Vocabulary
Concept: Commonly Confused Words
Definition
English has several confusing words that sound similar but are spelt differently.
Confusing Words Starting with the Letter ‘A’
- accept or except
- affect or effect
- allowed/aloud
Accept means to receive anything.
Example: I acceptyour invition
Except means to omit or exclude.
Example: Everyone was on time except Vicky.
Affect means to act on something to bring a change.
Example: The song playing in the background affected her concentration.
When an action is performed, it results is effect.
Example:The medicine showed no side effects.
Allowed means a permission granted to do.
Example: She wasn’t allowed to overeat junk foods any more.
Aloud means saying out loud.
More Confusing Words:
- Some other commonly confused words are homophones. They sound the same but their meanings and spellings are different.
-
Brake/Break:
- He didn’t hit the brake on time.
- Why did you break the vase?
- The break time is form 11- 11:30 am.
-
Cell/sell
- She sells her paintings at a lower price.
- He is now in the prison cell for unlawful activities.
- To/Too/Two
- To is a preposition to indicate towards a direction or approaching.
- Too means to show an excess in terms of emotion or taste or activity.
- Two: is the number 2.
- Some of the commonly confused words are called homonyms.They are pronounced and spelled the same, but they have different meanings.
- She is a kind girl.
- What kind of musical instrument is this?
- This is an interesting book.
- I have told her to book the flight tickets immediately.
Example
ExampleThe girl went to the store.
Example The coffee is too sweet.
ExampleThere are two birds on the window sill.
Example
a. The word 'kind' can mean caring and type.
b. The word 'book' can mean a printed book and to reserve in advance a seat.
List of Commonly Confused Words:
Commonly Confusing Words | |
---|---|
Bear and Bare | Lead vs led |
Lose vs Loose | Desert vs Dessert |
Mail vs Male | Born vs Borne |
Advice vs Advise | Idle vs Idol |
Principal vs Principle | Right vs Write |
To vs Too | Sea vs See |
Their vs There | Sole vs Soul |
Whose vs Who’s | Sun vs Son |
Dear vs Deer | Steel vs Steal |
Birth vs Berth | You're vs Your |
Common Mistakes
Do not use the commonly confused words if you don’t know the meaning. The entire meaning of the sentence could change if used wrongly.
Examples:
✅ There are two birds sitting on the branch.
❌ There are to birds sitting on the branch.