass<\/h3>
canvas<\/strong> is a kind of cloth, used for sails and paintings.
\nTo canvass<\/strong> is to conduct a poll or ask for votes.<\/p>\n<\/p>capital\/capitol<\/h3>
A capital<\/strong> is the main city of a country or state.
\nA capitol<\/strong> is, in the USA, the building in which the legislature meets.<\/p>\n<\/p>censer\/censor<\/h3>
A censer<\/strong> holds incense: The priest waved the censer over the couple before pronouncing them married.
\nA censor<\/strong> is a person who works for the government and decides what may or may not be published: The chief censor has rated this movie PG.
\ncensure<\/strong> means disapproval specifically expressed, often officially: The committee moved to censure him for his actions.<\/p>\n<\/p>chaffing\/chafing<\/h3>
chaffing<\/strong> refers to friendly mockery: We were chaffing him about his new girlfriend.
\nchafing<\/strong> refers to friction against the skin: His shorts were chafing him.<\/p>\n<\/p>chord\/cord<\/h3>
A chord<\/strong> is a number of musical notes played simultaneously, with specific intervals between them.
\nA cord<\/strong> is between thick string and thin rope. <\/p>\n<\/p>clamber\/clamor<\/h3>
To clamber<\/strong> means to climb with difficulty.
\nTo clamor<\/strong> means to make a loud, probably demanding noise.<\/p>\n<\/p>complement\/compliment<\/h3>
complement<\/strong> means to go well together: The curtains complemented the carpet.
\ncompliment<\/strong> means to say something nice to someone: The visitors all complimented the choice of furnishings.<\/p>\n<\/p>conscience\/conscious<\/h3>
Your conscience<\/strong> is your sense of right and wrong (literally “the thing you know with”).
\nIf you are conscious<\/strong>, you are aware.<\/p>\n<\/p>constraints\/restraints<\/h3>
constraints<\/strong> fence you in.
\nrestraints<\/strong> hold you back.<\/p>\n<\/p>council\/counsel<\/h3>
A council<\/strong> is a group of advisors or decision-makers.
\nCounsel<\/strong> is advice, or (in the phrase “legal counsel”), someone who gives advice.<\/p>\n<\/p>courtesan\/courtier<\/h3>
A courtesan<\/strong> is a high-class prostitute.
\nA courtier<\/strong> is a member of the royal court.<\/p>\n<\/p>crevasse\/crevice<\/h3>
A crevasse<\/strong> is a large vertical gap in the landscape, often in ice.
\nA crevice<\/strong> is a small or narrow gap or crack.<\/p>\n<\/p>cubical\/cubicle<\/h3>
cubical<\/strong> is an adjective, meaning shaped like a cube.
\nA cubicle<\/strong> is what Dilbert works in.<\/p>\n<\/p>cue\/queue<\/h3>
A cue<\/strong> is a signal, often to an actor: “I have to go on, that’s my cue.”
\nA queue<\/strong> is a line: “He stood in the queue for hours.”<\/p>\n<\/p>dammed\/damned<\/h3>
If something is dammed<\/strong>, it’s prevented from flowing (like a river). If it’s damned<\/strong>, it’s destined for an eternity in hell (or, metaphorically, is annoying).<\/p>\n<\/p>definitely\/definitively<\/h3>
definitely<\/strong> means “for sure”: He definitely used the wrong word there.
\ndefinitively<\/strong> means “in a way that involves formal\u00a0definition”: The province passed definitively into the control of the Teutonic Knights after the Battle of Kamerlin.<\/p>\n<\/p>defuse\/diffuse<\/h3>
defuse<\/strong> refers to preventing a bomb from going off.
\ndiffuse<\/strong> means to spread small particles over a wide area, which is one possible consequence of not defusing a bomb.<\/p>\nYou defuse a situation, you do not diffuse it.<\/p>\n<\/p>
deny\/refute<\/h3>
If you deny<\/strong> an accusation, you are claiming it isn’t true.
\nIf you refute<\/strong> an accusation, you are proving it isn’t true.
\nSome people use refute<\/em> when they mean deny<\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/p>detract\/distract<\/h3>
If something detracts<\/strong> from something else, it makes it less appealing.
\nIf it distracts<\/strong>, it takes attention away from it.<\/p>\n<\/p>dinghy\/dingy<\/h3>
A dinghy<\/strong> is a small rowing boat (or rowboat, if you’re American).
\n“Dingy<\/strong>” rhymes with “kimchee” (well, sort of) and is an adjective that means dull and badly lit.<\/p>\n<\/p>discreet\/discrete<\/h3>
discreet<\/strong> means “not drawing unnecessary attention”: I trust you to be discreet about the unicorns in the back yard.
