Easy to Confuse

Easily confused words this week! Because I’ve been busy and don’t have time to do all the research for the Language of Confusion.

Hoard/horde

Did someone mention this one to me? If so, I forgot to note it down, sorry :P. Anyway, hoard and horde, which would make good words to etymologize. As far as I know, horde (a crowd) can only be a noun, while hoard (store or stockpile) can be a noun and a verb. Just remember: zombies come in hordes. Both end in e. Well, technically e-s, but that’s only because they’re plural.

Lose/loose

I know I saw this one somewhere and it made me want to reach through the internet and shake whoever did it. These ones aren’t even homophones! Lose is the opposite of win, loose is the opposite of tight. Now if I could only get everyone on the internet to read this post.

Incite/Intice(Entice)

Okay, this one is just something I do all the time. I always, always write entice with an i, and then it autocorrects to incite, which is an actual word, unlike intice. I have no idea why I do this. I suppose I should be more forgiving of people who screw up lose and loose…

Breath/breathe

This is another one I see all the time. Both refer to air going in and out of the lungs, but one is a noun, the other is the verb. People forget the e, not knowing how important it is. It’s so magical that it changes the “ea” from sounding like “eh” to sounding like “ee”. I guess it’s linguistomancy.

Bare/bear

And finally we have another word that I will mix up if I don’t stop to think about it. Bare is the more narrow word, referring to things that are empty or exposed. Bear can be an animal, or a verb for withstanding/carrying and several other applications. Basically, I usually want bear.

Do you have any words that you mix up or always get wrong? What do you do to keep words straight when you’re writing?

Easy to Confuse

As I am rather time-crunched right now and want to do something easy, here are more words that are easy to confuse.

Wander/wonder

I can’t remember where I saw these confused, but I know I did stop to yell at the whatever I was reading (I want to say something on the internet, so maybe I shouldn’t be so surprised). To whoever it was who erred: wander is to meander, to drift. Wonder is thinking, marveling at how someone could mistake the two words (like I should be one to judge :P).

Board/bored/boarder/border

Darn homophones. It took years for me to remember how to distinguish the two. Bored can be shortened to bore, but board can’t be shortened to boar. Well, it can, but I’m pretty sure boars and boards aren’t related. The boarder/border thing is even more confusing! I wonder why board- plus -er equals a renter? I’m sure there’s some weird explanation for it. I’ll have to etymologize it sometime. As to how to tell them apart…okay, I admit, I have to double check to make sure I’m using them right.

Wring/ring

The w is important! Remember, wring is always a verb. Ring only sometimes is. If you want to talk to someone, you ring them on the phone. Add that w and you’ll end up choking them, and you might not want to do that.

Hay/hey (suggested by Hillary)

I’ve only seen these confused a couple of times, usually people using “hey” as something horses eat. I only wish I was talented enough to draw a horse eating a greeting, because that would be a hilarious way to end this. Anyway, just remember, “hay” goes into the mouth, and “hey” comes out of it.

Heel/heal

The ee and ea digraphs are the worst. Different letters should not sound the same! No wonder it’s easy to try to heel a person of their illness or be unable to walk due to a pain in your heal. I have no good way to keep these separate in my mind. I guess I’m lucky I don’t have to use them much. Any ideas?

PS. This post is number 777, plus I have 77 followers. But I’m still putting up another on Saturday. I hope you appreciate what I do for you.

Easy to Confuse

Wow, I haven’t done an easily confused words post all year! I can’t believe I’ve been slacking. Forgive me, Grammar Police Chief Melissa.

Anyway! What do we have this time?

Do/Due

These are words I mix up without even thinking about it. I mean due, and I stick do in there instead. It doesn’t help that do is such a versatile word. Besides being one of the most basic verbs in all of English, it’s part of a lot of idioms, like a “to do” (a party) or “do in” a murder. Due often has to do with something that should happen at a particular time, like the rent is due at the first of the month. There are a few other ways to use it, like a due course, where it means direct, and because of (I’m late due to the molasses spill in Boston). You might just need to check every use of do/due in your MS to make sure it’s right…

Knob/nob

Yeah, I didn’t know nob was a word either, but there it is. No red squiggly line or anything. It has a few different meanings, including slang for a head and a person of high society. It’s not used much anymore, so unless you’re talking about hobnobbing, you should stick a K in front of there.

