Recently Added Articles Page #35

Barbeque vs. Barbecue

People love "barbecue time", as they usually associate it with a free day spent with friends, chatting and feeling good outdoors. But taking a closer look at its name, this word started to create confusion within the last years.You might have seen th...

Bear vs. Bare

They may be pronounced just the same, but “bear” and “bare” can definitely not be confused in an expression. They represent completely different things and should never be misspelled.Both words have double functions, both working as verbs and...

Artefact vs. Artifact

Artefact vs. ArtifactYou have probably heard this word frequently used in mystery/adventure movies or games: artifact. But did you ever notice that the British pronunciation for this noun is slightly different than the American one? Well, this is bec...

Base vs. Bass

Even though they are correctly pronounced differently, the fact that “base” and “bass” have quite similar spellings often determines some English users to pronounce them almost identically and, consequently, to confound them and use them one ...

Ageing vs. Aging

Ageing vs. AgingConversion is one of the most important methods of word formation in English. The English vocabulary has obtained plenty of new nouns and adjectives using conversion from verbs, for instance, and this is also what happened with "to ag...

Lonely vs. Alone

Everyone knows what "lonely" and "alone" both refer to: a single person, not surrounded by people. It's about the state of being only "one". But the fact that they do refer to the same concept is also the cause of many errors in the English vocabular...

Aluminium vs. Aluminum

English is a complicated language and it may confuse its learners and native speakers alike due to some very similar words or words that have more than one spellings. Aluminium and aluminum are an example of such words and many people confuse themsel...

Ambiance vs. Ambience

You might have seen this word written both as "ambiance" and "ambience", so wondering which one is correct or whether any of these versions is wrong is a normal reaction.Is "ambience" confused for "ambiance"? Is there at least one of these versions c...

Amend vs. Emend

You will rarely see "emend" spelled like this, rather than "amend". But you might, and it's important that you know it's not a misspelling, as you may be tempted to think at a first sight, only because you haven't seen it frequently written in this f...

Among vs. Amongst

Amongst" is obviously formed by adding the suffix "-st" to the preposition "among". But you have probably always seen both of these terms used in the same context, just like they mean the same. Then why are they different? Is there something you didn...

Amount vs. Number

Amount" and "number" both refer to quantity and can be used as nouns and verbs as well. Even so, this doesn't mean that they are synonyms or that they can replace each other anytime. In fact, distinct contexts require a certain word from these two, d...

Aid vs. Aide

Due to their similar spellings, “aid” and “aide” are pronounced identically. They sound exactly the same. This is probably the main reason why people often confuse and use them wrongly. Even though using these words in misspelled forms happen...

Air vs. Heir

Homophones in English are the words that have the same pronunciation but very different meanings and spellings. Air and heir are an example of a pair of homophones and cause a lot of confusion for beginners of English language and also sometimes for ...

Aloud vs. Allowed

This is one of the most common misspellings that appear in English grammar: “aloud” and “allowed”. These words are often confused, especially by those who aren’t sure what they mean. The main reason is, obviously, that they sound perfectly ...

Alternately vs. Alternatively

English is a complicated language and some very closely resembling words of English have meanings that are amazingly different from each other. Alternately and alternatively are two words that have only a slight difference in them i.e. –iv after th...

Amiable vs. Amicable

There exists words in English language that appear to be closely related to each other hence people believe that their meanings if not exactly the same, are very much similar to each other. That is most often not the case, and it turns out that these...

Amuse vs. Bemuse

You may be confused by the words amused and bemused. They sound so much the same but mean something completely different. This could bemuse some and amuse others. Don’t let it befuddle you because it’s really quite funny. Worry no more we’ll am...

Aesthetic vs. Ascetic

Aesthetic and acetic are not exactly homophones but their close resemblance to each other leads to a lot of confusion among English and non-English communities. Consider the examples below: I think this room is very aesthetic. She is the most ascetic...

Learning Grammar through kindergarten, Elementary School, Junior High School & Senior High School

English has been taught since I was in kindergarten, there I learned English with fun because the teacher used student center learning, so the teacher facilitate the student with playing game, singing and dancing, thus students memorize vocabulary be...

Torturous vs. Tortuous

Separated by just one pesky letter, these two similar-sounding adjectives can be torturous to keep straight. Or is it tortuous? Consider the sentences below: He had to take a tortuous route through the Alps. He had to take a torturous route through t...

Defence vs. Defense

Slight spelling differences between words, given by only one letter, can have multiple causes. For "defence" and "defense", some might consider they mean the same, other might think their meanings are completely different, such as "material" and "mat...

Enquiry vs. Inquiry

Enquiry vs. Inquiry: Navigating Variations in Usage Understanding the differences between "enquiry" and "inquiry" involves recognizing variations in spelling and regional preferences. This article aims to clarify the distinctions between "enquiry" an...

Grizzly vs. Grisly

Grisly and grizzly both have different meanings and spellings but they sound exactly same. These types of words are known as homophones and they cause a lot of confusion among native and new English learners alike. Grizzly and grisly are both homopho...

Story vs. Storey

Dealing with similar spellings of various words, using them correctly and avoiding misspelling is often overwhelming; though it gets easier once you sort out which spellings refers to what. If you are in doubt about “story” and “storey”, we�...

Skeptic vs. Sceptic

There are many spelling differences between American and British English. In some cases, the same word will be spelled one way in American English and another way in British English. There are times when this inconsistency is very confusing. Skeptic ...