1. Commonly Confused Words

2. Farther vs. Further Farther – measurable distance
FUrther – figurative distance (Unmeasurable)
I live farther from school than you do.
I’m further in this book than you are.

3. Regardless vs. Irregardless
Regardless – this is a real word
Irregardless – THERE IS NO SUCH CREATURE!

4. Affect vs. Effect Affect – verb (action –affect an action)
Effect – noun (thing / result)
The zombie apocalypse affected the city greatly.
The zombie apocalypse had a great effect on the city.

5. A lot vs. alot A lot – a bunch, many, often, etc. Alot – not a word
You wouldn’t write acat, aman, abanana, or apickle, so don’t write alot!

6. Lose vs. Loose
Lose rhymes with booze (I ran through the alphabet; there aren’t a lot of words that rhyme with lose.)
Loose rhymes with noose and goose.

7. Compliment vs. Complement
Compliment with an I is flattery.
Complement with an E means it goes well with something; it completes something
He complimented her on how her shoes complemented her dress.

8. Counsel vs. Council
Counsel is usually a verb meaning to give advice, or a noun meaning advice.
Council is a group of people who gather for boring, administrative purposes.
Carrie counseled the town council on the importance of counseling the community.

9. Then vs. Than
Then signifies time. This happened, then this, then that, then this, then the other thing, then something else, and by then, Ms. Bostain figured we’d figured out what “then” means.
Than is a comparative. I like ice cream way more than I like getting punched in the face.

10. All together vs. altogether
All together – two words that together mean done collectively.
Altogether – entirely
You can break up “all together”. We sang the national anthem all together. (We all sang the national anthem together.)
You can’t break up sentences with “altogether”. We are altogether too exhausted to go farther on the trail. (We are all too exhausted together to go farther on the trail.)

11. Accept vs. Except Accept is a verb – to receive
Except –unless; excluding; sometimes verb meaning to leave out
I will accept all of the papers except the one you used as a tissue. That one you can keep.

12. Bare vs. Bear Bare – verb: to expose; adjective: exposed
Bear – 1. animal that will eat you 2. to hold, support, carry etc.
I bared my soul to you, but you were too busy bearing your own problems.