Wrest/rest

Funny how much difference one little W can make—you certainly can’t rest if you’re wresting! Ha! Well, I thought it was funny. But it should make it easy to tell them apart. Wrest is something that requires action. Rest is the exact opposite. Oh, but wrest can also mean a small key for tuning a stringed instrument. But you probably won’t need that information (just in case, though).

Arch/arc

This one always confuses me, because arch and arc seem so similar. An arc is part of the curve of a circle (or the light between two electrodes). An arch is a curved piece of architecture—or anything curved really, like the arch of your foot. Plus, it can also mean the highest level of something (an archangel or an arch-villain). I just remind myself that unless it has to do with electricity or part of a circle, use arch.

Alter/altar

Luckily these aren’t too difficult to discern since they’re always used as seperate parts of speech, a verb and a noun. An altar is a raised platform used in religious ceremony, so as long as you remember the noun is the one with the a, you should be all set.

Okay, that’s it for this rendition of Easily Confused Words. Do you have any words that you can’t help but mess up?

I’m Still Finding Words That Are Easy to Confuse

Sigh. Melissa is taking a blogging break. I so loved Grammar Police Mondays. Really. I’m not even exaggerating. If it’s about words and word usage, I will love it.

Anyway, with her off being with her family because I suppose that’s more important than us, here’s another set of easily confused words and how not to confuse them.

Mariticide is the killing of your husband. Matricide is the killing of your mother. You don’t want to mix those up. The consequences would be terrible. Remember, killing your mom is just killing your dad with an m instead of a p.

Chord/cord, suggested by Kate Larkendale way back during my last Confused Words post. I know Latin liked to distinguish words of Greek origin by using ch for the hard k sound, but do we still have to do it in English? It’s been like fifteen hundred years. It seems like we can let it go. But if people insist upon using it, remember that cord is either wood or a rope/cable, while chord has to do with music. Or a bunch of esoteric meanings in geometry, engineering and aeronautics.

Current/currant

I had to write current for something and I spelled it with an a because I do that with words a lot (any word that ends with -ent or -ant, I WILL spell it with the wrong vowel every freaking time). A red, squiggly line didn’t pop up underneath. Turns out currant is a real word, a type of raisin. I had no idea that it was a real word. Or that there were types of raisins.

Creek/creak

Another word I have to mention because I mix it up. A creek is a body of water, while a creak is a noise. I don’t know of an easy way to tell them apart. You just have to remember that double e is water and e-a is sound.

Route/root/rout

This one is super annoying because root is always root (pronounced so it rhymes with boot), rout is always rout (pronounced so it’s out with an r in front), but route can be pronounced root or rout. It’s like they were designed for the specific purpose of sowing confusion. Just don’t forget that e when you mean a road/path, otherwise you’re writing about something completely different.

So this is the last word/etymology post of the year : ). I hope you loved them as much as I did!

…You didn’t love them as much as I did. Well, tough. I’m never going to stop.

There are Still More Words that are Easy to Confuse

Is it that time again already? I feel like I’ve just done this, but sometimes I see a word and go “no, that’s not what it’s supposed to be” and then I go a little crazy. Well, crazier.

Aught/ought

I think this is another one Lizmentioned months ago. If you’ll remember my post about “nothing”, aught is a version of the word naught that got the n dropped off. But it’s also a completely different word that means “anything whatever”, “any part”, or “at all”. Then we have ought, which basically means should. How do you tell them apart? Um…you know what? People don’t use them much anymore. Let’s just erase them both from existence. That should do it.

Taught/taut

Darn homophones. They make everything so confusing. But taught is what a teacher does (in the past tense). Taut is what a rope does. A teacher with a rope has taught with a taut piece of line. You don’t mess with that teacher.

