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Notorious Confusables

Terms

undefined, object
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You're/your
You're doing your own homework, I hope.
effect/affect
What effect does this have on you? How does it affect you?
They're/their/there
They're driving their new car over there this afternoon.
allude/elude
She would often allude to her childhood, when she would elude her brothers in a game of hide-and-seek.
loath/loathe
I am loath to associate with people who loathe me.
aide/aid/AIDS
The teacher's aide more than once came to the aid of her supervisor. [AIDS, the acronym for Acquired Immuno-Deficiency Syndrome, is spelled in all caps.]
lightning/lightening
The lightning striking all around them, the sailors proceeded in their task of lightening the cargo
a lot/allot
We need a lot (two words!) of money. She will allot funds according to need.
perimeter/parameters
The two lawyers walked around the perimeter of the estate as they discussed the parameters of the case.
averse/adverse
I am averse to traveling in such adverse weather conditions.
inflicted/afflicted
The tyrant inflicted great hardship on the people. They felt afflicted with his harsh regime.
ensure/insure
We would like to ensure good weather for our company picnic, but our insurance company won't insure good weather with an inexpensive policy.
lies/lay/lain
She lies down, lay down, has lain down, is lying down
assent/ascent
When they got the assent of the weather bureau, they allowed the enormous balloon to begin its ascent.
principal/principles
The high school principal said today that the principal problem with today's youth is their lack of moral principles
advice/advise
I need your advice. Please advise me on this.
stationery/stationary
The stationery department, where they sell envelopes and writing paper, is in a stationary place.
adolescents/adolescence
The trouble with many adolescents is that they never seem to grow out of adolescence.
lays/laid/laying
She lays it down, laid it down, has laid it down, is laying it down. (The verb to lay takes an object; to lie doesn't.)
a while/awhile
I'll be back in a while. Can you wait awhile? (Awhile [one word] is an adverb that can modify a verb.)
personal/personnel
The personnel office had a great deal of personal information in its files.
adjured/abjure
The minister adjured his wayward congregation to abjure the sins of the flesh.
than/then
I'm taller than my father. Let's eat first; then we'll go to the movies.
capitol/capital
We went over to the capitol to see the legislators. The capital of Connecticut is Hartford. The state is running out of capital.
immigrated/emigrate
They have immigrated to this city from all over eastern Europe; later on, they may decide to emigrate elsewhere.
accept/except
3. I would accept your excuse, except the part about losing the watch.
purposefully/purposely
The troops moved purposefully toward their doom, relying on the false information their leaders had purposely given them.
conscious/conscience
She didn't seem conscious of the fact that her husband has no conscience.
quiet/quite/quit
We'll have to be quite quiet. Quit making noise!
eminent/imminent
They were afraid that this eminent figure in world politics was in imminent danger of being killed
threw/through/thorough
He threw a baseball right through the neighbor's front window. The neighbor made a thorough report to the police.
illicit/elicit
How did the politicians plan to elicit these obviously illicit campaign funds without getting caught?
incidence/incidents
The incidence of incidents involving racist slurs has become intolerable.
amoral/immoral
Sometimes it seems more shocking to be amoral than to be immoral .
oral/aural/verbal
He made an oral commitment to speak on the biological, aural aspects of listening. He has extraordinary verbal skills.
chose/choose
I chose the red balloon. Now you choose a balloon of another color.

Its/it's
What is its color? It's green. It's been a long, long time.
access/excess
The number of students who wanted access to the computer labs was in excess of two hundred.
complimented/complemented
She complimented her sister on the way her scarf complemented her blouse.
discreet/discrete
They kept their love affair discreet by living discrete lives
farther/further
I can run farther than you, but let's discuss that further after the race.
explicit/implicit
The document now makes explicit what had been only implicit in the shifty eyes of the negotiator.
especially/specially
He especially likes coffee ice-cream. Every week, his wife buys some specially for him.
illusion/allusion
In preparing for his most spectacular illusion, the magician made an allusion to the magic of Houdini.

Deck Info

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