30 Commonly Confused Words

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  • Accept vs. Except
    If you accept something you agree to receive or do it. If you except something you exclude it.
     
  • Bought vs. Brought
    Brought is the past tense of bring, while bought is the past tense of buy.
     
  • Cereal vs. Serial
    Cereal is a type of grain (and a type of breakfast food made from grain), while serial refers to something that occurs in sequence.
     
  • Desert vs. Dessert
    Desert can refer to either the act of abandoning someone or something or to an arid stretch of land with little vegetation. A dessert is a sweet course at the end of a meal.
     
  • Effect vs. Affect
    An effect is a consequence. If you affect something you make a difference to it.
     
  • Hear vs. Here
    If you hear something, you perceive its sound with your ear. Here refers to the location or time the speaker is currently in.
     
  • Imply vs. Infer
    Imply refers to the act of suggesting or alluding, while infer refers to the act of deducing.
     
  • Lay vs. Lie
    Lay refers to the act of reclining, while lie describes the act of speaking untruthfully.
     
  • Lose vs. Loose
    If you lose something, you have either misplaced it or been deprived of it. If something is loose, it is not fastened tightly or has escaped.
     
  • Passed vs. Past
    Passed is the past tense of the verb pass which describes the act of going across or through something. If something is in the past, it has already happened.
     
  • Quiet vs. Quite
    The word quiet refers to the absence of loud sounds. Quite is an adverb used to the extent or degree to which something is the case.
     
  • Stationary vs. Stationery
    Stationary describes something that is not moving, while stationery refers to writing materials.
     
  • Uninterested vs. Disinterested
    If you are uninterested, it means you are not interested. If you are disinterested, it means you are impartial.
     
  • Wait vs. Weight
    The word wait refers to the act of staying in one place in anticipation or expectation of something happening. The word weight refers to how heavy something is.
     
  • Yolk vs. Yoke
    The yolk is the yellow spherical part of an egg. A yoke is a wooden restraint used to join two draft animals at the neck so they can work together.

09 Oct 2018
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Sarah Taggart, Oasis Academy Lord's Hill