\ndiscrete<\/strong> means “separate”: The information was transmitted in discrete packets.<\/p>\nThere’s a simple test for this pair. “Indiscreet” is the opposite of “discreet”, and will be in your spellcheck dictionary, but there’s no such word as “indiscrete”. Put an “in” on the front, and if spellcheck queries it, you have the one that means “separate”. <\/p>\n<\/p>
don\/wear<\/h3>
To don<\/strong> something means to put it on. It’s short for “do on,” and there’s a less-commonly-used opposite, “doff,” short for “do off”. It’s old-fashioned.
\nIt does not mean “to wear”.<\/p>\n<\/p>douse\/dowse<\/h3>
You dowse<\/strong> with a divining rod in order to locate water. Once you find the water, you can douse<\/strong> things with it (make them wet).<\/p>\n<\/p>draw\/drawer<\/h3>
The sliding thing in a piece of furniture that you keep things in\u00a0is spelled drawer<\/strong>, even though the two words are pronounced the same. Also, the expression is “chest of drawers” (not Chester drawers, as someone I was at school with once insisted).<\/p>\n<\/p>elicit\/illicit<\/h3>
If you elicit<\/strong> something you draw it out. Compare escape<\/em> and emerge<\/em>. It is a verb.
\nIf something is illicit<\/strong> you are not supposed to have it. Compare illegal<\/em>. It is an adjective.<\/p>\n<\/p>eminent\/immanent\/imminent<\/h3>
eminent<\/strong> means “prominent and respected in one’s field”.
\nimmanent<\/strong> means “inherent”.
\nimminent<\/strong> means “about to happen”.<\/p>\n<\/p>erstwhile<\/h3>
erstwhile<\/strong> means “former”: her erstwhile lover was now banned from the premises.<\/p>\nI often see it used to mean… I’m not sure what, but definitely not “former”. Perhaps “would-be” or “supposed”?<\/p>\n<\/p>
every day\/everyday<\/h3>
every day<\/strong> is an adverb, and refers to repetition on a daily basis: He bought a coffee every day. (That’s how he bought it: he bought it every day.)
\neveryday<\/strong> is an adjective: Drinking coffee was an everyday event. (That’s what kind of event it was: it was an everyday event.)<\/p>\n<\/p>exorbitant\/extravagant<\/h3>
An excessively high price is exorbitant<\/strong>.
\nPeople who waste their money are extravagant<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/p>fain\/feign<\/h3>
fain<\/strong> is an old-fashioned word, mostly used in expressions like “I would fain depart,” meaning “I would like to leave”.
\nIf you feign<\/strong> something, you’re pretending or faking.<\/p>\n<\/p>faze\/phase<\/h3>
If something doesn’t faze<\/strong> you it leaves you cool, calm and collected.
\nIf it doesn’t phase<\/strong> you, you are probably in a superhero novel, and have just avoided being made immaterial and pushed through a wall.<\/p>\n<\/p>flair\/flare<\/h3>
If you have a flair<\/strong>, you have a notable talent.
\nIf you have a flare<\/strong>, you have a kind of firework used for signalling. <\/p>\n<\/p>flaunt\/flout<\/h3>
You flaunt<\/strong> something when you show it off in an ostentatious manner.
\nYou flout<\/strong> a rule or authority or convention when you defy it.<\/p>\n<\/p>glance\/glimpse<\/h3>
I sometimes see authors using “glimpsed” when what they mean is “glanced”. You glimpse<\/strong> something (see it for a moment); you glance at<\/strong> something (look at it briefly or indirectly).<\/p>\nI’ve also seen sentences like “She glimpsed over her shoulder<\/del>“; that should be “glanced,” because “glimpsed” needs an object: “She glimpsed him over her shoulder.”<\/p>\n<\/p>grill\/grille<\/h3>
grill<\/strong> is a verb: I grilled the burger<\/em>, or a noun: I cooked it on the grill<\/em>. It relates to cooking, though there is also the metaphorical sense of “interrogate”.<\/p>\ngrille<\/strong> is always a noun, and refers typically to crosshatched metal with gaps in it, like a grating.<\/p>\n<\/p>grisly\/gristly\/grizzly<\/h3>
A grisly<\/strong> death is a horrible and distressing one.
\nA gristly<\/strong> death involves a lot of gristle.
\nA grizzly<\/strong> death involves a bear (or complaining in a whiny manner). <\/p>\n<\/p>guardian\/ward<\/h3>
An adult who is legally responsible for a child who is not their biological child is a guardian<\/strong>. The child is their ward<\/strong>.<\/p>\nThe adult in this situation is not the ward.<\/p>\n<\/p>
hawk\/hock<\/h3>
If you’re hawking<\/strong> an item, you are offering it for sale, probably in an open-air market or in the street.
\nIf you’re hocking<\/strong> it, you are placing it with a pawnbroker.<\/p>\n<\/p>heal\/heel<\/h3>
heal<\/strong> means to restore someone’s health: It took his wound a long time to heal.
