4 SpellingCommon Words that Sound Alike.docx

4 SpellingCommon Words that Sound Alike.docx

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4SpellingCommonWordsthatSoundAlike

Spelling:

Accept/ExceptandAffect/Effect

Errorsinwritingthatinvolvesound-alikewords（homophones）areknownas"wrongword"errors.Sucherrorsaremoresignificantthansimplespellingmistakes,sincetheyinvolveword-levelconfusion,notmerelyincorrectspellingofthecorrectword.Twocommonsourcesofwrongworderrorsarethehomophonepairsaccept/exceptandaffect/effect.

AcceptandExcept

Meaningsforthemostcommonuses:

ac•cept（transitiveverb）[MiddleEnglish,fromMiddleFrenchaccepter,fromLatinacceptare,frequentativeofacciperetoreceive,fromad-toward+caperetotake]

1a:

toreceivewillinglyb:

tobeableordesignedtotakeorhold（somethingappliedoradded）

2:

togiveadmittanceorapproval

3a:

toendurewithoutprotestorreactionb:

toregardasproper,normal,orinevitablec:

torecognizeastrue;believe

4a:

tomakeafavorableresponsetob:

toagreetoundertake（aresponsibility）

5:

toassumeanobligationtopay;also:

totakeinpayment

1.ex•cept（preposition）[Originallypastparticiple;seemeaning3,below]withtheexclusionorexceptionof

2.ex•cept（conjunction）

1:

onanyotherconditionthanthat;unless

2:

withthefollowingexception

3:

only（oftenfollowedbythat）

Meaningsforlesscommonuses:

3.ex•cept（transitiveverb）[Latinexceptus,pastparticipleofexciperetotakeordrawout,toexcept;ex-out+caperetotake]

Totakeorleaveout（anything）fromanumberorawhole;toexclude;toomit

Wouldyouliketotryaninteractiveexerciseonusingacceptandexceptcorrectly?

AffectandEffect

Meaningsforthemostcommonuses:

Affect

1.af•fect（transitiveverb）[MiddleEnglish,fromaffectus,pastparticipleofafficere]

toproduceaneffectupon,asa:

toproduceamaterialinfluenceuponoralterationinb:

toactupon（asapersonoraperson'smindorfeelings）soastobringaboutaresponse;influence

Effect

1.ef•fect（noun）[MiddleEnglish,fromMiddleFrench&Latin;MiddleFrench,fromLatineffectus,fromefficeretobringabout,fromex-out（of）+faceretomake,do]

1a:

purport;intentb:

basicmeaning;essence

2:

somethingthatinevitablyfollowsanantecedent（asacauseoragent）

3:

anoutwardsign;appearance

4:

accomplishment;fulfillment

5:

powertobringaboutaresult;influence

6plural:

movableproperty;goods

7a:

adistinctiveimpressionb:

thecreationofadesiredimpressionc

（1）:

somethingdesignedtoproduceadistinctiveordesiredimpression,usuallyusedinplural

（2）plural:

specialeffects

8:

thequalityorstateofbeingoperative;operation

ineffect:

insubstance;virtually

totheeffect:

withthemeaning

Meaningsforlesscommonuses:

Affect:

2.af•fect（transitiveverb）

1:

tomakeadisplayoflikingorusing;cultivate

2:

toputonapretenseof;feign

3.af•fect（noun）[pronunciation:

stressonfirstsyllable,unlikeverbformsofthisword]

theconscioussubjectiveaspectofanemotionconsideredapartfrombodilychanges

Effect

2.ef•fect（transitiveverb）

1:

tocausetocomeintobeing

2a:

tobringaboutoftenbysurmountingobstacles;accomplishb:

toputintooperation

Usage:

Theconfusionoftheverbsaffectandeffectnotonlyisquitecommonbuthasalonghistory.Theverbeffectwasusedinplaceofaffect（1,above）asearlyas1494andinplaceofaffect（2,above）asearlyas1652.Ifyouthinkyouwanttousetheverbeffectbutarenotcertain,checkthedefinitionshere.Thenounaffectissometimesmistakenlyusedforthenouneffect.Exceptwhenyourtopicispsychology,youwillseldomneedthenounaffect.

Spelling:

CommonWordsthatSoundAlike

Manywordssoundalikebutmeandifferentthingswhenputintowriting.Thislistwillhelpyoudistinguishbetweensomeofthemorecommonwordsthatsoundalike.Clickonanyoftheblueunderlinedlinkstoopenalongerandmorecompletedefinitionofthewordinanewwindow.

Advise,Advice

∙advise=verbthatmeanstorecommend,suggest,orcounsel:

Iadviseyoutobecautious.

