1. Homonyms and Commonly Misspelled Words

2. Commonly Confused Words Here are some words whose meanings are commonly confused: accept/except accept means to take or agree. She accepted the gift. except means something different. Everyone except John went to the party.

3. Commonly Confused Words affect/effect affect means to change something. The weather affects her sinuses effect means the result. The effect of the weather is sinus congestion. The word affect is a verb. It is used only to show action on something. The word effect is primarily used as a noun (person, place, thing).

4. Commonly Confused Words Although the word effect is actually also a verb, it is not usually used as a verb. As a verb, it means to bring about: She effected a proper response in writing. The safest way to avoid an affect/effect error is simple to use affect as a verb (action) and effect as a noun (person, place, thing).

5. Commonly Confused Words cite/site/sight cite means to refer to or name someone or something. She cited the rule for commas. site is a noun meaning place or location. The construction site was fenced off. sight refers to what is seen. The accident was a terrible sight.

6. Commonly Confused Words everyday/every day everyday is an adjective. She wore her everyday shoes to the dance. every day is a combination of an adjective and a noun used when you mean each and every day. I go to school every day. (I go to school each day.)

7. Commonly Confused Words its/its its shows possession (his, hers, yours, ours, theirs, its). The cat licked its paw. its is a contraction (it is = its; it has = its). Its a good day. Its been a good day.

8. Commonly Confused Words lose/loose Lose is a verb meaning misplace. I always lose my keys. loose is an adjective. The belt was loose. (Think of moose.)

9. Commonly Confused Words principle/principal principle is a noun or an adjective meaning central idea. The principle idea was to cut costs. principal is a noun meaning head of a school. The principal had a meeting with the teachers.

10. Commonly Confused Words soul/sole soul is a noun meaning spirit. Many believe that the human soul is immortal. sole is an adjective meaning the only one. She was the sole beneficiary under the will.

11. Commonly Confused Words stationary/stationery stationery is writing paper. He wrote on a note on his personal stationery. stationary means stable and unmoving. She attached the bookshelf to the wall in order to make the bookshelf stationary.

12. Commonly Confused Words then/than then refers to a sequence in time. He went to the store then to the gym. than is used for comparison. He would rather go to the store than to the gym.

13. Commonly Confused Words theyre/there/their theyre is the contraction for they are. Theyre going to the store. (They are going to the store.) there refers to a place. Put it over there. Their is a possessive pronoun. They forgot their coats.

14. Commonly Confused Words to/too to is a preposition denoting towards something. She went to the store. too is an word meaning in addition to or also. He went to the store too.

15. Commonly Confused Words until/till until – a word referring to a time. She waited until he came home. till – a noun meaning money box or a verb referring to getting the soil ready for planting. The farmers till the soil Note: The proper abbreviation for until is til. See how an apostrophe replaces the omitted letters un.

16. Commonly Confused Words weather/whether weather refers to the climate outside. The weather was cold and rainy. whether is a word showing an alternative. She will run whether or not it is raining.

17. Commonly Confused Words where/were where means in what place. The chairs are where the table is. were is the past plural form of the verb to be. They were in the corner.

18. Commonly Confused Words whose/whos whose is a relative pronoun referring to a person or thing. Whose bike is this? The father whose daughter was suspended went to school to see the principal. whos is the contraction for who is. Whos the owner of this bike?

19. Commonly Misspelled Words: nonetheless – not none the less all right – not alright cannot – not can not each other – not eachother through – not thru congratulations – not congradulations kindergarten – not kindergarden til is the abbreviation for until – not til or till (the goes in the place of the omitted letters)

20. Words with More than One Spelling: There are some words that have more than one acceptable spelling. However, you should use the spelling that is listed first in the dictionary and use that spelling consistently throughout. gray – grey. Gray is the standard usage in America while grey is the British spelling. judgment – judgement. Judgment is the standard American usage. color – colour. Color is the standard American usage.

21. Foreign words Quoted material in another language must have the accents and any other marks from the original quote. While many words from foreign languages have been incorporated into and are commonly used in Standard English: ad hoc laissez-faire etc. bayou cantina

22. Foreign Words Other foreign words and phrases not commonly used are still considered foreign and should be in italics. bambina (baby girl) mon dieux (my God) poco a poco (little by little) A favorite expression in New Orleans is Laissez les bon temps rouler. Always consult a dictionary when you are not sure.