Commonly Confused Words

Quote by DirtyMartini

Quote by ShamelessFlirt



Ode to the Spell Checker!

Eye halve a spelling chequer
It came with my pea sea
It plainly marques four my revue
Miss steaks eye kin knot sea.

Eye strike a key and type a word
And weight four it two say
Weather eye am wrong oar write
It shows me strait a weigh.

As soon as a mist ache is maid
It nose bee fore two long
And eye can put the error rite
Its rare lea ever wrong.

Eye have run this poem threw it
I am shore your pleased two no
Its letter perfect awl the weigh
My chequer tolled me sew.

Quote by Shadowpax
As a UK based citizen, we do over here have different spellings for certain words, i.e. Color(US) and Colour(UK).

Quote by kiteares
I did look for a welcome thread before barging in here with my 1st post, but to no avail.

Nice thread and should be compulsory reading for all authors.
A few that bug me

Set vs sit/sat - set the table, set the timer vs sit down on the chair, sit in the car. If you're putting a cup down, you could set it down or sit it on the table. Just see this so much.
Drug vs dragged - I put a drug in the drink, then later dragged them out of the bar.
I'll probably take some flack for the next one, but I could not care less.
I could care less, if you could care less, it means you care some otherwise you would not be able to care less than you currently do.

I am British and make no apologies for spelling colour and favour with a 'u'.
I was sad to see sulphur get dropped from the periodic table in favour of sulfur but happy to see aluminium stay and not be replaced by aluminum.

Quote by rushman1uk
Unless you know or are a Geordie(from Newcastle upon Tyne UK), Aye & Eye are pronounced the same but mean totally different things.

Aye means Yes and Eye......... well if your reading this well you'll know lol

van - fan

thought thaught

Quote by M1R
We are compiling a list of words that are often mistaken for one another in writing. Each pair or group has its own forum thread, with links provided below. This list is in alphabetical order, and word pairs that begin with different letters may be listed twice. It will be updated as more threads are added.

These are some of the most troublesome sets. For a fairly comprehensive list of sound-alike words, see Alan Cooper's Homonym List, and for a compilation of myriad mistakes often made in English usage, visit Paul Brians' Common Errors in English Usage.

• Areola - Aureole

• Because - Cause

• Click - Clique

• Complement - Compliment

• Discreet - Discrete

• Further - Farther

• Elicit - Illicit

• Faze - Phase

• Illicit - Elicit

• Loose - Lose

• Peak - Pique

• Phase - Faze

• Shutter - Shudder

• Their - There - They're

• Throes - Throws

• To - Too - Two

• Your - You're

One confusion I've recently hear fairly often is 'prostrate' instead of 'prostate'.

As a bicyclist, I've always been frustrated by the use of the word "ridged" when the writer meant "rigid." This happens both when describing a suspensionless bicycle fork and when describing an erect penis, and I've seen misuse of "ridged" both here and on bicycling forums.

I have long considered having an actual ridged fork (made from hexagonal or octagonal steel, perhaps) built as a joke, just to see how many people get it. I have not considered making the same joke involving my penis, however.

Quote by Lunafalls
There's a mistake that seems to be becoming more common in recent years -- people saying, and even writing, the nonexistent exclamation "Wallah!" when they obviously mean "Voila!".  I realize that many people who haven't studied French just don't know the correct word and are only saying and writing what they think they've been hearing.  But -- UGH.

That one drives me nuts too, and I've never studied French. You don't have to have studied the language, as it's widely used in English writing too, but you do have to be a reader who pays attention.

"Interpretive" versus "interpretative"

"Preventive" versus "preventative"

I believe that in both cases the shorter version is correct.

Another one that bugs me, though many dictionaries deem it acceptable and I frequently see it in the news media, is "loan" as a verb. No, I will not loan you twenty. I might lend you twenty if you ask nicely.

Guess - Guest

https://www.grammarly.com/blog/lay-lie/

Because it 🐻🐻 repeating.

Y'all should know, whenever I read "I take off my panties and I lay on the bed", I immediately picture your protagonist as a chicken for the rest of your story. 🤭

Affect. Effect.

sheer - shear