Words Often Confused
These pairs look or sound alike but differ in meaning or part of speech. Decide what the blank needs (noun, verb, adjective) and what the sentence means.
| Pair | Difference |
|---|---|
| affect / effect | affect = verb (influence); effect = noun (result) |
| accept / except | receive / other than |
| advice / advise | noun / verb |
| principal / principle | head of a school; chief / rule, belief |
| stationery / stationary | paper, pens / not moving |
| loose / lose | not tight / misplace |
| than / then | comparison / after that |
| weather / whether | climate / if |
| lay / lie | lay (put) – laid – laid; lie (rest) – lay – lain |
| raise / rise | raise something (transitive) / rise by itself |
| hanged / hung | executed (person) / suspended (thing) |
| beside / besides | next to / in addition to |
| breath / breathe / breadth | noun / verb / width |
| council / counsel | body of people / advice, lawyer |
| desert / dessert | abandon; sandy region / sweet dish |
| famous / notorious | known for good / known for bad |
| legible / eligible | readable / qualified |
| intelligent / intelligible | clever / understandable |
| comprehensive / comprehensible | complete / understandable |
| respectful / respectable / respective | showing respect / deserving respect / belonging to each |
| beneficial / beneficiary | helpful / one who receives a benefit |
| patient / patience | sick person; calm (adj.) / calm waiting (noun) |
| fewer / less | countable / uncountable |
| each other / one another | two / more than two |