Most Commonly Misused Words in the English Language
86English can be a tough language to get one’s head around, especially for those for whom English is a second language. However, even for native English speakers, written English in particular can be tricky and confusing. When I read the works of some over here, or when I see articles and forum discussions on the Internet, I come across a lot of words that are misused – as in they think they are using the right word, when in fact they are using a similar word which means something very different from the meaning they had intended to convey. The Internet is replete with such misused words. As an author, it is imperative that your work has credibility and knowing what these common errors are can make your articles more professional and credible. So, what are these common English mistakes that people make? Let’s discuss a few of them below!!
Common English Error # 1: Advice versus Advise
advice (noun) - advice with the "c" is the noun - which means a recommendation or counsel.
Example: I was happy to offer advice.
advise (verb) - advise with the "s" is the verb - which means an advice or counsel that you are giving someone.
Example: I advised him to plead guilty.
HINT: You give or ask someone for advice. You advise someone on a course of action.
Common English Error # 2: Loose versus Lose
loose (adjective) -- not rigidly fastened or securely attached.
lose (verb) -- to miss from one's possession or customary place; to fail to keep
HINT: If you lose a few pounds your jeans might be loose.
Common English Error # 3: Accept versus Except
accept (verb) -- to receive willingly ; to give admittance or approval to
Example: I accept my shortcomings.
except (conjunction/preposition) -- with the exclusion or exception of
Example: I like that dress except for the trim.
Common English Error # 4: Effect versus Affect
affect - to have an influence on or effect a change in
Example: How does global warming affect humans?
effect - something brought about by a cause or agent; a result.
Example: The effect of global warming on the environment is a matter of concern.
Common English Error # 5: Complement versus Compliment
Complement: Something that fills up, completes or makes perfect.
Example: These two colors complement each other very well.
Compliment: An expression of courtesy; a flattering remark
Example: That was the sweetest compliment ever!
Common English Error # 6: ELICIT versus ILLICIT
Elicit - means to draw forth or bring out
Example: The persistent questioning elicited the truth from the convict.
Illicit - means something unlawful / not permitted
Example: He takes no illicit drugs.
Common English Error # 7: Stationary versus Stationery
stationary - fixed in position ; immobile
Example: The accident victim was told to keep his arm stationary until help arrived.
stationery - writing materials such as paper, pens and ink
Example: The letter was written on stationery that had an emblem on it.
Common English Error # 8: Aid versus Aide
aid – help (to provide with something useful, or to give assistance)
aide – helper (a person who gives assistance, or acts as an assistant)
HINT: With the “e” at the end is the person.
Common English Error # 9: Maybe versus May be
maybe – perhaps or possibly (as in something might happen)
Example: Maybe you will win the lottery some day. (can substitute ‘maybe’ with ‘perhaps’)
may be – has the ability to happen (as in implies something can happen)
Example: She may be in distress.
Common English Error # 10: Every day versus everyday
every day – means each day individually
Example: The school is open every day except Sunday.
everyday – (acts as an adjective) --- means: frequent or often
Example: Fireworks are not an everyday event.
Common English Error # 11: already versus all ready
already – previously / ‘by a specified time’
Example: By the time I arrived, he was already there.
all ready – each individual is ready (or all set)
Example: We are all ready for our French exam.
Common English Error # 12: principal versus principle
principal (noun/adjective) --- means highest in rank / main / chief, etc. Usually referenced in regards to the ‘principal of the school’ or in cases where a chief reason is being attributed to.
Example: principal cause of the ……..
principle (noun) --- means a basic truth, rule or a method
Example: He is a man of principle. OR The principles of physics.
Common English Error # 13: some time versus sometime
some time - an extended period of time
Example: I will make some time to see you.
Here the word “time” acts as a noun and the word “some” acts as an adjective describing time.
sometime - at some unspecified point of time
Example: We lost touch sometime last year.
Sometime is an adverb telling when.
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Well, these are just 13 of the most commonly misused English words. There are lots of other English words that confuse and confound native English speakers as well as those for whom English is a second language.