Reek/wreak

Although the ea digraph has a few different pronunciations (think of read or lead), the ee one only has one, the long e, and because wreak is like the present tense read, these two are also homophones. Reek goes with smell (two e’s, two l’s), and wreak goes with havoc (no clever way to remember this one, sorry, but it has nothing to do with odor so you should be able to keep them straight that way). And for bonus confusion, there’s also wreck.

Bridal/bridle

If a hotel offers a “Bridle Suite” be very suspicious. See, bridle is what goes on a horse. Bridal is what has to do with a wedding. I always thought these words were confusing because bridle has an e in it like bride, but it was pretty easy to train myself to remember which is which. Sadly, I’ve seen evidence that not everyone has done this…

Decadent/decedent

The annoying part of these words is that they sound nothing alike. Deck-a-dent and de-see-dent, because c is an annoying letter that sounds like both kuh and suh and we should just get rid of it. Always, always double check them (and I’m talking to myself here, but feel free to do so yourself).

Yet More Words that are Easy to Confuse

Yes, this again. Honestly, almost half of this list is from Liz’s suggestions. Looking at these, I have to say that English would make a lot more sense if there were not so many homophones (or, English wood make allot moor cense if their whir knot sew many homophones).

Casualty/causality

These words aren’t homophones, but they’re spellings are close enough that it’s easy to type the wrong thing. Casualty is death…which isn’t very casual, now that I think about it. Causality on the other hand is from cause, like cause and effect.

Latter/ladder/later

I hate that every time I write about a ladder, I have to pause and which one is the thing you climb on. Latter is the second thing—that’s literally the definition, the second of two objects. It should be easy to remember because it sounds like later, which is always a time period, but I still have to think about it.

Roll/Role

I can understand the confusion of this one. Roll can mean both a piece of bread, anything coiled up, or cyclical motion while role is a part/function (etymologically, role comes from roll, so that’s why they sound alike). The easiest way to tell them apart is to remember that role is abstract, like you play a role in a movie or have a role in society. Anything else is roll.

Principle/principal

Anyone else think of that silly “the principal is your pal (get it?!).” saying anytime they hear this? No? Just me then? Unfortunately, it doesn’t help much when you’re trying to construct a sentence about an important subject and you write that it’s “principle”. You just have to keep in mind that principle is always something like a law, while principal means highest. Oh, and the phrases are always “in/on principle”.

Birth/berth

Have I written about these before? Whatever. I’m too lazy to go check. Anyway, birth always has to do with having a child or producing something new. Berth is either a sleeping space or a place for a vessel to rest (I guess a ship’s sleeping space). And if you’re trying to avoid something, you give it a wide berth. Remember: berth means space.

Further Words that are Easy to Confuse

It’s been too long since I’ve done this. I don’t know how there aren’t more words that confuse me.

Sheer/shear

I’m terrible with these words. Sheer has a ridiculous variety of meanings. It can mean transparent, pure, utter, steep, and in reference to ships, swerve. On the other hand, shear always means something to do with cutting, like shear a sheep or another word for scissors. But it’s hard to tell them apart! I try to remember that shear always goes with sheep, which reminds me that it has to do with shaving. And anything else gets sheer.

Elicit/illicit

Words with similar sounds but completely different meanings are the bane of my existence. Illicit means illegal, and it’s easy to remember if you remind yourself they both start with “ill”. Elicit is a synonym for evoke. Again, both start with e’s. Why are they so close in spelling? Well, it’s all about the prefixes. The ex- prefix often loses the x (think of emigration or the above mentioned evoke) and for the in- prefix loses the n and picks up an l in front of words that start with l (like licit and legal) [http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=in-&allowed_in_frame=0]. And also because languages are confusing.

Personal/personnel

This one I’ve come across once or twice. I’ve also made the error myself a few times, but that’s more because personnel is one of those words that for some reason I can’t spell for the life of me (I always do one n and two l’s…really). The definition of personal is between you and me. The definition of personnel is a group of employees. Although “a personal” seems like a good name for a group of psychologists.

