ENGLISH USAGE ERRORS

Liz Vande WaterCampbell County High School

ACCEPT VS. EXCEPT

Accept

1. A verb that means to receive.

2. Examples:

We accept the terms of the contract.

Cara accepted my invitation to dinner.

ACCEPT VS. EXCEPT

Except

1. Most commonly used as a preposition

Everyone was invited to the party except for me.

Marley invited all the family members except for those who were out of town.

2. Can also be used as a conjunction or a verb that means to exclude.

I would have said yes to his invitation except I had already agreed to go to prom with Jeff. (conjunction)

Children over the age of 12 were excepted from the birthday party.

AFFECT VS. EFFECT

Affect

1. Commonly a verb the means to influence.

The student’s decision to steal the test affected everyone.

Before you decide, consider how the decision affects your family.

AFFECT VS. EFFECT

Effect

1. Commonly a noun that means the result of an action.

Dry skin was one of the effects of using the medication.

The effects of the earthquake were far reaching.

ALL RIGHT

All right should be spelled as two words.

It is commonly misspelled as alright, although that spelling in increasing in popularity.

Is it all right if I take this paper home?

It is all right if you did not finish the work today because you can do it for homework tonight.

ALLUSION VS. ILLUSION

Allusion

A noun that means a reference in the same way that to allude means to refer to

The teacher made an allusion to The Flood.

The allusion to Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet helped me understand the plot of the book.

ALLUSION VS. ILLUSION

Illusion

A noun that means deceptive appearance.

Her smile gave the illusion she was happy, but really her feelings were hurt.

The magician depends on optical illusions in his show.

A LOT

Term always spelled as two words and means many or much.

I would like a lot of opinions about which color to choose for the room.

A lot of people had to decline the invitation because the party conflicted with another event.