Basic Guidelines For English Spellings
READ THESE ARTICLESA Look At Some Commonly Confused Words
Take a look at these two sentences – one of them contains a mistake:
I poured over book after book.
We pored over the catalogues.
Are you uncertain which one is right? There are a lot of words in English that look or sound alike but have very different meanings, such as pore and pour or flaunt and flout. It’s easy to get them confused and most electronic spellcheckers won’t be much help in this type of situation: they can tell you if a word has been spelled wrongly but they can’t generally flag up the misuse of a correctly spelled word.
Here’s a quick-reference list of pairs of words that regularly cause people problems. The words follow the accepted British English spelling. Some of them do have alternative American spellings and you will find these at the main dictionary entry on this website.
| Confusables | Meanings |
| accept except | to agree to receive or do not including |
| adverse averse | unfavourable, harmful strongly disliking; opposed |
| advice advise | recommendations about what to do to recommend something |
| affect effect | to change or make a difference to a result; to bring about a result |
| aisle isle | a passage between rows of seats an island |
| all together altogether | all in one place, all at once completely; on the whole |
| along a long | moving or extending horizontally on referring to something of great length |
| aloud allowed | out loud permitted |
| altar alter | a sacred table in a church to change |
| amoral immoral | not concerned with right or wrong not following accepted moral standards |
| appraise apprise | to assess to inform someone |
| assent ascent | agreement, approval the action of rising or climbing up |
| aural oral | relating to the ears or hearing relating to the mouth; spoken |
| balmy barmy | pleasantly warm foolish, crazy |
| bare bear | naked; to uncover to carry; to put up with |
| bated baited | in phrase 'with bated breath', i.e. in great suspense with bait attached or inserted |
| bazaar bizarre | a Middle Eastern market strange |
| berth birth | a bunk in a ship, train, etc. the emergence of a baby from the womb |
| born borne | having started life carried |
| bough bow | a branch of a tree to bend the head; the front of a ship |
| brake break | a device for stopping a vehicle; to stop a vehicle to separate into pieces; a pause |
| breach breech | to break through, or break a rule; a gap the back part of a gun barrel |
| broach brooch | to raise a subject for discussion a piece of jewellery |
| canvas canvass | a type of strong cloth to seek people’s votes |
| censure censor | to criticize strongly to ban parts of a book or film; a person who does this |
| cereal serial | a grass producing an edible grain; a breakfast food made from grains happening in a series |
| chord cord | a group of musical notes a length of string; a cord-like body part |
| climactic climatic | forming a climax relating to climate |
| coarse course | rough a direction; a school subject; part of a meal |
| complacent complaisant | smug and self-satisfied willing to please |
| complement compliment | to add to so as to improve; an addition that improves something to praise or express approval; an admiring remark |
| council counsel | a group of people who manage or advise advice; to advise |
| cue queue | a signal for action; a wooden rod a line of people or vehicles |
| curb kerb | to keep something in check; a control or limit (in British English) the stone edge of a pavement |
| currant current | a dried grape happening now; a flow of water, air, or electricity |
| defuse diffuse | to make a situation less tense to spread over a wide area |
| desert dessert | a waterless, empty area; to abandon someone the sweet course of a meal |
| discreet discrete | careful not to attract attention separate and distinct |
| disinterested uninterested | impartial not interested |
| draught draft | a current of air a first version of a piece of writing |
| draw drawer | an even score at the end of a game a sliding storage compartment |
| dual duel | having two parts a fight or contest between two people |
| elicit illicit | to draw out a reply or reaction not allowed by law or rules |
| ensure insure | to make certain that something will happen to provide compensation if a person dies or property is damaged |
| envelop envelope | to cover or surround a paper container for a letter |
| exercise exorcise | physical activity; to do physical activity to drive out an evil spirit |
| fawn faun | a young deer; light brown a mythical being, part man, part goat |
| flaunt flout | to display ostentatiously to disregard a rule |
| flounder founder | to move clumsily; to have difficulty doing something to fail |
| forbear forebear | to refrain an ancestor |
| foreword forward | an introduction to a book onwards, ahead |
| freeze frieze | to turn to ice a decoration along a wall |
| grisly grizzly | gruesome, revolting a type of bear |
| hoard horde | a store a large crowd of people |
| imply infer | to suggest indirectly to draw a conclusion |
| loath loathe | reluctant, unwilling to hate |
| loose lose | to unfasten; to set free to be deprived of; to be unable to find |
| meter metre | a measuring device a metric unit; rhythm in verse |
| militate mitigate | to be a powerful factor against to make less severe |
| palate palette | the roof of the mouth a board for mixing colours |
| pedal peddle | a foot-operated lever to sell goods |
| pole poll | a long, slender piece of wood voting in an election |
| pour pore | to flow or cause to flow a tiny opening; to study something closely |
| practice practise | the use of an idea or method; the work or business of a doctor, dentist, etc. to do something repeatedly to gain skill; to do something regularly |
| prescribe proscribe | to authorize use of medicine; to order authoritatively to officially forbid something |
| principal principle | most important; the head of a school a fundamental rule or belief |
| sceptic septic | a person inclined to doubt infected with bacteria |
| sight site | the ability to see a location |
| stationary stationery | not moving writing materials |
| storey story | a level of a building a tale or account |
| titillate titivate | to arouse interest to make more attractive |
| tortuous torturous | full of twists; complex full of pain or suffering |
| wreath wreathe | a ring-shaped arrangement of flowers etc. to surround or encircle |
| yoke yolk | a wooden crosspiece for harnessing a pair of oxen the yellow center of an egg |
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