Easily Confused Words List 2

Advice/Advise Advice: noun, meaning guidance "She gave me good advice." Advise: verb, meaning to offer guidance "She advised me to forget about it.”

Capital/Capitol Capital: the city or town that is the seat of government, or an upper case letter, or wealth. “She was amazed by the wealth and beauty of the buildings in the capital.” “I monogrammed the towel with a capital S.” “She had saved enough capital to start her own restaurant.” Capitol: the building in which the legislature meets “After 9/11 they increased the security that tourists go through to get into the capitol.”

Elicit/Illicit Elicit: verb, to draw out. Illicit: adjective, meaning unlawful. “No matter how hard I tried to elicit a few scandalous stories from her, she kept all knowledge of illicit goings-on discreetly to herself.”

Hear/Here Hear: verb, to perceive sound or to gain knowledge or information. Ends in ear “I couldn’t hear the announcements because people were talking.” Here: adverb, a close-by location “I told her she could spend the night here.”

Its/It’s It's: a contraction for IT IS Its: the possessive form of it: “It's a shame that we cannot talk about its color.”

Passed/Past Passed: verb, past tense and past participle of pass. Past: noun, time gone by or preposition, to get beyond “In the past decade, I passed over countless opportunities; I was determined not to let them get past me again.”

Two/Too/To Two: 2 belongs with other words that begin TW, like Twice and Twenty. Too: also, excess Note that extra O. It should remind you that this word has to do with adding more on to something. “I want some ice cream too.” “Your iPod is playing too loudly.” To: all the other uses. “I gave it to her. I like to talk.”