COMMONLY CONFUSED WORDS English 121

WEEK 1: SEPTEMBER 9-13, 2013•Monday, 9/9/13: Accede vs. Exceed•Tuesday, 9/10/13: NA•Wednesday, 9/11/13: Accept vs. Except•Thursday, 9/12: Access vs. Excess•Friday, 9/13/13: Adapt vs. Adopt

ACCEDE VS. EXCEED

•Accede means to agree.• I acceded to Mom’s wishes.•Your sentence:

•Exceed means to go beyond.•Don’t exceed the speed limit. •Your sentence:

ACCEPT VS. EXCEPT• Accept is a verb that mean to receive.• Will you accept our thanks? • Your sentence:

• Except is usually a preposition meaning but, but it may also be used as a verb that means to leave out or exclude. • Everyone will be there except you. • The government excepts people with very low incomes

from paying taxes. • Your sentence:

ACCESS VS. EXCESS•Access means admittance.•The thief gained access to the building with a stolen key.•Your sentence:

•Excess means a surplus. •We have an excess of musical talent in our class. •Your sentence:

ADAPT VS. ADOPT•Adapt means to change or to adjust.• I can adapt to new surroundings easily. •Your sentence:

•Adopt means to accept and take as one’s own. • I adopted the stray dog from the shelter. •Your sentence:

WEEK 2: SEPTEMBER 16-20, 2013

•Monday, 9/16/13: Advice vs. Advise•Tuesday, 9/17/13: Affect vs. Effect•Wednesday, 9/18/13: NA•Thursday, 9/19/13: Aggravate vs. Annoy•Friday, 9/20/13: all ready vs. already; all right vs. alright

ADVICE VS. ADVISE• Advice is a noun that means an opinion offered as

guidance.• My sentence: The teacher gave me some good advice

regarding how to write my research paper. • Your sentence:

• Advise is a verb that means to give advice. • My sentence: The teacher advised the students about

how to write the research paper. • Your sentence:

AFFECT VS. EFFECT (REMEMBER THE 90% RULE)

• Ninety percent of the time, affect is a verb and effect is a noun. • Affect is most often a verb that means to cause a change in or to

influence the emotions and thoughts of. • My sentence: The hot weather affected the students’ ability to

concentrate. • Your sentence:

• Effect is most often a noun that means a result or a consequence. • My sentence: The students’ inability to concentrate was the

effect of the hot weather. • Your sentence:

AFFECT VS. EFFECT (THE EXCEPTION TO THE RULE!)

• Sometimes affect will be a noun and effect will be a verb.• Affect sometimes is a noun that is associated with the

expression of emotion or one’s attitude. • My sentence: Because of the hot weather, the students had a

flat affect.• Your sentence:

• Effect sometimes is a verb that means to bring about or to accomplish. • My sentence: The cooler weather has effected a positive

change in the students’ affect. • Your sentence:

AFFECT VS. EFFECT

When in doubt, go with the 90% rule: affect is a verb and effect is a noun 90% of the time!

AGGRAVATE VS. ANNOY•Aggravate is a verb that means to make something worse.•My sentence: Alexa’s asthma was aggravated by the cats. •Your sentence:

•Annoy is a verb that means to irritate. •My sentence: The cats are annoying!•Your sentence:

ALL READY VS. ALREADY • All ready is an adverb-adjective phrase that means

completely ready.• My sentence: We are all ready to go to the soccer

game.• Your sentence:

• Already is an adverb that means before or by this time.• My sentence: The fans were already leaving the

ballpark when Mark Rizzo hit a grand slam. • Your sentence:

ALL RIGHT VS. ALRIGHT (THIS ONE IS EASY!)

It is unacceptable to use alright in formal writing, so always use all right and you will always be all right whenever you write!