I am always on the lookout for articles about improving a person’s writing and communication ability. below is a website where I found one such article. I’ve added a few additional comments and edited some of the entries. I hope you find this information as useful as I did.
Abstain and In Absentia
People often confuse abstain, which means to not do something, with in absentia, which means not present. They often end up combining the two to write abstentia, which is a non-existent word.
Adverse and Averse
Averse means dislike or opposed to. Add a “d” and you get adverse, which means harmful, which is a reason to be opposed to something. People should be averse to the possible adverse effects of using the wrong spelling.
Advice and Advise
These words are often confused, but the difference is simple: advise is a verb and advice is a noun. I’d advise you to make note of this advice.
Affect and Effect
The difference between these two words is a simple matter of cause and effect. Affect is usually a verb, and it means to impact or change, and the effect is the result.
Allusion and Illusion
An allusion is a reference; an illusion is something imagined or deceptive.
Amused and Bemused
Bemused originally meant bewildered or confused, but not in an amusing sense. Bemused, however, sounds so much like amused and has been used mistakenly as a synonym so often that some dictionaries have come to accept this additional meaning.
Assurance and Insurance
Insurance is a means of guaranteeing protection or safety in case something happens, such as with car insurance. Assurance provides a guarantee that something will happen, like assuring an applicant he or she would be accepted to college.
Aural and Oral
These two have related meanings: aural refers to the ear or hearing, and oral to the mouth or speaking.
Baited and Bated
“With bated breath” means nervously or anxiously; bated is hardly ever used in any other context, and people often wrongly spell it with an “i.” Baited is the past principle of bait, which means to tease or put a trap.
Bear and Bare
Although they are short and simple words, they mean very different things — and each has more than one meaning. Bear can mean carry or endure, bear with someone, or even give birth. It’s also a furry animal. As an adjective, bare can mean uncovered or simple; as a verb it means to expose.
Bazaar and Bizarre
A bazaar is a market. A bizarre bazaar is a strange market indeed.
Berth and Birth
A berth is where a ship moors or a passenger sleeps. Birth can be used as a noun, adjective, and verb in relation to having offspring.
Biannual and Biennial
Biannual means twice a year, while biennial means every two years.
Bloc and Block
Bloc means a group of nations or people united by a common interest. Block has a number of meanings, including prevent, as in block a bloc from working together.
Canvas and Canvass
Canvas is something you paint on or sleep under. To canvass means to solicit votes or support. One “s” makes all the difference.
Capitol and Capital
Congress meets in the United States Capitol, one of the most recognizable buildings in the world, which is located in the United States capital, Washington, D.C. — and people often mix up the two.
Censor and Censure
Censor means to remove or suppress content, while censure means to criticize.
Compliment and Complement
Compliment is a verb and noun meaning praise. Complement means goes well with. “My compliments to the chef. The eggs complement the bacon.”
Comprise and Compose
These two words have different meanings depending on whether you are talking about the whole or the parts: “The pizza is composed of dough and cheese and comprises eight slices.” (Some people say “comprised of,” although the “of” is redundant.)
Continuous and Continual
Continual means with interruptions, continuous means without any interruptions.
Council and Counsel
Counsel means advice or the person giving it, whereas a council is a group of people that advises or decides on different matters.
Criteria and Criterion
The difference is simple — criteria is the plural of criterion, although the singular is falling out of use in everyday English.
Desert and Dessert
People often confuse desert, the sandy place, and dessert, the sweet treat. The difference is only an “s,” but with desert, the first syllable is stressed, and with dessert, the second. Also, desert can mean to abandon someone or some place, as in a deserted town.
Discreet and Discrete
Discreet means unobtrusive, low key, whereas discrete means separate, individual. You can have discreet and discrete conversations.
Elicit and Illicit
Elicit means to draw out or evoke. You wouldn’t elicit praise for something that was illicit, however, as that means illegal or unapproved.
Evoke and Invoke
To evoke means to summon or call to mind, while to invoke means to call upon, as in, to invoke a rule of law.
