Commonly Misused Words

1. Commonly Misused Words

2. Accept/Except • Accept (verb)—to receive or admit or agree to • Except (preposition)—other than • Examples: • I accepted his apology. • Everyone, except John, went to the party.

3. All ready/Already • All ready--complete readiness of everyone • Already--expresses an amount of time that has passed • Examples: • We were all ready to go. • We were already in the car.

4. A lot • A lot—TWO WORDS meaning ‘very much.’ NEVER write it as one word. • Ex. A lot of cookies were sold at the bakery. • Ex. I like my Sweety Pie a lot.

5. Beside/Besides • Beside (prep)—meaning ‘next to’ or ‘by the side of’ • Besides —meaning ‘beyond that’ or ‘in addition to’ • Examples: • The dog, beside the boy, is a loyal pal. • Besides the teacher, no one knows the answer.

6. Between/Among • Between—used when you are referring to 2 people. • Among—used when referring to 3 or more people. • Pass the biscuits between the two of you. • Pass the biscuits among the group.

7. Can/May • Can shows one’s ability to do something • May expresses a permission to do something. • We can do cartwheels in the snow. • You may begin your test now.

8. Farther/Further • Farther (adj)—refers to physical distance • Further (adj)---refers to time or degree (additional) • Examples: • I ran farther than Joe. • We need further time to prepare for this test.

9. In/Into • In (prep)--location already inside something • Into (prep)—going from the outside towards the inside • Examples: • We were in the kitchen. • We walked into the house.

10. It’s/Its • It’s—contraction meaning ‘it is.’ • Its—possessive pronoun showing ownership/belonging to someone/something. • It’s very hot today. • The dog wanted its bone.

11. Lay/Lie • Lay means to ‘put’ or ‘place’ something in a particular area. • Lie means to recline or to be positioned in a specific way. • Why don’t you lie down and take a nap? • Please lay your books on the desk.

12. Lose/Loose • Loose means not tightly attached • Lose means to misplace something or to fail to win. • Your pants are too loose to stay up! • We are going to lose the game tonight if you lose the playbook.

13. Set/Sit • Set means to place or put something somewhere. • Sit means to put yourself into a seated position. • Would you set your clarinet on the table? • Please sit here at the table.

14. Their/There/They’re • Their (possessive pronoun)—means “belonging to them” • There (adv)—means ‘at that place’ • They’re (contraction)—they are • Examples: • Their dog has fleas. • He lives over there. • They’re going to a party.

15. To/Too/Two • To (prep)—meaning ‘towards someone or something’ • Too—meaning ‘also’ or in addition; many • Two—a number—2 • I went to the store. • There are too many students in here. • I want to go, too. • There are two boys in the alley.

16. Your/You’re • Your—possessive pronoun meaning it belongs to you • You’re—contraction meaning ‘you are’ • Ex. This is your dog. • Ex. You’re so mean!

17. Words/Expression to Avoid Using • At (after the word where)—i.e. where at • Because (after reason)—i.e. The reason I went is because… • Cause does NOT mean ‘because.’ • Different than (use different from) • Like (before the subject and verb)—i.e. It seems like you are mad. • Due to the fact that • Kind of/Sort of • This here (do not use the ‘here’) • That there (do not use the ‘there’)