Part 2 of this hub can be found here - Commonly Misused English Words - Part 2
Part 3 of this hub can be found here - Commonly Misused English Words - Part 3
Another hub on a similar theme can be found here - How to use Commas
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Thank you Shalini for stopping by this hub. Always nice to see you around :)
That's so true Shalini. Spell checker only checks the spelling. It does not check whether you've used the right word. So, if spell check gives you the "all OK," it might not necessarily mean that you've used the correct words!!
Thanks again, Shalini, appreciate your comments!!
SHil, thanks for the refresher course. I have bookmarked this so I can refer back to it.
Thank you samboiam for dropping by and for your comments. You are welcome - I loved writing this hub :)
You are right Shil,I have used some such words and regret till date,I used them. Thanks for bringing to knowledge.
Thank you Suny for dropping by and for your comments :)
Shil - I want to give advice to the principal by advising him to stick to his principles and accept his students except when they are engaged in illicit actions that elicit punishment.
I would write more but the voices are coming back again.
Thanks for the imaginative hub.
You got that right drbj, that was quite clever!! Thank you for stopping by and for sharing this wonderful example :)
Very useful Hub. I think I need to bookmark it for reference. :) Advice and advise has always confused me. Can you help me with awaken vs awoken? I may sound stupid but I can never remember the difference... if there is a difference.
Please, Please can you include Decimate and then send an open Email to all news channels with a request to educate their editors and reporters to stop using the word when they really mean Devastate.
For example Hurricane So and So devastated the entire area, it did not kill every tenth person....
Thank you, Kim, for stopping by and for your comments. As far as the awaken versus awoken question - they both have more or less the same meaning.
Personally, I just trust my instinct on this one. You almost always know which one to use!!
He was awoken. He will awaken. (if you try substituting one with the other, it will read odd).
I have awoken/woken up. I am awakenening/waking up.
Hope that helped a bit, Kim. Thanks again for stopping by this hub!!
Oh yes, Merlin, that's one of the classics, isn't it?
Decimate - well, originally it was supposed to mean the killing of every 10th soldier (in Roman times) for mutiny, if I remember correctly. In modern usage, this has come to mean the killing/loss of a part of a larger group - one could say 10% of the larger group/part.
Devastate on the other hand means to lay waste to/overwhelm/ravage.
The example you gave, they should really be using the word "devastate" in reference to the hurricane, but I guess the news media/channels are more in love with the word "decimate." You are quite right. Hurricanes do devastate lands but need not decimate populations!!
I am afraid I don't have the powers to educate the high-and-mighty news reporters/editors. They are a power unto themselves!!
Thanks for your response to my previous comment, Shil. Yes, it was very helpful.
Thank you, Kim, for responding. I am glad you found it helpful. You are welcome :)
Hi shil
A very educational and interesting hub!
Amber:)
Thank you Amber for stopping by this hub. Glad you found it educational and interesting. Thanks again :)
My dearest Shil...
Great hub! Amazingly enough we see these common mistakes in native speakers, because of the written form. Of course, we non-native speakers also incur in such mistakes, but since we were forced to learn proper grammar to be able to reach a native level, we tend to be very careful with that. Excellent topic. Rated up and useful!
Warmest hugs and infinite heavenly blessings,
Al
P.S
I am still learning, in spite of the fact that I´ve been writing and speaking English for over 25 years.
Thank you dearest Al for stopping by - its always nice to have you around and hear your interesting perspectives!!
Yes, native speakers do make a lot of these mistakes and I agree that non-native speakers tend to be more careful, although they would have to really learn the language well to understand the intricacies!!
Al, you are not alone - I too am learning. You come across new words, nuances all the time. You never stop learning - there will always be something you don't know!!
Thanks again Al for stopping by - always a pleasure to communicate with you :)
Shil: Excellent hub! It's all so very true! :)
Thank you Mary for dropping by this hub and for your appreciation of it. Thank you for your comments :)
Shil: Great list. Thanks. I did find one of your own in your hub: "Different than." I believe it should be, "different from." Of course, they've changed a lot of things since I was in school, but I tend to stay with old school. I think I'm going to enjoy your hubs.
Thank you MM for stopping by this hub!! Thanks for pointing that out - fixed it!! Guess I missed that one :)
Thanks again for visiting MM!!
