There are different reasons why we may confuse words that have different meanings or different uses in English. This handout attempts to bring together many that you might want to keep in mind. With the presentation of each set of confused words, sentences or explanations are provided to help you remember how they should be used. You can keep this list to refer to when you want. For now, read through the list making a small mark to the side of words you have misused before or words you feel you could misuse sometime. Then perform the exercise as described at the end of this sheet.

1. a, an - Use "a" before a consonant sound, "an" before a vowel sound: a car; an automobile; an honest man.
   
2. accept, except - "Accept" means to agree to, or to receive willingly: I gladly accept your gift. "Except" means to leave out, or to rule out: Everyone went except John.
   
3. affect, effect - To affect is to influence: His smoking affected his health. "Effect" is used primarily as a noun and means "result:". His smoking had a negative effect on his health.
   
4. allusion, illusion - You make an allusion when you refer to something indirectly; an illusion is something that is not really there.
   
5. breath, breathe - "Breath" is a noun, "breathe" is a verb: to take a deep breath to breathe deeply.
   
6. cite, site - To cite is to refer to or perhaps to quote. A site is a location: the site of the planned new office building.
   
7. conscience, conscious ? "Conscience" is a noun designating a moral sense of right and wrong: My conscience hurt me. "Conscious" is on adjective describing something that is awake or aware: The driver of the wrecked car was still conscious.
   
8. could of, should of, would of - All of these expressions are meaningless and should not be used. In informal speech, when we say "could have" it may sound like "could of." If we were to write what we hear, it would look like "could've," but in most kinds of writing it's best to use "could have, should have, or would have."
   
9. council, counsel - A council is a group of people who meet to consider, debate, or instruct. Counsel is advice. Also, a lawyer is a legal counsel, or adviser.
   
10. detract, distract - To detract (from) is to reduce, to take something away: The muddy field detracted from the usual crispness of the marching band. To distract is to draw attention away: The scent of a rabbit does not distract a well-trained bird dog.
    
11. Dual, duel - "Dual" means "double:" a dual carburetor. A duel is a battle between two opponents.
    
12. eminent, imminent - An eminent person is famous. Something is imminent it will happen soon.
    
13. fewer, less - Use "fewer" if you can count whatever you are talking about, "less" if you cannot: fewer comments; less discussion.
    
14. imply, infer - To imply is to suggest or hint at. To infer is to deduce or conclude.
    
15. its, it's - ''Its'' is possessive: The dog dropped its bone. ''It's'' means ''it is'' or (sometimes) "it has:" It's here. It's been here for three weeks.
    
16. personal, personnel - A personal letter. The personnel department of a large business.
    
17. prejudice, prejudiced - Use "prejudice" only as a noun: He has a prejudice against stupid people. Use "prejudiced" when you want on adjective to describe someone: John is prejudiced against stupid people.
    
18. principal, principle - If you remember that a principle is a rule, and that "principal" is the spelling for other meanings of the word, you should have no trouble: a principle of good behavior; the principal of a school; principal and interest; the principal cause of the fire.
    
19. supposed (to) - When you want to use the expression "supposed to," be sure you remember the "d:" I'm supposed to be in class in twenty minutes.
    
20. than, then - The thunder was noisier than before. Then the rain came.
    
21. their, there, they're - "Their" shows possession: The birds left their nests. "There" usually shows place: She stood there. "They're" means "they are:" They're coming!
    
22. to, too, two - They wanted to go to see the two elephants, too. Remember, "too" is used to mean "also" or "very."
    
23. use to, used to ? "Use to" is sometimes written for "used to," probably because we don't often hear the "d" clearly in speech. Be sure to include the "d" in writing: I used to be a student at that school.
    
24. whose, who's - "Whose" is possessive: the woman whose husband was late. "Who's" means "who is:" Who's that man in the corner?
    
25. your, you're - "Your" is possessive: This is your life. "You're" means "you are:" You're late!

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