∙advice=nounthatmeansanopinionorrecommendationaboutwhatcouldorshouldbedone:

I'dliketoaskforyouradviceonthismatter.

Conscious,Conscience

∙conscious=adjectivemeaningawake,perceiving:

Despiteaheadinjury,thepatientremainedconscious.

∙conscience=nounmeaningthesenseofobligationtobegood:

Chriswouldn'tcheatbecausehisconsciencewouldn'tlethim.

Idea,Ideal

∙idea=nounmeaningathought,belief,orconceptionheldinthemind,orageneralnotionorconceptionformedbygeneralization:

Jenniferhadabrilliantidea--she'dgototheWritingLabforhelpwithherpapers!

∙ideal=nounmeaningsomethingorsomeonethatembodiesperfection,oranultimateobjectorendeavor:

Mickeywastheidealfortutorseverywhere.

∙ideal=adjectivemeaningembodyinganultimatestandardofexcellenceorperfection,orthebest;Jenniferwasanidealstudent.

Its,It's

∙its=possessiveadjective（possesiveformofthepronounit）:

Thecrabhadanunusualgrowthonitsshell.

∙it's=contractionforitisorithas（inaverbphrase）:

It'sstillraining;it'sbeenrainingforthreedays.（Pronounshaveapostrophesonlywhentwowordsarebeingshortenedintoone.）

Lead,Led

∙lead=nounreferringtoadensemetallicelement:

TheX-raytechnicianworeavestlinedwithlead.

∙led=past-tenseandpast-participleformoftheverbtolead,meaningtoguideordirect:

Theevidenceledthejurytoreachaunanimousdecision.

Than,Then

Than

usedincomparisonstatements:

HeisricherthanI.

usedinstatementsofpreference:

Iwouldratherdancethaneat.

usedtosuggestquantitiesbeyondaspecifiedamount:

Readmorethanthefirstparagraph.

Then

atimeotherthannow:

Hewasyoungerthen.Shewillstarthernewjobthen.

nextintime,space,ororder:

Firstwemuststudy;thenwecanplay.

suggestingalogicalconclusion:

Ifyou'vestudiedhard,thentheexamshouldbenoproblem.

Their,There,They're

∙Their=possessivepronoun:

Theygottheirbooks.

∙There=thatplace:

Myhouseisoverthere.（Thisisaplaceword,andsoitcontainsthewordhere.）

∙They're=contractionfortheyare:

They'remakingdinner.（Pronounshaveapostrophesonlywhentwowordsarebeingshortenedintoone.）

To,Too,Two

∙To=preposition,orfirstpartoftheinfinitiveformofaverb:

Theywenttothelaketoswim.

∙Too=very,also:

Iwastootiredtocontinue.Iwashungry,too.

∙Two=thenumber2:

Twostudentsscoredbelowpassingontheexam.

Two,twelve,andbetweenareallwordsrelatedtothenumber2,andallcontaintheletterstw.

Toocanmeanalsoorcanbeanintensifier,andyoumightsaythatitcontainsanextrao（"onetoomany"）

We're,Where,Were

∙We're=contractionforweare:

We'regladtohelp.（Pronounshaveapostrophesonlywhentwowordsarebeingshortenedintoone.）

∙Where=location:

Whereareyougoing?

（Thisisaplaceword,andsoitcontainsthewordhere.）

∙Were=apasttenseformoftheverbbe:

Theywerewalkingsidebyside.

Your,You're

∙Your=possessivepronoun:

Yourshoesareuntied.

∙You're=contractionforyouare:

You'rewalkingaroundwithyourshoesuntied.（Pronounshaveapostrophesonlywhentwowordsarebeingshortenedintoone.）

OneWordorTwo?

Allready/already

∙allready:

usedasanadjectivetoexpresscompletepreparedness

∙already:

anadverbexpressingtime

AtlastIwasallreadytogo,buteveryonehadalreadyleft.

Allright/alright

∙allright:

usedasanadjectiveoradverb;olderandmoreformalspelling,morecommoninscientific&academicwriting:

Willyoubeallrightonyourown?

∙alright:

Alternatespellingofallright;lessfrequentbutusedofteninjournalisticandbusinesspublications,andespeciallycommonin

fictionaldialogue:

Hedoesalrightinschool.

Alltogether/altogether

∙alltogether:

anadverbmeaningconsideredasawhole,summedup:

Alltogether,therewerethirty-twostudentsatthemuseum.

∙altogether:

anintensifyingadverbmeaningwholly,completely,entirely:

Hiscommentraisesanaltogetherdifferentproblem.

Anyone/anyone

∙anyone:

apronounmeaninganypersonatall:

Anyonewhocansolvethisproblemdeservesanaward.

∙anyone:

apairedadjectiveandnounmeaningaspecificiteminagroup;