Easily Confused Words

4/8/16
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Confused and Misused

Wor ds and Phr ases
This presentation is
brought to you by
Grammar Bytes!,
2016 by Robin L.
Simmons.
Dude,
that s
advises,
with an s,
not a c.
No, you re
wrong. The
word should
be effect,
with an e.
Dude, the
right
word is
affect,
with an a.
This presentation
advices you on
words or
phrases that are
commonly
misused or
confused.
Sample Item
My friends ate at Tito s Taco Palace, so they
they re
re
A
hoping that their
their lunch
lunch stays
stays down,
down, for
for their
theirare
there
are
are
B
C
rumors that health inspectors cited the filthy kitchen.
At C, you need
Is the word
there, the
A.their
confused or
expletive, or
misused at A,
B.they re
placeholder,
B, or C?
form.
C.there
C.
here
D.No change is necessary.
On an objective test, an
item evaluating the skill
might look like this . . .
Re c o g n i ze m i s s p e l l e d / c o r r e c t l y
s p e l l e d wo r d s a n d p h r a s e s .
X
X
X
X
X
Alright
Alot
Rite
Should of
Suppose to
Spelled
wrong!
All right
A lot
Right, write
Should have
Supposed to
Spelled
correctly!
4/8/16
Re c o g n i ze t h e d i s t i n c t i o n s
a m o n g r e l at e d wo r d s .
3 or more;
Among my
friends
Noncount;
Amount of
butter
Adjective;
A good essay
Evident,
unambiguous
! Among Between " 2 only;
Between
Fred and me
! Amount Number "

! Good Well "
! Explicit Implicit "
Count;
Number of
cookies
Adverb;
He writes
well.
Implied,
ambiguous
Know these
differences!
K n ow t h e d i f fe r e n c e t h at a n
a p o s t r o p h e c a n m a ke .
Possessive
pronoun;
belonging to it
! Its It s "
Possessive
pronoun;
belonging to
whom
! Whose Who s "
Possessive
pronoun;
belonging to
you
! Your You re "
Possessive pronouns
never contain an
apostrophe.
Contraction for
it is or it has
Contraction for
who is or
who has
Contraction for
you are
Contractions do
contain an apostrophe.
K n ow t h e d i f fe r e n c e t h at a
s i n g l e n e w l e t t e r c a n m a ke .
Before a word
beginning with a
consonant [sound]
Before
! A An "
Before a word
beginning with a
vowel [sound]
! Already All ready "
Completely
prepared
! Idea Ideal "
The concept of
something
perfect
To suffer the
deprivation of
! Lose Loose "
Free from
restraint
Verb; past tense of

are
! Were Where "
A place
A thought or
conception
More to
learn!
K n ow t h e d i f fe r e n c e a ch a n g e t o
a s i n g l e l e t t e r c a n m a ke .
Noun form
Usually a verb
City, wealth,
important
! Advice Advise "
Verb form
! Affect Effect "
Usually a noun
! Capital Capitol "
The building for

lawmaking
! Cite Site "
A location
Rough
! Coarse Course "
Path, route
Praise
! Compliment Complement "
To quote
Put in place
! Set Sit "
Unchanging
! Stationary Stationery "
Indicates
comparison
! Than Then "
Goes well with

Be seated
Paper
Next
Why is English so
complicated?
Don t let these homonyms

[ s o u n d a l i ke wo r d s ] c o n f u s e yo u .
Agree to or receive
! Accept Except "
Plural present of the

verb be
! Are Our "
Past tense of pass

Go before
! Passed Past "

! Precede Proceed "
Leave out
Possessive pronoun;
belonging to us
Gone, by
Carry on
Chief [person], main ! Principal Principle " Truth or rule

Correct, a just claim,
a direction
! Right Write "
Make letters with an

instrument
Sight, touch, hearing,

smell, taste
! Sense Since "
Adverb, conjunction,
or preposition
View, glimpse
! Sight Site "
Past tense of throw
! Threw Through "
State of the
atmosphere
! Weather Whether "
A location
Beyond
Introduces an
alternative
My brain
is getting
full!
Relax,
dude, were
almost
there!
4/8/16
To, Too, Two
T here, T heir, T hey re

Use there as an expletive, a placeholder to
delay the subject.
Use to as a preposition.
Jonathan drove to the seafood shop.
There is a turtle in the road.
Use to to begin an infinitive.
Use there to indicate place.
He hoped to buy fresh squid.
Use too to show degree.
The squid was too expensive to purchase.

