The following words are often misused by native English speakers as well as nonnative speakers. Sometimes the spellings are so similar that people fail to distinguish between them. Others are pronounced exactly the same, but they are spelled differently and have different meanings. Words in the latter category are called homonyms. Study the words, parts of speech (noun, verb, etc.), definitions, and sample sentences in this list.
ANGEL (noun) - a spiritual or heavenly being. The Christmas card portrayed a choir of angels hovering over the shepherds.
ANGLE (noun) - a figure formed by two lines meeting at a common point. The carpenters placed the planks at right angles.
CITE (verb) - quote as an example. In her term paper, Janis had to cite many references.
SITE (noun) - location. The corner of North Main and Mimosa Streets will be the site of the new shopping center.
SIGHT (a) (noun) - a device used to assist aim (of a gun or telescope). Through the sight of the rifle, the soldier spotted the enemy, (b) (noun) - view. Watching the landing of the space capsule was a pleasant sight, (c) (verb) - see. We sighted a ship in the bay.
COSTUME (noun) - clothing, typical style of dress. We all decided to wear colonial costumes to the Fourth of July celebration.
CUSTOM (noun) - a practice that is traditionally followed by a particular group of people. It is a custom in Western Europe for little boys to wear short pants to school.
DECENT (adjective) - respectable or suitable. When one appears in court, one must wear decent clothing.
DESCENT (noun) (a) - downward motion. The mountain climbers found their descent more hazardous than their ascent, (b) - lineage. Vladimir is of Russian descent.
DESSERT (noun) (desert) - the final course of a meal, usually something sweet. We had apple pie for dessert last night.
DESERT (noun) (desert) - a hot, dry place. It is difficult to survive in the desert without water.
DESERT (verb) (desert) - abandon. After deserting his post, the soldier ran away from the camp.
LATER (adverb) - a time in the future or following a previous action. We went to the movies and later had ice cream at Dairy Isle.
LATTER (adjective) - last of two things mentioned. Germany and England both developed dirigibles for use during World War II, the latter primarily for coastal reconnaissance, (latter = England).
LOOSE (adjective) - opposite of tight. After dieting, Marcy found that her clothes had become so loose that she had to buy a new wardrobe.
LOSE (verb) (a) - to be unable to find something. Mary lost her glasses last week. (b) - opposite of win. If Harry doesn’t practice his tennis more, he may lose the match.
PASSED (verb - past tense of pass) (a) - elapse. Five hours passed before the jury reached its verdict, (b) - go by or beyond. While we were sitting in the park, several of our friends passed us. (c) - succeed. The students are happy that they passed their exams.
PAST (a) (adjective) - a time or event before the present. This past week has been very hectic for the students returning to the university, (b) (noun) - time before the present. In the past, he had been a cook, a teacher, and a historian.
PEACE (noun) - harmony or freedom from war. Peace was restored to the community after a week of rioting.
PIECE (noun) - part of a whole. Heidi ate a piece of chocolate cake for dessert.
PRINCIPAL (a) (noun) - director of an elementary or secondary school. The principal called a faculty meeting, (b) (adjective) - main or most important. An anthropologist, who had worked with the indigenous tribes in Australia, was the principal speaker at Friday’s luncheon.
PRINCIPLE (noun) - fundamental rule or adherence to such a rule. Mr. Connors is a man who believes that truthfulness is the best principle.
QUIET (adjective) - serene, without noise. The night was so quiet that you could hear the breeze blowing.
QUITE (adverb) (a) - completely. Louise is quite capable of taking over the household chores while her mother is away. (b) - somewhat or rather. He was quite tired after his first day of classes.
QUIT (verb) - stop. Herman quit smoking on his doctor’s advice.
STATIONARY (adjective) - nonmovable, having a fixed location. The weatherman said that the warm front would be stationary for several days.
STATIONERY (noun) - special writing paper. Lucille used only monogrammed stationery for correspondence.
THAN (conjunction) - used in unequal comparisons. Today’s weather is better than yesterday’s.
THEN (adverb) - a time following a previously mentioned time. First, Julie filled out her schedule; then, she paid her fees.
THEIR (adjective) - plural possessive adjective. Their team scored the most points during the game.
THERE (adverb) (a) - location away from here. Look over there between the trees, (b) - used with the verb be to indicate existence. There is a book on the teacher’s desk.
THEY’RE (pronoun + verb) - contraction of they + are. They’re leaving on the noon flight to Zurich.
TO (preposition) - toward, until, as far as. Go to the blackboard and write out the equation.
TWO (noun or adjective) - number following one. Two theories have been proposed to explain that incident.
TOO (adverb) (a) - excessively. This morning was too cold for the children to go swimming, (b) - also. Jane went to the movie, and we did too.
WEATHER (noun) - atmospheric conditions. Our flight was delayed because of bad weather.
WHETHER (conjunction) - if, indicates a choice. Because of the gas shortage, we do not know whether we will go away for our vacation or stay home.
WHOSE (pronoun) - possessive relative pronoun or adjective. The person whose name is drawn first will win the grand prize.
WHO’S (relative pronoun + verb) - contraction of who + is or who + has. Who’s your new biology professor? Scott is the attorney who’s been reviewing this case.
YOUR (adjective) - possessive of you. We are all happy about your accepting the position with the company in Baltimore.
YOU’RE (pronoun + verb) - contraction of you + are. You’re going to enjoy the panorama from the top of the hill.
Exercise 1 Commonly Misused Words
Select the correct word in parentheses to complete the meaning of the sentence
1 A beautiful (angle/angel) adorned their Christmas tree.
2 I have (your/you’re) notes here, but I cannot find mine.
3 The rescuers were a welcome (cite/sight/site) for those trapped on the snow-covered mountain.
4 (Who’s/Whose) supposed to supply the refreshments for tonight’s meeting?
5 It is a (costume/custom) in the United States to eat turkey on Thanksgiving.
6 (Weather/Whether) we drive or fly depends on the length of our vacation.
7 Pasquale is of French (decent/descent), but his cousin is English.
8 Dr. Hippie will not be coming (to/two/too) the meeting because he has (to/two/too) many papers to grade.
9 Although my mother never eats (desert/dessert), I prefer something sweet.
10 I guess (their/there/they’re) not interested because we have not heard from them.
11 Doris and Marge teach kindergarten; the (latter/later) works in Putnam.
12 Isaac Asimov’s science books are more easily understood (than/then) most scientists’.
13 The fender on Sean’s bike came (loose/lose) and had to be tightened.
14 Nobody had any (stationary/stationery), so we had to use notebook paper to write the letter.
15 The hikers had (passed/past) many hours waiting to be rescued.
16 Lisa had to (quiet/quit/quite) eating apples after the orthodontist put braces on her teeth.
17 After any war, the world desires a lasting (peace/piece).
18 Albert Einstein expressed his (principal/principle) of relativity.
19 Marcia was (quit/quiet/quite) tired after the long walk to class.
20 You must remember to (cite/site/sight) your references when you write a paper.