1. Word Usage Notes Created By, Ms. Duke

2. Accept / Except  Accept-“to agree” Except-“with the exclusion of”  I will accept all of the recommendations except the last one.

3. Advice / Advise  Advise-“to recommend” Advice-“council”  I advised my friend not to give me any more advice.

4. Affect / Effect  Affect-“to influence” Effect-“the result”  The secret ingredients affected the effect of the experiment.

5. Among / Between  Among-“three or more” Between-“two”  The apple pie was split among my four sisters and the banana was split between my sister and I.

6. Its / It’s  Its-“Possessive Pronoun”It’s-“It is”  It’s time to let the department increase its budget.

7. Lay / Lie  Lay-“to put” Lie-“to rest”  Lay the books on the table then lie down to rest.

8. Loose / Lose  Loose- “not fastened” Lose-“to be unable to find”  Do not lose the loose change in your pocket.

9. Past / Passed  Past-“earlier” Passed-“to move on or by” Passed-“to move on or by”  The people passed a new law at the past meeting.

10. Principle / Principal  Principle-“rule or law” Principal-“the leader at our school” Principal-“the leader at our school”  The principal follows his own principles while governing the school.

11. Sit / Set  Sit-“to be seated” Set- “to place”  Set your pencil on your desk then sit in your chair.

12. Stationary / Stationery  Stationary-“remaining in one place” Stationery-“writing paper” Stationery-“writing paper”  The stationery that I write on is stationary.

13. There / Their / They’re  There-“location” Their- “people” They’re-“They are”  They’re keeping their belongings there.

14. Sight / Site / Cite  Sight-“Eyesight” Site- “Location” Cite- “Document sources”  The sight of the building at the site was extraordinary.

15. Personal / Personnel  Personal-“private or belonging to one person” Personnel-“employees”  The letter was personal, which means that it was not meant for the other personnel to see.