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8/9/2019 Confused Words New

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Confused Words

Some words sound alike but have different meanings and different spellings. Thesewords, called homophones, often create confusion in writing. While there are many suchwords, the following list represents a few of most common ones that give writers trouble.

accept/exceptAcceptis a verb. In other words, someone or something must be doing the accepting.

I accept your proposal of marriage.

That store does not accept credit cards.

Exceptfunctions like the word excluding.

I like all ice cream avors except chocolate.

I am free every day except Thursday.

Hint:If you want to exclude something, use except because they both start with exc. Ac-cept is an action (verb), and both begin with A.

affect/effect

Affectis a verb; someone or something must affect something else.

That movie affected me quite a bit. (The movie did the affecting.)

Effectmostly functions as a noun.

That movie had an effect on my sleep. (Effect is a thing (noun) that happenedas a result of the movie.)

Hint:Affect starts with an A like the word action, so that is the verb.


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46 Confused Words

are/our

Areis a form of the verb be and describes a state of being or functions as an equals signlinking two parts of a sentence.

We are driving to California next week.

Ouris the possessive form of we.

We are driving to California next week. Our grandparents are meeting us there.

conscience/conscious

Conscienceis your inner voice that tells you what is right or wrong.

My conscience told me not to stay at that party.Consciousindicates awareness.

I felt self-conscious on my rst day of class.

Hint:Your inner voice reminds you of the SCIENCE of right and wrong = conSCIENCE

farther/further

Fartherrefers to a distance that can be measured.

How much farther do we have to walk?

Furtherindicates unmeasurable, abstract distance.

I dont want to talk about this any further.

Hint:A = actual (fArther), U = unreal (fUrther)

feel/fill

Feelmeans to touch something or have a sensation.

I feel happy when my friends come to visit me.

Fillmeans to make full.

Please ll that vase with water.


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Confused Words 47

its/its

Itsis the possessive form of the pronoun it.

The dog lost its collar while we were camping.

Itsis the contraction for it is.

Its not too late to change your mind.

Hint:The source of confusion here is that we think an apostrophe is used to show posses-sion (Bobs car). While this is true, the word its is already a possessive word by nature,like the words his or her. You do not need to make it possessive with an apostrophe.Whenever you come across its read it as it is.

lay/lieLayis a verb and must be accompanied by an object.

Lay the paper down on the desk.

Liemeans to recline.

You should go lie down on the bed.

Hint:lAy = plAce, lIe = reclIne. (A possible source of confusion is that the past tense oflie is lay.)

loose/lose

Looseis the opposite of tight.

The lid on the jar is loose.

Loseis the present form of lost.

Stay close so we dont lose you in the crowd.

of/have

Be careful whenever could of, should of, would of, might of, or must ofappear in yourwriting. It almost always indicates an incorrect use of could have, should have, wouldhave, might have, and must have.


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48 Confused Words

Incorrect: I could of won if that guy hadnt tripped me.

Correct: I could have (couldve) won if that guy hadnt tripped me.

Incorrect: I should of gone to Hawaii with my friends.

Correct: I shouldve (should have) gone to Hawaii with my friends.

passed/past

Passed is the past tense of the verb to pass.

I passed that car on the freeway yesterday.

Past refers to time

There is something suspicious about her past.

Past also indicates beyond.

Go past the next light, then turn right.

principal/principle

Principal means main, like the main administrator of a school.

The principal reason for this problem is bad planning.The principal will direct the assembly today.

Principle is an ideal or truth.

I wont lie to you because it is against my principles.

Hint:The princiPAL is your pal.

sense/since

Senserelates to:

Perception

I sense your frustration.

Intelligence, reason


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Confused Words 49

Use common sense.

That doesnt make sense.

A feel for how something works

sense of humor

sense of justice

Sincerelates to:

Time

We havent eaten since noon.

Because

Since we havent eaten, lets take a lunch break.

than/then

Thanindicates comparison: better than, worse than, taller than, colder than, etc.

I like apples more than oranges.

Thenindicates sequence or consequence: First____ then ____. If ___, then____.

We went to the store then the post ofce.

If you dont study for the test, then you wont pass this class.

Hint:The word compAre contains the letter A just like thAn. The words sequEnce andconsequEnce contain the letter E just like thEn.

their/there/theyre

Theirshows possession.

I just love their new car.

Thereindicates place or existence.

Put the cup right there. (indicates place)

There is a problem. (indicates existence)


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50 Confused Words

Theyreis a contraction of the words they are.

Theyre the nicest people you will ever meet.

Hint:The word theirhas an I in it, and I like to possess things.

to/too

Toomeans also or indicates an excess of something.

I like to go to the movies too. (also)

That movie had too much violence. (excess)

Toshould be used in all other cases.

weather/whether

Weatherrelates to atmospheric conditions.

I hope the weather is nice today.

Whetherintroduces an option.

It doesnt matter whether or not you agree with me.

wear/where

Wearrelates to clothing or carrying anything upon ones person.

I usually dont wear earrings.

Whereindicates place.

I want to live where wild animals roam free.

were/were

Wereis a past tense form of the verb to be.

We were at the party together last night.

Wereis a contraction of we are.


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Confused Words 51

Were going to win the lottery any day now.

whose/whosWhose shows possession.

Whose jacket is this?

Whos is a contraction for who is.

Whos going to the movie with me?

Confused WordsExercise A

Choose the correct word.