Shil - Check this pair: clamoring vs. clambering.(Close only counts in love and in horseshoe tossing.)
Gus :-)))
I think people also tend to confuse there, their & they're. And it's vs. its.
Good info you've got here. Thanks for hubbing!
Thank you Gus and Goji for stopping by this hub!! Gus, made a note of that :)
Goji, yes those are some commonly misused words as well. Perhaps, I'd write on those in my next hub.
Thanks again both of you for stopping by and commenting :)
Your descriptions and comments on the affect/effect mistakes were very helpful. For some reason I have always struggled with the use of those words.
Thank you Jarrod for visiting this hub. Yes, the affect/effect confusion is quite widespread and I've seen these being used interchangeably!!
Am glad you found this hub helpful in resolving the confusion.
Thanks again for stopping by Jarrod :)
Yes you are definitely right about those common mistakes.It happen many times probably by me and others too!Thank you for giving some ideas to correct it!
Thank you sord87 for stopping by this hub. Am glad you found this hub useful. Thank you for taking the time to comment :)
Very nice hub. I actually learned something today :)
Thank you iwritegood for stopping by this hub. Glad you found this hub useful :)
Thanks for your kind comments!!
I like this hub cuz I'm kinda compulsive about this stuff. I'm guessing you are too. Here are a couple more: council and counsel-My teacher counseled me to attend the student council meeting to voice my concerns.
imply & infer-My new friend implied that my lateness inconvenienced her, from which I inferred she was a stickler for punctuality.
Thank you 'i scribble' for stopping by! Yes, I am much like you :)
Nice additions too, thanks for those :)
Good hub! I used to remember the advice and advise difference by "ice" which is a noun. If it contains ice, it's a noun. Oh, and the principal is your 'pal' :)
Thank you SilverGenes for stopping by and for your appreciation of this hub. Those are some nice tips indeed. Thank you for sharing :)
Thanks for the guide :D
Thank you Kishorilal for stopping by and commenting!!
I like when people use "penultimate" when they mean "ultimate."
People often use "enervate" when they mean "energize."
And don't get me started about people that do not know how to use the singular possessive of words ending with an "s." :) Nice hub.
Nice additions Sylvie. Oh yes, the singular possessive! I love them! Perhaps, I'd write another hub covering that as well.
Thanks again Sylvie for stopping by and commenting :)
Thanks for pointing out a great list of written errors. Now, if you do one on spoken English, pleas start off with people saying fortayyyyyy when, in spite of the spelling, forte is still just plain ol' fort in pronunciation.
Whoops! PLEASE pardon the spelling error, actually typo (since my keyboard doesn't always cooperate with me).
Hey Ron, if I were to do another one on spoken English, I honestly wouldn't know where to start. I mean there are just so many words that are pronounced one way and spelled another, but it is an interesting challenge. So, I might just give it a shot!!
Spelling error pardoned Ron :) It happens to all of us, those darn typos!! As long as we know we made an error and can change it before it goes out - all is well.
I guess you missed out on the 5 minute edit time and unfortunately I can't change it either here, but its cool Ron - this is no test :)
Thanks for stopping by and commenting!!
What about there and their? people are constantly getting them confused!
I also think that Microsoft word has something to do with spelling errors, America seem to have adopted the English language by changing certain spellings, which is only going to confuse people more especially those who are learning the language as it is one of the hardest to learn.
Thank you 'littleones' for stopping by and commenting!! Yes, 'there' and 'their' - another set of words commonly misused.
For those who get confused with this particular set of words, I'd recommend this tip to remember which one means what!
There = T + ( here ) = 'here' - as in a place.
Their = T + ( heir ) = 'heir' - as in possessing it or owning it.
I don't quite like it there. (place)
I love their house. (possession/owning)
American and UK spellings do differ. Examples being color (US) versus colour (UK), neighbor (US) versus neighbour (UK). There are many other words like these and they do confuse!
Personally, I try to use spellings based on who my audience is, or who I am writing to but I can see why this might be very confusing to folks learning the English language (non-native speakers)!!
