Commonly Confused Words

Proofread your text before publishing it. Relying on a spell-check tool can be risky—for example, it will not distinguish between words such as "here" and "hear."

Word	Definition/Use	Example
affect (v)	influence	The number of users affects the response time.
effect (v)	bring about, cause	To effect a change, cut down the number of users
effect (n)	result	The effect of too many users is slow response time.

all	acceptable in all cases except with a personal pronoun	All the settings have defaults.
all of	used only with a personal pronoun	All of them are listed in Appendix A.

already	beforehand	The writer had already started the outline.
all ready	completely ready	The system will be all ready for testing.
all right	satisfactory (adj) certainly (adv)	All right is correct. Alright is not correct.

among	three or more items considered collectively	It’s difficult to choose among the many content management systems.
between	two or more items considered individually	We’re deciding between Houston, Paris, and Tokyo for the conference.

amount	used with collective and mass nouns	Equipping a training center costs a large amount of money.
number	used with countable nouns	They bought a large number of computers for the training center.

assure	set a person’s mind at rest	We assured them that the project was on track.
ensure	make certain	The procedures were tested thoroughly to ensure that they were correct.
insure	protect with insurance	In most states, cars must be insured before they are registered.

because	show a cause-effect relationship	The project was finished on time because everyone met the schedule deadlines.
since	from then until now	There have been three people in this position since last spring.

can	know how to, be able to	The server can support up to 45 servers.
may	have permission to, be possible to	You may start working on the project now.
might	be possible to (less certain than “may”)	We might finish the project on schedule.

comprise	contain	A jury comprises 12 people.
compose	create by joining	A jury is composed of 12 people.
constitute	make up, form	Twelve people constitute a jury.

discrete	individually distinct, not continuous	Conversion consists of five discrete steps.
discreet	prudent, showing good judgment	Be discreet when you call me at work.

farther	physical distance	Don’t place the unit farther than 10 feet from a vent.
further	in addition, to a greater degree	A further problem is the lack of funds.

if	in the event that	Tell me if the deadline is Friday.
when	at what time (don’t use "if and when"	Let us know when you’ll finish the draft.
whether	with alternatives, used instead of "if"	Ask whether it's due on Friday or Monday.

imply	suggest	He implied that I didn’t understand.
infer	draws a conclusion	From user questions, the staff inferred that the manual was wrong.

its	possessive form of the pronoun "it"	The printer needs to have its toner cartridge replaced.
it’s	contraction meaning "it is"	It’s time to replace the toner cartridge.

lay	put or set down	Never lay the cartridge on its side.
lie	be at rest, assume a horizontal position	Al’s dog lies under his chair at work.

less	used with collective nouns	We need less staff on this project.
fewer	used with countable nouns	We need fewer managers on this project.

precede	come before	The Internet preceded the World Wide Web
proceed	continue, go on	Proceed to the next lesson.

press	put force on	Press the Reset button to start again.
type	press a character key on a keyboard	Type the letter A.
click	position the mouse pointer; then press and release the mouse button once. Do not use "click on."	Acceptable for writing instructions, but not as a way to describe a web link; use descriptive text instead. Don’t: Click here for Orientation information Do: You will also need orientation information Do: Click the Cut button. (an instruction)
hit	strike with force	Don’t hit the keys on the calculator.

pick up	to gather up in the hand or hands; to acquire, obtain	Students must show their university ID for identity verification to pick up packages.
pickup	a stop to collect passengers, goods, or the people or things collected	Arrangements made for outgoing package pickup.
pick-up	a stop to collect passengers, goods, or the people or things collected	Although still grammatically correct ("Arrangements made for outgoing package pick-up", the university prefers to refrain from using the hyphenated version.

principal	most important	The principal topics are written.
principle	rule	Follow the principles of good writing.

regardless	correct	The meeting will continue, regardless of the forecast.
irregardless	incorrect	(Do not use.)

take	to convey, away from	The train will take you to the city.
bring	to convey, toward	The bus will bring you here.

that	may refer to people or to things; introduces a phrase essential to the meaning of the word it modifies	We purchased the software that provided the necessary formats.
which	refers to things; introduces a phrase that is not essential to the meaning of the word it modifies, and so should be followed by a comma	The new software, which will be installed next week, provides the necessary features.
who	refers to people	Charlotte is the writer who won the prize.