1. I accepted/exceptedJohns dinner invitation before he even nished gettingthe question out.

2. Connie was sure that was against the principals/principlesof enticing irtation.

3. I really should of/haveplayed hard to get.4. Unfortunately, I was conscience/consciousof my mistake all through the

date.

5. When he picked me up, I was so distracted I walked right passed/pasthiscar.

6. Luckily, as we drove to the restaurant, he eased my nerves by talking to/toome about the game last week.

7. When we got their/there/theyre, I tried to be alluring over dinner, but I

think I was trying to/toohard.

8. He was so polite that Im not sure weather/whetheror not he even noticedmy blunders.

9. Thats why Ive been waiting for a call from him ever sense/since.

10. Still, Im pretty nervous; I hope I didnt loose/losemy chance with him.


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52 Confused Words

Confused WordsExercise B


1. Are/Ourplanet has been invaded by a bunch of aliens.

2. The weather/whetherhas taken a turn for the worse.

3. Have you noticed the stuff people wear/wherelately? Its more than/thenIcan handle.

4. Their/There/Theyrehaving a crazy affect/effecton us!

5. You need to go a little farther/furtherdown the road.

6. Were/Werein huge trouble.

7. I dont know wear/whereto nd help.

8. I am a little too familiar with my school principles/principalsofce.

9. I cant gure out whose/whos coming and whose/whosnot.

10. My conscience/consciousis telling me something has to/toobe done.

Confused WordsExercise C


1. Its/Itsmy dream to have a brand new puppy, and my family just got one!

2. Six days have passed/past, and weve already had our feel/fllof puppy-problems.

3. I accept/exceptfull responsibility for her misbehavior, sense/sinceIm theone who is supposed to be training her.

4. That is, accept/exceptfor when she chewed up the carpet in the doorwayto are/ourspare bedroom. I dont know whose/whosfault that was, but Irefuse to believe it was mine.

5. I admit that Im not always conscience/consciousof when she has to go, soshes left a lot of messes around the house.

6. I want her to wear/whereher collar, but she keeps gnawing at it.


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Confused Words 53

7. In fact, all my shoe laces are loose/losebecause she chews them every chanceshe gets.

8. The worst part is that whenever I try to lay/liedown to sleep, she alwayswants to play, and its having an affect/effecton me.

9. She really is sweeter than/thenI make her sound, though.

10. Im just realizing that I really dont know the principal/principlebehindtraining yet.

Confused WordsExercise D


1. Whose/Whosawesome? You are/our.

2. Just accept/exceptit.

3. Its/Itsreally impressive how far youve come.

4. Its going to have a great affect/effecton your grammar.

5. Dont worry, there isnt much farther/furtherto go.

6. You can feel/fllcondent about that.

7. Look at how much better you are than/thenyou were/were yesterday.

8. It feels good to be conscience/consciousof your improvement, right?

9. Youre not going to loose/loseout on the benets of grammar.

10. Youre/yourjust going to have to keep working.

Answers Key: Confused WordsExercise A

1. I acceptedJohns dinner invitation before he even nished getting the ques-tion out.

2. Connie was sure that was against the principlesof enticing irtation.

3. I really should have played hard to get.


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54 Confused Words

4. Unfortunately, I was conscious of my mistake all through the date.

5. When he picked me up, I was so distracted I walked right past his car.

6. Luckily, as we drove to the restaurant, he eased my nerves by talking tome

about the game last week.7. When we got there, I tried to be alluring over dinner, but I think I was trying

toohard.

8. He was so polite that Im not sure whether or not he even noticed my blun-ders.

9. Thats why Ive been waiting for a call from him ever since.

10. Still, Im pretty nervous; I hope I didnt lose my chance with him.

Answers Key: Confused WordsExercise B

1. Ourplanet has been invaded by a bunch of aliens.

2. The weatherhas taken a turn for the worse.

3. Have you noticed the stuff people wearlately? Its more thanI can handle.

4. Theyrehaving a crazy effecton us!

5. You need to go a little fartherdown the road.

6. Werein huge trouble.

7. I dont know whereto nd help.

8. I am a little too familiar with my school principalsofce.

9. I cant gure out whos coming and whosnot.

10. My conscienceis telling me something has tobe done.

Answers Key: Confused WordsExercise C

1. Its my dream to have a brand new puppy, and my family just got one!

2. Six days have passed, and weve already had ourfll of puppy-problems.


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Confused Words 55

3. I acceptfull responsibility for her misbehavior, since Im the one who is sup-posed to be training her.

4. That is, exceptfor when she chewed up the carpet in the doorway to ourspare bedroom. I dont know whose fault that was, but I refuse to believe it

was mine.

5. I admit that Im not always conscious of when she has to go, so shes left alot of messes around the house.

6. I want her to wearher collar, but she keeps gnawing at it.

7. In fact, all my shoe laces are loose because she chews them every chance shegets.

8. The worst part is that whenever I try toliedown to sleep, she always wantsto play, and its having an effecton me.

9. She really is sweeter than I make her sound, though.

10. Im just realizing that I really dont know the principle behind training yet.

Answers Key: Confused WordsExercise D

1. Whos awesome? You are.

2. Just accept it.

3. Its really impressive how far youve come.

4. Its going to have a great effect on your grammar.

5. Dont worry, there isnt muchfurtherto go.

6. You can feelcondent about that.

7. Look at how much better you are than you wereyesterday.

8. It feels good to be conscious of your improvement, right?9. Youre not going to loseout on the benets of grammar.

10. Yourejust going to have to keep working.

Just the Basics of English Grammar - (c)2014 www.amazon.com

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