Easily confused words

Accept, except

• Accept means to receive: Linda accepted her promotion with great pride.
• Except means to exclude: The policy applies to everyone except new hires.

Advice, advise

• Advice means to offer an opinion or make a recommendation: The police officer offered advice on how to best secure the business.
• Advise means to offer guidance or wisdom: The supervisor advised the employee on how to handle calls from irate citizens.

Affect, effect

• Affect, as a verb, means to influence: The game will affect the standings.
• Effect, as a verb, means to cause: He will effect many changes in the company.
• Effect, as a noun, means result: The effect was overwhelming. The law was of little effect.

Aid, aide

• Aid is assistance: A staff assistant was hired to aid the payroll team.
• An aide is a person who serves as an assistant: An aide to the mayor said the new policy would be distributed to employees by the end of the week.

All ready, already

• All ready means fully prepared: The fire recruits were all ready for the test.
• Already means previously: The commissioners were already in the conference room when the mayor arrived.

Among, between

• The maxim that between introduces two items and among introduces more than two covers most questions about how to use these words:

  • The choice is between fish and tofu.
  • The funds were divided among Engineering, Planning and Streets & Roads.

Assure, ensure, insure

• Assure means to give confidence: I assure you that we will be on time.
• Ensure means to make certain or guarantee: Steps were taken to ensure accuracy.
• Insure means to contract to pay or be paid money in the case of a loss. Insure is always used when matters of legal and financial protection are involved: She has not been able to insure her 15-year-old car.

Biweekly, semiweekly

• Biweekly means every other week.
• Semiweekly means twice a week.

Bimonthly, semimonthly

• Bimonthly means every other month.
• Semimonthly means two times a month.

Complimentary, complementary; compliment, complement

• Compliment is a noun or a verb that denotes praise or the expression of courtesy: The supervisor complimented the employees. They received complimentary tickets to the basketball game.
• Complement is a noun and a verb denoting completeness or the process of supplementing something: The husband and wife have complementary careers. The tie complements his suit.

Council, counsel

• Council is a body of people or organizations, often appointed or elected. Capitalize councilmember when used as a formal title before a name; otherwise, lowercase. The council voted unanimously to ban smoking in restaurants.
• Counsel refers to guidance, sometimes legal in nature and given by a lawyer or a person or people who provide such guidance: The lawyer counseled his client.

Every one, everyone

• Two words when it means each individual item: Every one of the responses was invalid.
• One word when used as a pronoun meaning all persons: Everyone wants his life to have meaning.

Federal, federal

• Use a capital letter for the architectural style and for the corporate or governmental bodies that use the word as part of their formal names: The Federal Bureau of Investigation. There are several examples of Federal architecture in Salem, Mass.
• Lowercase when used as an adjective to distinguish something from state, county, city, town or private entities: federal court, federal assistance, federal Judge Judy Smith

Formally, formerly

• Formally means officially, in a polite, mannered fashion: The council formally signed into law a new ordinance on recycling.
• Formerly means previously, in the past: The Division of Emergency Management, formerly known as DEEM, moved into their new office today.

In, into

• In indicates location: He was in the office.
• Into indicates motion: He walked into the office.

Its, it’s

• Its is the possessive form of the neuter pronoun. It means “of” or “belonging to.” The company lost its assets.
• It’s is a contraction for “it is” or “it has.” It’s going to take months before the audit is completed. It’s been a long time.

Lay, lie

• The action word is lay. It takes a direct object. Laid is the form for its past tense and its past participle. Lay the report on the desk. I have laid the report on your desk.
• Lie also has various other meanings, including to recline, to be situated or to exist. It does not take a direct object. Its past tense is lay. When lie means to make an untrue statement, the verb forms are lie, lied, lying. I will lie down at noon.

Lose, loose

• Lose means to misplace, be defeated or not win. He was certain he would lose the election.
• Loose means not tight or baggy. The child’s pants were so loose they almost fell off.

Moot, mute

• The adjective moot refers to something that is debatable or of no practical importance. That is a moot question.
• The adjective mute means unspoken or unable to speak. Press the mute button so we can’t hear the ads.

Principal, principle

• Principal is a noun and adjective meaning someone or something first in rank, authority, importance or degree. She is the school principal. He was the principal player in the success of the team.
• Principle is a noun that means a fundamental truth, law, doctrine or motivating force. He was a man of principle.

Set, sit

• Set is a verb meaning “to put” or “to place.” He set the blueprint on the table.
• Sit is a verb meaning “to be seated.” He sat on the couch next to Linda.

That, which

Use that and which in referring to inanimate objects and to animals without a name.

• Use that for essential clauses, important to the meaning of a sentence, and without commas. I remember the day that we met.
• Use which for nonessential clauses, where the pronoun is less necessary, and use commas. The team, which finished last a year ago, is in first place

Tip: If you can drop the clause and not lose the meaning of the sentence, use which; otherwise use that.

Their, there, they’re

• Their is a plural possessive pronoun. The coworkers went to their office.
• There is an adverb indicating directions. We went there for lunch.
• They’re is a contraction for they are. They’re going to fire him for insubordination.

To, too

• To means toward, in the direction or on the way to. She went to the director’s office to get a copy of the report.
• Too means also, in addition or excessively. There are far too many errors in this report. We attended the meeting, too.

Who, whom

• Who is the pronoun used for references to human beings and to animals with a name. It is grammatically the subject (never the object) of a sentence, clause or phrase. The councilmember, who lives nearby, came to the meeting.
• Whom is used when someone is the object of a verb or preposition. Whom do you wish to see?

Who’s, whose

• Who’s is a contraction for who is, not a possessive: Who’s there? Who’s the guy in the blue shirt? Who is there?
• Whose is the possessive. Whose department do you work for? I do not know whose coat it is.