Shil,this is an incredibly useful article, one that I must admit to needing from time to time. A bookmark, rate up and pass along...thank you!!!
Thank you Madison for stopping by and commenting. Am glad you found this article useful! Thanks also for all the nice things, much appreciated :)
Right on ! Our English language is getting hammered in this day and age with all the texting going on. Excellent Hub and most informative.
That was very helpful. As a non-native English speaker I find it quite useful. It is the commonly used words I think that often cause the most confusion. May be because we are more serious about the figurative words.Looking forward to see more on this topic.
Thank you Cybersupe for stopping by and commenting. Yes, texting has had a profoundly negative impact on the English language. Quite unfortunate that! Glad you found this hub informative. Thanks again for your comments!!
Oishi, I agree! The most commonly used words are the ones that cause the most confusion and yes, perhaps, it could be because we assume that we know about it all and focus on other less common words.
I do hope to write a followup hub on this topic, so be tuned in :)
Thanks again for stopping by and for your comments!!
So glad you wrote this article and gave such great practical and useful examples. As a non-native speaker I know better than most how difficult English can be (just wrote a hub about "the never ending challenge"). Bookmarked for sure and will link this hub to mine if you don't mind. Thank you
Well done!
Thank you Petra for stopping by and commenting - glad you found this hub useful.
Yes, English can be quite difficult for non-native speakers, but you'd be surprised at the errors native speakers make! It is a wonderful language but it can be quite confusing.
I don't mind Petra - in fact, that would be quite nice of you to do so!! Thanks again for stopping by and commenting!!
Iceman - thank you for the appreciation. Thanks for visiting this hub and commenting!!
I thank you for writing this article. I would add one of my execrations: refute. People often use refute when then mean rebuke, rescind, or even repudiate. I guess my issue is with specificity - but whatever.
Thanks so much for writing this article! I learned a lot! I also learned my grammar is totally off! Thanks again!8)
Thank you Paul for stopping by and commenting. Yes, that's another one. There are just so many of them! Thanks for pointing that one out :)
Gbearl - it was a pleasure writing this hub. Am glad you found it useful. Thanks for stopping by and commenting!!
Hi Shil! Very informative hub. Although that these English words are commonly used yet they are commonly misused. It is nice to know, as a reminder, that we should be aware of these common mistakes as this might just change things the way it should be. Nice hub.=)
Thank you Jeanie for stopping by and commenting. Yes, what you say is true - reason why I thought of writing a hub on this subject!!
Thank you for your words of appreciation and thank you once again for visiting this hub :)
What a good idea for a hub. As a teacher, I come across these mistakes quite often. Thanks for choosing (that's choose not chose, lol) a few of the synonyms that bug me the most.:)
Yes, but there are so many. As I am in China I see lots of the mistakes in the public arena. I have not read your other posts, but I have two favourites. Smile/Smell, and Snacks/snakes.
Thank you Steele for stopping by and commenting. Yes, some of these mistakes are all too common, especially on the Internet! This hub was a pleasure to write!!
Aussieteacher, great additions!! I'd imagine those two are examples of mistakes made often by the Chinese. If so, would be understandable. There are quite a few of them that ESL students find very tricky!!
Thank you AT for stopping by and commenting!!
Good grief! I've been doing #5 FOREVER! And now thanks to you, I'll never be able to get it out of my mind:) Great hub!
Splitty Booms - Thank you for stopping by and commenting! Yes, #5 can be a tricky one for some people. Am glad you know the difference between them now :)
...I am not a native English speaker so this is quite useful for me, thank you very much for sharing!^.^
Very informative hub. Thanks for sharing.
Pinkhawk - thank you for stopping by and commenting! Glad you found this hub useful. Thanks again for visiting :)
Samman - thank you for stopping by and commenting as well!! Glad you found this hub informative :)
Every time I see something written about this topic, I have to laugh! It's almost always the same words...over and over, and over! Thank you for bringing more attention to this. Even with my own awareness, there are a couple on your list that I struggle with, too.
MG - yes, it is funny, isn't it :) Thank you for stopping by and commenting!!
Great hub. A couple of my pet peeve misused words
--honed in instead of homed in (as in homing pigeon)
--inferred for implied as in "He inferred that he was coming." (Incorrect.) He implied that he was coming. (Correct.)
