"Advice" or "advise"? "Farther" or "further"? "Principal" or "principle"? It's easy to confuse words that are similar in sound, spelling, or meaning. But with a bit of review it's also easy to clear up such confusions.
Here in our Glossary of Usage you will find more than 150 sets of commonly confused words--with links to definitions, examples, and practice exercises that should help you keep these words straight. You can test your understanding of these words at our Review Quiz: Commonly Confused Words and Quiz on 20 Commonly Confused Words.
See also: 200 Homonyms, Homophones, and Homographs.
A
- A, An, & And
- Accept, Except, and Expect
- Adapt and Adopt
- Adverse and Averse
- Advice and Advise
- Affect and Effect
- Aggravate and Irritate
- Aid and Aide
- All Ready and Already
- All Together and Altogether
- Allude and Elude
- Allusion and Illusion
- Allusive and Elusive
- A Lot (Much, Many)
- Altar and Alter
- Ambiguous and Ambivalent
- Amoral and Immoral
- Amount and Number
- Amuse and Bemuse
- Anecdote and Antidote
- Anxious and Eager
- Anyone and Any One
- Appraise and Apprise
- Are and Our
- Assure, Ensure, and Insure
- Aural and Oral
B
C
- Capital and Capitol
- Ceiling and Sealing
- Censor and Censure
- Cereal and Serial
- Choose, Chose, and Chosen
- Chord and Cord
- Cite and Site
- Click and Clique
- Climactic and Climatic
- Clothes and Cloths
- Collaborate and Cooperate
- Complement and Compliment
- Confidant and Confident
- Conscience and Conscious
- Continual and Continuous
- Council and Counsel
- Credible and Credulous
D
- Days and Daze
- Dazed and Dazzled
- Defective and Deficient
- Defuse and Diffuse
- Deprecate and Depreciate
- Desert and Dessert
- Device and Devise
- Discreet and Discrete
- Disinterested and Uninterested
- Distinct and Distinctive
- Dual and Duel
E
- Economic and Economical
- Eminent and Imminent
- Envelop and Envelope
- Epigram, Epigraph, and Epitaph
- Eventually and Ultimately
- Every Day and Everyday
- Explicit and Implicit
F
- Fair and Fare
- Farther and Further
- Faze and Phase
- Few (Fewer) and Little (Less)
- Finally and Finely
- Flair and Flare
- Flaunt and Flout
- Flew, Flu, and Flue
- Flounder and Founder
- Foreword and Forward
- Formally and Formerly
- Forth and Fourth
- Fortunate and Fortuitous
- Full and Fulsome
G
H
- Hanged and Hung
- Hardy and Hearty
- Have and Of
- Higher and Hire
- Historic and Historical
- Hoard and Horde
- Home and Hone
- Hoping and Hopping
- Human and Humane
- Hurdle and Hurtle
I
- Imply and Infer
- In and Into
- Incredible and Incredulous
- Ingenious and Ingenuous
- Intense and Intent
- Its and It's
L
- Last and Latter
- Later and Latter
- Lay and Lie
- Lead and Led
- Leave and Let
- Lend and Loan
- Lessen and Lesson
- Liable and Libel
- Lightening and Lightning
- Literally and Figuratively
- Loath and Loathe
- Loose and Lose
M
- Mantel and Mantle
- Many and Much
- Marital and Martial
- Maybe and May Be
- Media and Medium
- Militate and Mitigate
- Miner and Minor
- Moot and Mute
- Moral and Morale
N
O
P
- Pair, Pare, and Pear
- Palate, Palette, and Pallet
- Passed and Past
- Peace and Piece
- Peak, Peek, and Pique
- Perquisite and Prerequisite
- Persecute and Prosecute
- Personal and Personnel
- Perspective and Prospective
- Perverse and Perverted
- Plain and Plane
- Pole and Poll
- Pore and Pour
- Precede and Proceed
- Premier and Premiere
- Prescribe and Proscribe
- Principal and Principle
- Prostate and Prostrate
Q
R
- Rack and Wrack
- Rain, Reign, and Rein
- Raise and Rise
- Rational and Rationale
- Ravage and Ravish
- Recourse and Resource
- Regretful and Regrettable
- Reluctant and Reticent
- Respectively and Respectfully
- Restive and Restless
- Review and Revue
- Riffle and Rifle
- Role and Roll
S
- Sensual and Sensuous
- Serve and Service
- Set and Sit
- Shall and Will
- Shear and Sheer
- Should and Would
- Simple and Simplistic
- Sometime, Some time, and Sometimes
- Stanch and Staunch
- Stationary and Stationery
- Statue and Statute
- Suit and Suite
T
- Tack and Tact
- Tail and Tale
- Temerity and Timidity
- Than and Then
- Their, There, and They're
- To and Too
- Track and Tract
- Troop and Troupe
V
W
- Waist and Waste
- Waive and Wave
- Weather and Whether
- Were, We're, and Where
- Which and Who
- Who and Whom
- Whoever and Whomever
- Whose and Who's
Y
Review:
Test your understanding of these words at our Review Quiz: Commonly Confused Words and Quiz on 20 Commonly Confused Words.