Breech/breach

I’m mentioning this one because I totally mixed them up in one of my WIPs, and if you know the definitions, that’s kind of an issue. For those who don’t know (like the me from last week), breech means the rear part of anything, but more specifically humans. It means butt, is what I’m saying. And I used it when I needed to say breach, as in rupture. I tell you, “breeching the gate” makes for some awkward visuals.

Plumb/plum

Just brought up because it’s bit of a problem to read “plum the depths of my soul”. Plum means only one thing:

I plummed my soul once. Turned the entire thing into fruit.

It’s a fruit, for always and ever. If you’re talking about measuring the depth of water (or the human soul), perpendicular or vertical, or complete (in a colloquial sense), then stick that b on there.

Even More Words that Are Easy to Confuse

Words can be confusing. They sound the same but mean something completely different. Or they seem to mean the same thing but they really don’t. Because language is designed just to mess with our heads. Here’s another set of words that you should keep in mind.

Cheep/cheap

The first is the sound a bird makes. The second is in regards to money. I have to remind myself of that every time I use one of these words, otherwise I’ll end up writing entire paragraphs about the cheepness of someone who refuses to spend a lot of money…again (no I’m not showing it to you. Too embarrassing). The easiest way I’ve found to remember is that cheep is a synonym for tweet and both have two e’s, and that birds generally don’t have enough money to be cheap in the first place.

Hanger/hangar

I’ve seen these words mixed up lots of times. They’re homophones and it’s easy to forget that the place where a plane goes is spelled with an a at the end. Just remember: a plane can’t land in a hanger. It can land on one, but it’s very unlikely ; ).

Phase/faze

More homophones. I’ve actually not seen faze used in its proper sense much, but I’ve seen people who talk about the fazes of the moon and it makes me cringe (not any of my writer friends, thankfully). Unless you’re talking about someone’s perturbed reaction, it’s phase.

Mistrust/distrust

A lot of people use these interchangeably, but there is a subtle difference. Mistrust is a general feeling, a gut reaction, whereas distrust is based on past experience. You may mistrust someone at first sight because they look or act suspicious, but if there’s someone you know has betrayed someone and you’re wary of them doing the same to you, you’re distrustful of them.

Slander/libel

These words are easy to mix up, but libel refers to defamation by printed words or pictures (like from a newspaper or magazine) and slander is defamation by an oral statement (say, on television). If you need a synonym for defame, slander is probably your best bet.

More Words That Are Easy To Confuse

Yep, here’s another one. Because it’s fun?

Sure, why not?

Discreet/Discrete

I am terrible with these words. They’re so similar, the only difference being two letters switched around. Discreet is subtle, close-mouthed. Discrete is separate, different, and also a branch of mathematics. When you want to be quiet, you’re discrete. When you want to be apart, you’re discrete.

Secret/secrete

For some reason, the word secret (as in confidential) always looks like it’s spelled wrong to me. I add an e and then when editing, realize my characters don’t exude ooze to each other. However, the most frustratingly confusing part is that there is another definition of secrete, which means to conceal or hide away (they secrete you away to an undisclosed location). That does not make them easier to tell apart! Lucky for us, secret is either a noun or an adjective, while secrete is a verb. You can remember which one to use by knowing which part of speech you need.

A while/awhile

This is what happens when a word is created by combining two words, and we still use the two separate words as a common phrase. Like the above, you can remember this by knowing parts of speech. “Awhile” is an adverb: “I have awhile to write”, where awhile describes the amount of time I can write for. “A while” is a noun. You would say “I have to go write for a while” or “In a while, I’m going to start editing”. A while is often used after a preposition, like for and in, so be sure to watch for that.

Past/passed

Passed is past tense of pass (Yes, I’m aware three forms of the same verb are in that clause, but bear with me) while past appears as an adjective, noun, adverb and preposition (basically, every form but verb). So pay attention to how you use it. Past tense verb is always passed. Everything else is past. That sounds like a deep saying, but it’s not.

Who/whom

In order to gain some understanding on the who versus whom debacle, I suggest reading the Grammar Girl’s several postson the subject. I know I can’t explain it as well as she can, and it took her three posts to get all the details. Basically, who is for subjects, whom is for objects.