Use too as a synonym for also.
So too was the fresh octopus.
Use two when you mean the number.
Jonathan bought two flounder filets instead.
At many objective exams, you

can not use a dictionar y!
Across the road is a lake. The turtle hopes to get

there before a car hits him.
Use their as a possessive pronoun.
Most drivers don t see the turtle; their eyes are glued
to their cell phones.
Use they re as a contraction for they are.
They re also distracted by other devices, like the
radio and navigation system.
W hen in doubt, rel y on

gut feelings.
Your eyes have seen in print and your
brain has registered all of the possible
words that you will encounter for this skill. If
you don t recognize the right answer, go
with the one that feels right.
Hey, I ve seen
that word
before!
Quick Test
Item 1
Directions: In the items that follow, choose

the option that corrects an error in the
underlined portion(s). If no error exists, choose
No change is necessary.
Even though we warned Jake not to eat a whole

hole
hole
AA
pie at one sitting, he sat
sat at
at the
the kitchen
kitchen table
table and
and
B
proceeded to
proceeded
toconsume
consumeslice
sliceafter
afterslice.
slice.
C
Your
turn!
Let s see
what you
can do!
A.w
whole
hole
B.set
C.preceded
4/8/16
Item 2
Give Jerrod a compliment
compliment because
becausehis
hisshoe
shoe
A
laces complement
complement the
thecolors
colorsininhis
hisplaid
plaidshirt.
shirt.
B
His fashion sense
since
since isisisgradually
gradually
graduallyimproving.
improving.
improving.
CC
A.complement
B.compliment
C.sense
C.
ense
Item 4
Heed my advice,
advice, and
and don
don tt loose
looseyour
lose
your
yourreceipt.
receipt.
receipt.
A
BB
The college bookstore will not accept
accept any
any excuse
excuse
C
if you need to return those books.
A.advise
B.llose
ose
C.except
Item 6
Maybe Gerald
Maybe
Gerald is
is caught
caught in
in traffic,
traffic, or
or he
he maybe
maybe
may
be
A
BB
flirting with the cute cafeteria cashier. Either way,
don t accept
accept any
any excuse
excuse for
for his
his tardiness.
tardiness.
C
A.May be
B.m
may
ay be
be
C.except
Item 3
If you go by
by the
the supermarket,
supermarket, buy
buyaapackage
packageof
of
A
B
hotdog buns. Than
Than we
Then
we can
can grill
grill the
the sausage
sausage for
for
C
dinner.
A.buy
B.by
C.Then
C.
hen
Item 5
The herd
heard
heardofof
ofgazelle
gazelle
gazelleleaped
leaped
leapedthrough
through
throughthe
theair
airasas
AA
BB
the animals tried to elude
elude the
the cheetah.
cheetah.
C
A.h
herd
erd
B.threw
C.allude
Item 7
When there
there are
are fewer
fewerstudents
studentsininaaclass,
class,the
the
A
B
professor has fewer
less
less worries
worries
worries
that
that
that
everyone
everyone
everyone
is
isis
CC
getting individual attention.
A. their
B. less
C. fewer
C.
fewer
D. No change is necessary.
4/8/16
Item 8
We were successful baking 300 cupcakes for
We were successful baking 300 cupcakes for
A
the charity event, but today we re exhausted
the charity event, but today we re exhausted after
after
B
spending all night preparing the desserts.
spending all night preparing the desserts.
C
A.we re
A.we re
B.were
B.were
C.deserts
C.deserts
D.No change
D.
changeisisnecessary.
necessary.
Item 9
Gregory passed
passed his
his chemistry
chemistry final,
final, so
so now
now he
he
A
won t loose
loosehis
lose
his
hisscholarship.
scholarship.
scholarship.As
As
Ashe
he
hewalked
walked
walkedpast
past
past
B
CC
the diner, he rewarded himself with a milkshake.
A.past
B.llose
ose
C.passed
Item 10
Mr. Ramos hopes to accept
except
except the
the bid
bid on
on the
the house.
house.
A
He has agreed to all of the buyer s conditions
except retiling
except
retiling the
the master
master bathroom
bathroom since
sinceitit
B
C
would be too much work.
Grammar Bytes!
provides additional
handouts and exercises on
commonly confused
words.
chomp!
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A.accept
ccept
B.accept
C.sense
The End.
Watch where
you re going,
fool!

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4/8/16

Confused and Misused

! Among Between " 2 only;

! Amount Number "

! Whose Who s "

! Your You re "

! Already All ready "

! Idea Ideal "

! Lose Loose "

Verb; past tense of

! Were Where "

! Advice Advise "

! Affect Effect "

! Capital Capitol "

The building for

! Cite Site "

! Coarse Course "

! Compliment Complement "

! Set Sit "

! Stationary Stationery "

! Than Then "

Goes well with

Don t let these homonyms

! Accept Except "

Plural present of the

! Are Our "

Past tense of pass

! Passed Past "

Chief [person], main ! Principal Principle " Truth or rule

! Right Write "

Make letters with an

Sight, touch, hearing,

! Sense Since "

! Sight Site "

Past tense of throw

! Threw Through "

! Weather Whether "

To, Too, Two

T here, T heir, T hey re

Jonathan drove to the seafood shop.

There is a turtle in the road.

Use to to begin an infinitive.

Use there to indicate place.

He hoped to buy fresh squid.

Use too to show degree.

The squid was too expensive to purchase.

At many objective exams, you

Across the road is a lake. The turtle hopes to get

Use their as a possessive pronoun.

W hen in doubt, rel y on

Directions: In the items that follow, choose

Even though we warned Jake not to eat a whole

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