Disinterested and Uninterested
Disinterested means neutral or not having a stake in the outcome, whereas uninterested means you just don’t care.
Ensure and Insure
To ensure means to make sure something happens; to insure means to cover something with an insurance policy, which almost always means you don’t want it to happen.
Faint and Feint
As a verb, to faint means to pass out, while to feint means to fake something, such as an attack. As an adjective, faint means slight or imperceptible.
Fewer and Less
Fewer should be used for things that can be counted, while less should be used for things that can’t be counted or don’t have a plural. Fewer grammar mistakes mean less embarrassment.
Flaunt and Flout
To flaunt means to show off, whereas to flout means to openly disregard a rule. You could flout convention by flaunting your wealth.
Flounder and Founder
To flounder means to struggle whereas to founder means to sink. Of course, flounder is also a fish, and they’re pretty good swimmers, so that might help you remember the distinction between the two. However, founder can also mean someone who builds something up, which is almost the opposite of to sink.
Forbear and Forebear
Forbear is a verb meaning to refrain from something. Forebear is a noun meaning ancestor. You wouldn’t be reading this if your forebears had decided to forbear.
Infer and Imply
To infer means to draw a conclusion, while to imply means to suggest something. Put simply, infer relates to getting information and drawing a conclusion from it, while implying is suggesting information.
Irregardless
Many people use irregardless the same as regardless. However, there is no such word. The word is regardless, pure and simple.
Learn and Teach
People sometimes confuse learn and teach. Teachers teach, students learn.
Literally
Literally literally means actually, but people often use it when they mean figuratively, which is something entirely different. We’ve all heard statements like, “I literally laughed my head off,” or “I literally died with embarrassment.” These are incorrect.
Moral and Morale
A moral is a lesson you draw from something. Morals are your standards or ethics. Morale is your mental or emotional state. It’s probably good for your morale to be a moral person.
Peak and Peek and Pique
A peak is the top of something, such as a mountain. To peek means to look briefly or glance at. Pique can mean to stimulate interest, but it can also mean to upset somebody. We hope we have piqued your interest and not piqued you.
Perpetrate and Perpetuate
Perpetrate means to commit or carry out something, such as a crime. Perpetuate means to prolong the existence of, possibly forever.
Pored and Poured
To pore means to read or focus on something carefully. I could pour you a drink while you pore over this.
Premier and Premiere
As an adjective, premier means first or most prominent. As a noun, it can be a synonym for prime minister. A premiere is the first time a movie or play is shown. A premier could attend a premiere.
Prescribe and Proscribe
These look-alike words can have opposite meanings. To prescribe means to order or recommend something, as doctors might do. To proscribe means to forbid something, as dictators might do.
Principle and Principal
A principle is a fundamental idea or rule, such as a principle of justice. Principal as an adjective means the most important as in, the principal principle. Principal as a noun means the head of an organization or institution, such as a company or school. The principal should be principled.
Rain and Rein and Reign
Rain falls from the sky; a rein is used to control a horse; and a monarch reigns over a country.
Sank and Sunk
Sank is the past tense of sink, as in the ship sank, while sunk is the past participle, as in the ship has sunk.
Stationary and Stationery
Stationary means standing still, while stationery relates to paper and other office supplies.
Systematic and Systemic
Systematic relates to the process or procedure by which something happens, while systemic means ingrained in the system.
Unique
People often say “very unique,” but strictly speaking nothing is very unique. Something is either unique, which means one of a kind, or not — there aren’t degrees of uniqueness.
To, Two, and Too
“To” is a preposition show direction, such as going to the store. Two is a number. Too means also, such as “me too.”
Farther and Further
Farther means going a greater distance. Further means going into great detail.
There, Their, and They’re
There is used for location. The car is over there. Their is used to show possession, such as that is their car. They’re is a contraction for the words “they are.” By the way, there is no such word as there’re; it’s always there are.
Zeid's Mysteries 