eduify | write faster

Well Confucious for sure didn’t invent confusion, but Miss Panama is clearly confused.

Luckily, Eduify is the writing coach that is always by your side. We know how easily language can become confusing, and how easily words can become confused with one another. Confucious does sound like confusion, regardless of whether you’re speaking Spanish or English, so it’s (sort of) understandable how in a moment of pressure, Miss Panama associated these words together.

There are so many words in the English language that we tend to associate together, even when they have little to do with one another. Here is a list of words whose usage is commonly confused, and an example of correct usage for each word.

1. accept/except: He accepted all his mother’s gifts, except for the ugly Christmas sweater she obviously got at Costco.
2. advice/advise: You are not advised to disregard Miss Cleo’s advice, as she can see into your future.
3. affect/ effect: Not having a pair of 3-D glasses negatively affected my appreciation of the special effects in Jonas Brothers 3D available on Blu Ray.
4. allot/ a lot: I’m going to allot some room in my stomach for a lot of this candy.
5. already/ all ready: It’s not yet noon and I’m already all ready to go!
6. all together/ altogether: This was altogether the worst meal we have eaten all together.
7. altar/alter: The altar I built in my room to the Twilight movie might alter my chances of landing a boyfriend.
8. beside/ besides: Besides, there’s already a piece of pizza beside you, so why do you need mine?
9. by/ bye/ buy: I will buy a good-bye present for my cousin at that new gas station by the 7-11.
10. canvas/ canvass: I am running for Mayor and would appreciate it if you canvassed for me by carrying this oil-on-canvas self-portrait of me all around town.
11. capital/ capitol: The capital of France is across the ocean from the Capitol buildings in Washington D.C.
12. cite/ site/ sight: I’m a law enforcement official, and I’m going to cite you for jay-walking within my sight, right here at the site of the crime.
13. clothes/ cloths: The cloth that he used to make those clothes was the most exquisite burlap.
14. coarse/ course: The coarse language she used toward her teacher of course landed her in detention during those years, and it was not surprising to anyone that she eventually landed in jail in her adult life.
15. complement/ compliment: The ranch dressing was a perfect complement to the wings, but it did not compliment my figure to continue eating it.
16. council/ counsel: The council of witches regularly meets to counsel the cats in the neighborhood on how to misbehave.
17. decent/ descent/ dissent: The descent of my grade from a decent B to an embarrassing F was the result of a dissent between my textbook and I.
18. desert/ dessert: The desert is no where to go looking for dessert involving mangoes or any other tropical fruit.
19. device/ devise: I devised a time-traveling device which, if properly used, will take me back to the time of the dinosaurs.
20. faint/ feint: I feinted ingeniously with 9P in my last game of chess with Cecil, and he was so taken aback he actually fainted over his Americano and petits fours.
21. farther/ further: I can go no farther on this journey until I read further in this book.
22. formally/ formerly: She’s not formally married to him right now, but she was formerly married to someone else before.
23. forth/ fourth: The fourth piece of pizza always does me in, until I am forced to go forth and lay down for a while.
24. here/ hear: If you put your ear here, to this shell, you can hear the ocean.

If you want to see more words commonly confused, check back tomorrow for words 25-50! This will be an ongoing series on Eduify’s blog of words commonly confused, to help you students differentiate between distinct ideas and write better and more clearly.

And always remember, if you have any confusion as to the usage of any of the above terms, make sure to look up the usage in a dictionary.