Commonly Confused Words in English

 Contents


Accurate vs Precise

Accurate means very exact.

Precise means close to very exact.

Examples
  1. The drawing of the building was accurate.
  2. His precise shooting skills in archery have earned him medals.

Assure vs Ensure

Assure means to make it certain to someone that something is true.

Ensure means to do all possible things to make sure something happens as required.

Examples

  1. Assure her that her teacher will reward her performance.
  2. Ensure her teacher rewards her performance.

Defence vs Defense

Defence is spelling according to British English 

Defense is spelling according to American English.

Examples

  1. I’ve never played in a defence position.
  2. He was the then secretary of Defense.

Imply and Infer

lmply means to point out something without mentioning it directly.

Infer refers to deducing something out of a situation that is not clear.

Examples

  1. Amos implied to Ann that she was in trouble.
  2. She inferred that Amos wanted to lean on her from the way he was standing.

Desert vs Dessert

Desert it big dry portion of land that has no vegetation cover and is barren such that plants can’t thrive. 

Dessert is a sweet confection served as the last course of a meal.

Examples 

  1. The northern part of our country is a desert.
  2. After finishing our food, James served a dessert composing of ice cream topped with back berries.

Comprise vs Compose

Comprise means to include items to make up something.

Compose is the act of putting together items to make up something.

Examples

  1. A car comprises of an engine, gearbox and wheels.
  2. In order to compose a good car you need these items: engine, gearbox and wheels.

Cash vs Cache

Cash is money in physical form, cash or bills. 

Cache is storage used to store valuable items which will be retrieved in future rapidly.

Examples 

  1. The store will discount 5% for cash payment.
  2. That box of spark plugs under the counter is a cache.

Bring vs Take

Bring means to move something to or close to.

Take means to move something away from.

Examples 

  1. All the students were asked to bring their parents to school.
  2. All the trash was taken away from the school by the county waste management team.

Borrow vs Lend

Borrow means to receive something from someone temporary. 

Lend means to give or borrow something at a cost.

Examples

  1. I always borrow my books from the school library because it’s cheaper than buying mine.
  2. The company lends out cars for events such as weddings.

All Ready vs Already

All ready is a phrase that means all is set. Already means prior to or before a specified time.

For example 

  1. I was all ready for the exams.
  2. I was already seated in the hall before James came in.

Adverse vs Averse

Adverse means something os someone is hostile towards you or a situation. Averse means to lie on the opposite to the majority.

Examples

  1. The adverse weather has forced many people to stay indoors.
  2. The president’s averse economic solutions have made him unpopular.

Stationary vs Stationery

Stationary refers to anything which cannot move. Stationery is used to refer to letter writing material especially high quality material.

Examples

  1. Her vehicle remained stationary because it had too much weight.
  2. I printed my homework on my best stationery.

To vs Too

To is a preposition showing direction.

Example

  1. Amos ran to school.


To can also be used in infinitive verbs.

Example

  1. Ann waited until the last day to do her work.


Too is used to intensify what is being discussed and can mean ‘also’.

Examples

  1. Jane too waited until the last day to do her work.
  2. Good morning to you too.

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