Bonus tip for the last one: write first person YA like I do, that way you can blame any errors on an uninformed teenager.

More Words that Are Easy to Confuse

Supposedly and supposeably.

            Only the former is a word. The latter sounds like it could be, which is probably why people mess it up. But it’s not and any time you use it a puppy dies.

Duel and dual.

            This is another case of meaning something completely different but being similar in spelling. And identical in pronunciation. The former is walk-ten-paces-turn-and-fire, the latter is related to two/double.

Then and than.

            I know it’s “and then” when I’m continuing a topic, and “larger/smaller than” when comparing something. But still I catch myself writing “and than” and “smaller then”. Darn homophones. No wonder people have such a hard time picking up English.

Peak/peek/pique

            I haaaate these words. Pique I’m good with, mostly because I hardly ever find need to use it—irritation and annoyance work better in YA—but every time I have to write about a character peering at something or the top of a mountain, I have to think about it. This isn’t even an exaggerating. Every dang time. Remember: ee for looking, ea for an apex.

Affect/effect

            Not only are these words spelled similarly, their meanings are similar, too. Both are related to the word influence, with affect meaning to act on and effect meaning something that was acted on. Affecting something means you have an effect on it. Thoroughly confused yet? Yeah, me too. The only real tip I have for this one is that ninety five percent of the time you don’t use effect as a verb and when you do, it always has an object with it (as in, “it effected change throughout the system”). Need an independent verb? You probably want affect. A noun? Since affect doesn’t come in noun form, go with effect.

Any tips for keeping track of words? Have any suggestions for confusing words?

More Words That Are Easy to Mix Up

Maybe it’s because I visit forums too much, but I see words used wrong all. the. time.

Hm. I’m thinking there shouldn’t be a “maybe” in that sentence. Anyway, while using words in an incorrect, yet socially accepted manner isn’t a bad thing, although it might push people’s editorial Berserk Buttons. Will misusing them cause dismissal by an agent/editor/publisher? Probably not. But then, what do I know? It’s not like I’ve been published.

Perpetrate/perpetuate

This is one of those that’s easy to confuse because of similar spellings rather than misinterpretation. Perpetrate is to act, while to perpetuate is to continue forever. But switch that u for an r and boom! Wrong word.

Hopefully

I have to admit: this one drives me crazy. And I have no idea why. I guess I’m annoying like that. But hopefully means “in a manner full of hope” and people tend to use it in sentences like “Hopefully no one figures out I’m slowly poisoning them with arsenic.” If you put in a synonym like confidently, surely or optimistically, the sentence descends into meaninglessness. It would be more correct to say “with luck” or “I hope”. Then I can sleep at night because a word wasn’t misused.

Lie/lay

I’m actually much better at using this word than I used to be. The rule that helped me is that you yourself lie down, but you lay something else down. This is really confusing because the past tense of lie is, wait for it, lay. Yes, “An hour ago, he lay down and went to sleep” is correct, at least in the past tense. Note that this is only for the recline sense of lie. For the untruth sense, of course this rule doesn’t apply because that would make things slightly easier.

Perverse/perverted

I’m sure we could go to the Online Etymology Dictionary and find out that these two words are related. However, as they are used today in the English language, they are slightly different. Perverse is more doing something that is wrong on purpose, like saying “I’m going to lay down” when you’ve just read the above paragraph. If any of you are parents of teenagers, think of pretty much anything they’ve said to you ever. Perverted on the other hand has a more negative connotation. Perverse may be willful wrongness, but perverted is completely twisted against all that we know is right.

Lightening/Lightning

Obviously, people don’t confuse these two subjects. They do, however, confuse the spelling. I check my manuscripts for each of these because at least once per book I’ve messed them up. I blame my left middle finger. It should know that being shocked isn’t caused by lightening but it presses that “e” anyway.

Overall, this probably doesn’t matter much. Language evolves the way it wants to. Or rather, the way we want it to. Maybe I should start driving a word differently and see if it catches on.