--repore for rapport as in "He established good repore with the audience." (wrong) "He established good rapport with the group." (correct)
Thank you Ralph for stopping by and commenting. Those are some great additions, thank you for sharing!!
Thanks for writing this Hub. I bookmarked it. You pointed out a few errors that I have made from time to time. Some of us could use a little tweaking in English writing and grammar skills. I have also seen internet writing which requires a complete overhaul. LOL.
I am very poor in vocabulary. This post give me very good interest to learning vocabulay. In my area where telugu is primary speaking language it is tougher to learn good english words.
AOkay - thank you for stopping by and commenting. Yes, most Internet writing is, well, influenced by personal interpretation of the English language - relying on spellcheck doesn't always work, especially when you need to know which word to use.
Most of the words above won't show up in spellcheck as an error. Am glad you found this hub useful enough to bookmark. Thanks again for visiting :)
Maruthirp - I hope you can improve your knowledge of the English language. It can be hard but you can master it with persistence. Good luck to you Maruthirp. Thanks for stopping by and commenting!!
Perceive and conceive?
Alicia - I am working on part 3 of this series. Would discuss this in that hub!! Thanks for stopping by and for the suggestion!!
Great hub. There are times when we misspell a word, thus creating a word with a different meaning, and we don't even realize it until someone points it out.
I've seen people misuse they're/there/their. That is a very common one. And of course as you say there are many more misused or perhaps simply misspelled words out there.
Thanks for sharing.
I've learned that sometimes we need to ask someone to read over our own writing and look for typos because sometimes we just don't see our own typos, even though they are right under our noses.
Lena
Thank you Lena for stopping by and commenting. Yes, editing one's own work can be difficult. It doesn't help if you don't know the difference between words like "loose/lose," "affect/effect," etc.
Someone else, who knows better, may be able to point out these errors. However, you can see your own obvious errors/typos by looking at your work from a fresh perspective.
If you revise your work after some time (an hour or so later), you can catch your obvious typos/errors. Thanks again for commenting Lena!!
I really like this, because I really needed it. Especially because, at times I have a problem on how to use the phrase, "some time." I'm going to bookmark these hubs for future reference.
I am always falling victim to affect, and effect... I know which one I should use, then I doubt myself, and then I end up using the one I knew I should have in the first place. I'm with the others, I'm going to bookmark it for future reference.
FF - Glad you found this hub useful enough to bookmark. Always nice to have you around! Thank you for stopping by and commenting!!
SCMG - the affect/effect one can be tough, but not impossible. Am sure you can master it! Thanks for stopping by and commenting!!
very helpful indeed :D ~ especially for newbies :D
Thank you Uriel for stopping by and commenting. Glad you found this hub helpful!!
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! A must bookmark for sure. And I love the hints you added a sure sign of a great teacher.
Makes me think how I can probably count on one hand hints like this I learned from teachers in school. And we all know once you learn something this way you never forget it.
Just look at righty tighty lefty loosey ( note not losey) who can forget that. Now as long as you can remember which is your right and which is left your set.
~I hold the pencil in this hand, got it~ Lol
Oh and did I say Thank you!
A new fan for sure~ Robert
Thank you, Robert, for stopping by and commenting. Thank you also for your very kind words :)
English is a screwy language. I didn't realized how messed up it was until I tried to learn Spanish. I used to get so angry when irregular words popped up, the kind of word that changes completely depending on tense. It was then that I realized English is filled with irregular words. Like, why is 'went' the past tense of 'go'? By our language rules the right one should be 'goed'. And I'm sure it makes non-native speakers just as angry as I was when I tried to learn Spanish (actually more so because Spanish isn't as bad as English). But anyway, I'm getting off topic. This is a great list. I'm a writer and I didn't even realize some of these little differences. Great job!
Yes, MTD, English is a tough language to master for non-native speakers. However, I've been surprised at the many errors native speakers make. In fact, on some occasions, non-native speakers do a much better job with written English than native speakers.
