Let me help you with those tricky commonly confused words.
After the last edition, where I helped one of our readers with
confusion over ‘into’ and ‘in to’, several writers got in touch asking for help
with problem words. So, this issue, I’ve devoted the column to dealing with
some commonly confused words.
Something to help you remember, when you have those tricky ‘ice/ise’
word endings, is that the ‘ice’ ending will always be a noun. If it has ‘ice’,
you have to be able to put ‘the’ in front of it. If you can put ‘to’ in front
of the word it’s a verb.
The practice (to practise is the verb)
The advice (to advise is the verb)
Accept/Except
Accept: this means to agree or to receive.
I accept you are
right.
I accept your gift.
Except: means not including
Take all the
suitcases, except the smallest one.
I really like you,
except when you’ve been drinking.
Advice (noun)/Advise
(verb)
Advice: is given as a recommendation on how to do (or not
do) something.
Take my advice and
don’t drink.
Advise: to recommend a way to do something.
I advise you not to
drink.
Affect/Effect
Affect: this means to change or make a difference to
something or someone.
He was affected by the
heat.
Effect: means a result or to achieve a result.
The effect of the new
stereo system improved the sound quality.
Altar/Alter
Altar: this is a place of worship.
The priest knelt
before the altar.
Alter: this means to change something.
I want to alter the
length of my dress.
Assent/Ascent
Assent: this means agreement.
Everyone gave their
assent to the new rules.
Ascent: this means to climb or go up.
The mountaineers
completed the ascent in bad weather.
Bare/Bear
Bare: to uncover or to be naked.
She was as bare as the
day she was born.
The investigator
wanted to bare the facts.
Bear: an animal, or to carry, or to put up with.
The wild bear attacked
the man.
The soldiers had to
bear arms.
Her life was hard; she
had much to bear.
Brake/Break
Brake: a device for stopping something.
Put your foot on the
brake.
Break: to damage, to shatter, or a pause in time.
He tried to break the
door down.
She hurled the vase
and watched it break into pieces.
Let’s take a coffee
break and start again later.
Complement/Compliment
Complement: this means to add to in such a way that it
improves something.
The matching earrings complement the necklace.
Compliment: to give praise or express approval.
He gave her a nice
compliment on her looks.
Council/Counsel
Council: a group of people who are gathered for a specific
purpose.
The council decided to
approve repairs to the potholes.
Counsel: this can be a noun meaning the advice, or a verb
meaning to advise.
The counsel given was
rejected by the man.
Mary was looking for
someone to counsel her.
Desert/Dessert
Desert: a dry barren place or to abandon someone.
The Sahara Desert is a fearsome place to get lost.
Mary knew John would desert her one day.
Dessert: pudding
Are you having crème
caramel for dessert?
Discreet/Discrete
Discreet: this means being careful not to be seen or attract
attention.
She kept a discreet
distance.
Discrete: this means separate or distinct from something.
There were seven
discrete parts to the puzzle.
Draw/Drawer
Draw: to make a picture using pencils or ink, or an even
score in a match or game.
I asked John to draw a
dog.
The match ended in a
two-all draw.
Drawer: a pull-out compartment in a cabinet or other piece
of furniture.
He keeps his socks in
the top drawer.
Elicit/Illicit
Elicit: this means to encourage a reply or some sort of
reaction.
Mary managed to elicit
a response from John by stealing his socks.
Illicit: illegal or not allowed under the rules of a game or
enterprise.
Only illicit booze was
available during the prohibition.
Hoard/Horde
Hoard: items gathered together.
The pirates kept their
hoard of gold hidden.
Horde: a large gathering of people.
The horde congregated
in the centre of town.
Loath/Loathe
Loath: unwilling or reluctant.
I was loath to tell
the horde where I’d hidden the hoard.
Loathe: to hate or despise.
I loathe you.
Practice/Practise
Practice (noun): the use of an idea or method, or the place
where professionals, such as doctors, solicitors or dentists work.
Let’s put into
practice the things we learned today.
The doctor’s practice
is on the High Street.
Practise (verb): this means to do something repeatedly in
order to get better at it.
I need to practise
playing the piano.
Principal/Principle
Principal: this means the most important or the head of a
school.
The principal reason for writing this post is to help other
writers.
The principal called John into his office to find out why he
wasn’t wearing any socks.
Principle: a belief or an essential rule.
He lived a life of
devotion according to his principles.
The school board
governed by following the principles laid down by the founders.
Stationary/Stationery
Stationary: not moving.
The car was stationary
at the traffic lights.
Stationery: writing materials.
Papers, pens, pencils
and pads are kept in the stationery cupboard.
Tortuous/Torturous
Tortuous: complex, full of twists and turns.
The tortuous
instructions were difficult to understand.
The tortuous road
through the Alps took us a long time to cover.
Torturous: painful
His ascent of the
mountain was torturous.
~~~
Lorraine Mace is the humour columnist for Writing
Magazine and a competition judge for Writers’ Forum. She is a tutor
for the Writers Bureau, and is the author of the Writers Bureau course, Marketing
Your Book. She is also co-author, with Maureen Vincent-Northam of The Writer's ABC Checklist (Accent Press).
Lorraine runs a private critique service for writers (details on her website).
She is the founder of the Flash 500 competitions covering flash fiction, humour
verse and novel openings.
Writing as Frances di
Plino, she is the author of crime/thriller, Bad Moon Rising, featuring
Detective Inspector Paolo Storey. The next in the series, Someday Never Comes, will be released on 16th August
2013.
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