\nheel<\/strong> is the back part of your foot: He was wounded in the heel.<\/p>\n<\/p>hear, hear\/here, here<\/h3>
If you say “hear, hear<\/strong>!” in response to someone’s speech, you are expressing enthusiastic approval by encouraging those around you to listen to what he or she is saying.
\nIf you say “here, here<\/strong>!” you are expressing mild disapproval, and you are probably British and rather old-fashioned.
\n(If you say “there, there!” you are trying to comfort the person. English is strange.)<\/p>\n<\/p>hence\/hither\/thence\/thither<\/h3>
Hence<\/strong> means “from here”.
\nHither<\/strong> means “to here”.
\nThence<\/strong> means “from there”.
\nThither<\/strong> means “to there”.<\/p>\nI have seen even good writers, who should know better, get these confused.<\/p>\n<\/p>
hoard\/horde<\/h3>
A hoard<\/strong> is a collection of precious objects.
\nA horde<\/strong> is a group of dangerous beings. <\/p>\n<\/p>honorarium\/honorific<\/h3>
An honorarium<\/strong> is a small sum of money paid to an otherwise unpaid officeholder, to compensate them for expenses incurred in holding the office.
\nAn honorific<\/strong> is similar to a title, and is added to someone’s name to indicate that they hold a particular honor.<\/p>\n<\/p>hurdle\/hurl\/hurtle<\/h3>
You hurdle<\/strong> something if you jump over it. You hurl<\/strong> it if you throw it. You hurtle<\/strong> if you’re moving rapidly.<\/p>\n<\/p>imply\/infer<\/h3>
If I imply<\/strong> that someone is\u00a0an idiot, I’m giving other people that impression without saying so outright.
\nIf I infer<\/strong> that they’re an idiot, I’m reaching that conclusion based on indirect evidence.<\/p>\nMnemonic:<\/strong> Inference happens in<\/em> your head. Implication can be impish<\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/p>incredible\/incredulous<\/h3>
An amazing thing is\u00a0incredible<\/strong>. I am incredulous<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/strong>(Unlike “incredible,” which seldom means “unbelievable” now in a literal sense, “incredulous” keeps its original meaning of “not believing”.)<\/p>\n<\/p>inter\/intern<\/h3>
To\u00a0inter\u00a0<\/strong>someone is to bury them.
\nTo\u00a0intern<\/strong> someone is to lock them up because you think they’re potentially dangerous.<\/p>\n<\/p>into\/in to<\/h3>
If you turn criminals in to<\/strong> the authorities, you’re helping to keep society safe.<\/p>\nIf you turn criminals into<\/strong> the authorities, you’ll have a very different kind of society.<\/p>\n“Into” and “onto” are correct if you are talking about movement, but don’t use them if you’re writing\u00a0a phrase that ends in “in” or “on” and happens to be followed by “to”.<\/p>\n<\/p>
it's\/its<\/h3>
No pair is confused more often than it’s and its (and the similar pairs they’re\/their and who’s\/whose). This is probably because English usually uses an apostrophe to indicate possession (the boy’s book), but in these pairs the rule is the other way around:
\nit’s<\/strong> is an abbreviation for “it is”.
\nits<\/strong> means “belonging to it”.<\/p>\nThe easiest way to remember this is that it forms a consistent pattern with other pronouns and abbreviations:<\/p>\n
he’s, she’s, it’s, they’re, we’re, who’s are all abbreviations.
\nhis, hers, its, their, our, whose are all possessives.<\/p>\n
So, if in doubt, ask, “Can I substitute ‘he’s’ or ‘his’ for this word?” Then use an apostrophe if the answer is “he’s” and don’t use one if the answer is “his”. <\/p>\n<\/p>
journey\/sojourn<\/h3>
A journey<\/strong> means moving from one place to another.
\nA sojourn<\/strong> means staying in one place for a while. It is not a fancy word for “journey”. It means the exact opposite.<\/p>\n<\/p>leach\/leech<\/h3>
It’s often difficult to know exactly when to use each of these two, since they work in similar contexts, especially when used metaphorically.
\nleach<\/strong> usually means that something is being washed out by water: The calcium was being leached from the rock.
\nleech<\/strong> means that something is being sucked out (by analogy to a leech, a blood-sucking creature): The party leeched the energy out of me.<\/p>\n<\/p>led\/lead<\/h3>
This is a confusing pair because of both meaning and pronunciation.
\nled<\/strong> (pronounced to rhyme with Ted) is the past tense form of lead (pronounced to rhyme with seed).
\nlead<\/strong> (pronounced to rhyme with Ted) is the soft grey metal that alchemists tried to turn into gold.<\/p>\n<\/p>lever\/leverage<\/h3>
lever<\/strong> is usually literal: He levered the rock off his friend.
\nleverage\u00a0<\/strong>(as a verb) is usually figurative: He leveraged his advantage into a win.<\/p>\n<\/p>loath\/loathe<\/h3>
loath<\/strong> means reluctant or unwilling: I am loath to do\u00a0anything that would strengthen her position.