We all learn something new each day!! Thank you, MTD, for stopping by and commenting. Appreciate you visiting this hub and sharing your perspective :)
Hi Shil,
Great hub here! I'll take your 'advice' and look out for these ;)
Thank you Shauky for stopping by and commenting. Am glad you liked this hub :)
Words for #5 are ones I often get mixed up. Thanks for clarifying. Great hub, very useful!
Thank you, mythbuster, for stopping by and commenting. Yes, #5 can be tricky for some. Glad you found this hub useful :)
Reading this is a great way to bone up on common mistakes in English. I know I need it, being out of school for almost thirty years.
Thank you, Angel, for stopping by and commenting. I hope this hub helps you :)
A very useful reminder of using the correct forms of words at the correct times. These days, people rely far too much on spell check, yet they fail to realize that spell check does not equal grammar check!
Thanks, Shil1978.
Thank you, Shona, for stopping by and commenting. We do need reminders, don't we? Yes, people do rely on spell check far too often these days. Hope they realize reading this hub the pitfalls of relying too much on spell check. Thanks again for stopping by and commenting :)
Now I feel really dumb, you got me on a few of those, some I knew thank goodness, but the one that got me the most was Complement versus Compliment, I admit that I did not the difference...lol
thanks for a great article.
Glad you learnt something new today Dawn!! Thank you for stopping by and commenting :)
Although it's more evident as a mispronunciation than misuse the "route" - "rout" error always drives me up a wall.
It gained momentum on the old Monday Night Football show with Howard Cosell, Frank Gifford and Don Meredith.
In almost every game you could expect to hear Dandy Don applauding a "down and out pass rout!" by some quarterback and receiver duo.
A route, of course, is a path between two points as in "Route 66 goes from Chicago to LA."
A rout is a military disaster as in "Wellington routed Napoleon at Waterloo."
I always wondered why would-be word-wizard Cosell didn't straighten Meredith out!
I love this! I study the English Language and it drives me up the wall seeing misused words!
Glad you loved this hub, Rachel. I feel much the same when I see misused words. You find them being used all the time on the Internet especially. Thank you for stopping by and commenting!!
Great hub. I might use this in my classroom.
Thank you, Kotori, for stopping by and commenting. Glad you found this hub useful enough to consider using it in your classroom!!
very informative ....Thanks was very helpful
Thank you, Rawle, for stopping by and commenting. Glad you found it helpful :)
Useful reminder, thank you!
Thank you, GW, for stopping by and commenting. Glad you found this hub useful :)
There must be an option for very useful hub. Loved going through the content and lots of sincere appreciations for posting such a hub.
Thank you very much for your kind words, transcriptionven - glad you found this hub very useful :)
Wow! Great hub. I love the English language and hate to see or hear it being wrecked. When I am reading something and it's flowing well and beautifully organised, and even poetic, mu heart sinks when I read a Malapropism or I see incorrect punctuation, and I immediately think the writer has lost credibility in my mind.
Shil, for someone who loves to use the English language so well, and has obviously devised this hub because she is annoyed by the misuse of English; it is only a hop step and a jump to write your own poetry. It takes a poetic mind to appreciate poetry, and you're halfway there.
By the way, I am so pleased that I reread this hub; I had forgotten that my concepts of "compliment" and "complement" are shaky.
Ian
Ian, thanks for the encouraging words. I need to find some peace and quiet to start working at that. Life has been hectic of late. I haven't been able to write any new hubs too. Let's see!!
Thanks for coming back again and commenting, Ian. It is such a pleasure to have you around and read your wonderful comments.
Impressive hub. Glad you wrote this and brought to light so many common errors. Rated up and useful.
Thank you, toknowinfo, for stopping by and commenting. Glad you found this hub useful.
Inappropriate punctuation? How about incorrect punctuation? Why is the word "inappropriate" now a catch-all for: wrong, improper, misguided, offensive, insensitive, irresponsible and unsuitable. It's sad that Americans lack of a decent vocabulary include trendy words that are so overused.
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Shalini Kagal Level 4 Commenter 20 months ago
Hi Shil1978 - you see these mistakes made so often! I think the trouble is - at least in this computer age - that the spell checker doesn't highlight the words so the writer thinks it's OK :)