Kimberly Lang

Battling the Grammar Gremlins

Commonly Confused Words

Kimberly Lang

Recently, there was a spirited discussion on the PRO loops about “alright” vs. “all right.” Someone wished for a list of commonly confused words, and like the genie in the bottle, her wish is my command. Here, collected from grammar texts, websites, and student papers, is the first part of a list of words that sometimes trip up even the best of writers. (Definitions are from the Mirriam-Webster Tenth Edition.)

A LOT/ALLOT: A lot is two words meaning “many.” Allot (v) means “to assign a share or portion.” I see “allot” used frequently as Spell Check often suggests it for “alot.”

ACCEPT/EXCEPT: Accept (v) means “to receive.” Except (prep) means “excluding,” or as a verb means “to exclude.” [I accept all of the conditions except the last one.]

ADVERSE/AVERSE: Adverse means “unfavorable.” Averse means “opposed,” and is usually followed by “to.” (The sound of “averse to” has lead many to believe the word is “aversed”—nope.) [I am averse to your plan due to the possible adverse effects.]

AFFECT/EFFECT: Affect (v) means “to influence.” Effect (n) means “result.” Effect can also be used as a verb meaning “to bring about.” [Alcohol affects your driving skills. Spanking a child can have negative effects. Only Congress can effect a change in the laws.]

AGGRAVATE means “to make worse.” [The pollen aggravated my allergies.] The colloquial use of aggravate as “annoy or irritate” is incorrect.

ALL RIGHT is two words. “Alright” is non-standard.

ALLUDE/ELUDE: Allude means to make an indirect reference. (If it is a direct reference, use “refer,” not “allude.”) Elude means “to escape or avoid.” [Hemmingway alluded to John Donne in For Whom the Bell Tolls. The criminals eluded the police.]

ALLUSION/ILLUSION: Allusion is an indirect reference (see above). Illusion is a misconception. [Allusion is a literary term. Magicians use illusions.]

ALL READY/ALREADY: All ready (adj) means “prepared.” Already (adv) means “previously.” [The reports were all ready to go. She had already completed them.]

AMONG/BETWEEN: Use among if you have three or more items; use between with two. [I sat between Linda Howard and Nora Roberts. Sally sat among the flowers.]

ANY ONE/ANYONE: Any one refers to a particular noun in a group. Anyone is a pronoun meaning “any person at all.” [Anyone can ride a bike. Take any one of the books you’d like.]

ANXIOUS/EAGER: Anxious means “worried.” Eager is the word you want if you are looking forward to something. [I’m anxious about going to the dentist. I’m eager to meet your new boyfriend.]

BACK UP/BACKUP: Back up (two words) is a verb phrase. [Back up the car. Be sure to back up your hard drive.] Backup (one word) is a noun referring to a duplicate copy of data. [Where’s your backup?]

BATED/BAITED: You wait with bated breath. You baited the hook to go fishing. Waiting “with baited breath” implies something smells fishy…

CANNON/CANON: Armies point cannons at each other. A canon is a set of rules or collection of works. [The literary canon has often excluded women and minority writers.]

CAPITAL/CAPITOL: States have capitals. We also have capital letters. Businesses raise capital for a project. A Capitol is a building where lawmakers meet.

CENSOR/CENSURE: Censor means “to remove or suppress.” Censure means “to criticize severely.” [The college tried to censor the campus newspaper. Congress censured the President.]

CITE/SITE/SIGHT: Cite (v) means to quote or reference. Site (n) is a place. Sight (v, n, adj) involves vision. [Be sure to cite your reference material correctly. London has many famous sites to see. There was no end in sight.] Web pages are called “sites.”

CLIMACTIC/CLIMATIC: Climactic refers to “climax.” Climatic refers to “climate.” [You don’t want your climactic scene to be about climatic changes.]

COMPLIMENT/COMPLEMENT: A compliment (n) is a flattering remark, or as a verb means “to flatter.” Complement means “to go with or complete” or as a noun, means “something that completes.” [My husband complimented my new haircut. What a lovely compliment! White wine complements chicken dishes.]

COMPOSE/COMPRISE: Both are verbs, but compose means “to create or form,” while comprise means “to be made up of .” [I composed a poem comprised entirely of proper nouns.]

CONSCIENCE/CONSCIOUS: Your conscience (n) is that little voice in your head telling you not to do something. Conscious (adj) means “awake” or “aware.”

CONTINUAL/CONTINUOUS: This one is tricky. Continual means “frequently.” Continuous means “without interruption.” [It’s impossible to work with these continual interruptions. When the pipe broke, the water flow was continuous.]

COULD OF (and its friends may of, would of, should of, might of): These phrases don’t actually exist. These mistakes come from the pronunciation of the contractions “could’ve,” “would’ve,” etc.

COULD CARE LESS: This phrase is non-standard. The correct phrase is “Couldn’t care less.”

COUNCIL/COUNSEL: A council is a legislative body, like the City Council (members of that body are councilors). Counsel (v) means “to give advice,” and as a noun, refers to that advice. Those people who give you advice (including lawyers) are counselors.

DISINTERESTED/UNINTERESTED: Disinterested parties are impartial and unbiased. Uninterested people don’t care. [Arbitration brings in a disinterested third party to settle disputes. I invited her, but she was uninterested. ]

DUE TO: Don’t use this phrase as a preposition meaning “because of”: The trip was cancelled because of (*not “due to”) rain. Due to is a subject compliment and always follows a form of the verb “be.” [Her success is due to her hard work.]

ELICIT/ILLICIT: Elicit (v) means “to bring out or evoke”; illicit (adj) means unlawful. [The detective elicited information about illicit activities from the criminal.]

EMINENT/IMMINENT: Eminent means “outstanding” or “distinguished.” Imminent means “about to happen.” [My professor is an eminent scholar of British Literature. Once labor starts, delivery is imminent.]

EVENTUALLY/ULTIMATELY: This involves a fine shade of distinction for word choice. Use eventually to mean “at some unspecified point in the future.” Use ultimately to mean “furthest possible extent or greatest extreme.”

EXPLICIT/IMPLICIT: Explicit means “stated directly” or “clearly defined.” Implicit means “implied” or “unstated.”

EVERYDAY/ EVERY DAY: Everyday (adj) means “ordinary.” Every day (two words) means each day.

EVERYONE/EVERY ONE: Everyone is an indefinite pronoun referring to all the members of a group collectively. [Everyone is going to the picnic on Saturday.] Every one (two words) refers to each individual person or thing in a group. It is usually followed by “of.” [I found every one of the missing toys.]

That’s enough to get you started for a vacation month like June. If you really want more and can’t wait until next month, visit Paul Brians’ impressive web site of Common Errors at <www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/>. That should keep you busy until I get back…