Commonly confused words (and how to remember them)

Spellcheck will not catch these, because both words are real. You have to know the difference.

• affect / effect: Affect is usually the verb (to change something); effect is usually the noun (the result). Trick: Affect = Action.
• lose / loose: Lose means misplace; loose means not tight. Trick: loose has lots of space, like a loose shirt.
• then / than: Then is about time; than compares. “Bigger than me, then I grew.”
• their / there / they’re: belonging / place / they are. Trick: “there” contains “here”, a place.
• your / you’re: belonging / you are.
• stationary / stationery: Stationary means not moving; stationery is paper and pens. Trick: stationEry for Envelopes.
• advice / advise: Advice is the noun; advise is the verb. “I advise you to take my advice.”
• quiet / quite: Quiet means silent; quite means fairly.
• accept / except: Accept means receive; except means apart from.

Try it: play the “Confusing words” quick drill and the Spot the Mistake game on our website, then write a sentence that uses both words in three of the pairs above.