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 Confused and Misused
Wor ds and Phrases

Dude, the No, you’re

right wrong. The
word is word should
affect, be effect,
with an a. with an e.
 This presentation
advices you on
Dude,
words or
that’s
phrases that are
advises,
commonly
with an s,
misused or
not a c.
confused.
On an objective test, an
item evaluating the skill
might look like this ...
 Sample Item

My friends ate at Tito’s Taco Palace, so they’re

they’re
A
hoping that their
their lunch
lunch stays
stays down,
down, for
for their
theirare
there are
are
B C
rumors that health inspectors cited the filthy kitchen.
At C, you need
Is the word
there, the
A. their confused or
expletive, or
misused at A,
B. they’re placeholder,
B, or C?
form.
C. there
there
D. No change is necessary.
Re c o g n i z e m i s s p e l l e d / c o r r e c t l y
s p e l l e d wo r d s a n d p h r a s e s .

Alright X ● All right

Alot X ● A lot
Rite X ● Right, write
Should of X ● Should have
Suppose to X ● Supposed to

Spelled Spelled
wrong! correctly!
 Re c o g n i ze t h e d i s t i n c t i o n s
a m o n g r e l at e d wo r d s .

3 or more;  Among ● Between  2 only;

Among my Between
friends Fred and me
Noncount;  Amount ● Number  Count;
Amount of Number of
butter cookies
Adjective;  Good ● Well  Adverb;
A good essay He writes
well.
Evident,  Explicit ● Implicit  Implied,
unambiguous ambiguous

Know these
differences!
 K n ow t h e d i f fe r e n c e t h at a
s i n g l e n e w l e t t e r c a n m a ke .

Before a word  A ● An  Before a word

beginning with a beginning with a
consonant [sound] vowel [sound]
Before  Already ● All ready  Completely
prepared
A thought or  Idea ● Ideal  The concept of
conception something
perfect
To suffer the  Lose ● Loose  Free from
deprivation of restraint

Verb; past tense of  Were ● Where  A place

are
More to
learn!
 K n ow t h e d i f fe r e n c e t h at a n
a postr ophe c a n m a ke .

Possessive  Its ● It’s  Contraction for

pronoun; it is or it has
belonging to it
Possessive  Whose ● Who’s  Contraction for
pronoun; who is or
belonging to who has
whom
Possessive  Your ● You’re  Contraction for
pronoun; you are
belonging to
you

Possessive pronouns Contractions do

never contain an contain an apostrophe.
apostrophe.
K n ow t h e d i f fe r e n c e a change t o
a s i n g l e l e t t e r c a n m a ke .
Noun form  Advice ● Advise  Verb form
Usually a verb  Affect ● Effect  Usually a noun
City, wealth,  Capital ● Capitol  The building for
important lawmaking
To quote  Cite ● Site  A location
Rough  Coarse ● Course  Path, route
Praise  Compliment ● Complement  Goes well with
Put in place  Set ● Sit  Be seated
Unchanging  Stationary ● Stationery  Paper
Indicates  Than ● Then  Next
comparison

Why is English so
complicated?
 D o n’ t l e t t h e s e h o m o n y m s
[ s o u n d a l i ke wo r d s ] c o n f u s e yo u .
Agree to or receive  Accept ● Except  Leave out
Plural present of the  Are ● Our  Possessive pronoun;
verb be belonging to us
Past tense of pass  Passed ● Past  Gone, by
Go before  Precede ● Proceed  Carry on
Chief [person], main  Principal ● Principle  Truth or rule
Correct, a just claim,  Right ● Write  Make letters with an
a direction instrument
Sight, touch, hearing,  Sense ● Since  Adverb, conjunction,
smell, taste or preposition
View, glimpse  Sight ● Site  A location
Past tense of throw  Threw ● Through  Beyond
State of the  Weather ● Whether  Introduces an
atmosphere alternative
My brain
is getting
full! Relax,
dude, we’re
almost
there!
 To, Too, Two
• Use to as a preposition.
Jonathan drove to the seafood shop.
• Use to to begin an infinitive.
He hoped to buy fresh squid.
• Use too to show degree.
The squid was too expensive to purchase.
• Use too as a synonym for also.
So too was the fresh octopus.
• Use two when you mean the number.
Jonathan bought two flounder filets instead.
 T here, T heir, T hey’re
• Use there as an expletive, a placeholder to
delay the subject.
There is a turtle in the road.
• Use there to indicate place.
Across the road is a lake. The turtle hopes to get
there before a car hits him.
• Use their as a possessive pronoun.
Most drivers don’t see the turtle; their eyes are glued
to their cell phones.
• Use they’re as a contraction for they are.
They’re also distracted by other devices, like the
radio and navigation system.
At many o b je c tive ex a ms, you
c a n not use a dictionar y!

X
 W hen in doubt, rely on
“gut” feelings.

Your eyes have seen in print—and your

brain has registered —all of the possible
words that you will encounter for this skill. If
you don’t recognize the right answer, go
with the one that feels right.

Hey, I’ve seen

that word
before!
 Quick Test

Directions: In the items that follow, choose

the option that corrects an error in the
underlined portion(s). If no error exists, choose
“No change is necessary.”

Your Let’s see

turn! what you
can do!
 Item 1

Even though we warned Jake not to eat a hole hole

whole
AA
pie at one sitting, he sat
sat at
at the
the kitchen
kitchen table
table and
and
B
proceeded to
proceeded toconsume
consumeslice
sliceafter
afterslice.
slice.
C

A. whole
whole
B. set
C. preceded
D. No change is necessary.
 Item 2

Give Jerrod a compliment

complimentbecausebecausehis hisshoe
shoe
A
laces complement
complementthe thecolors
colorsininhis
hisplaid
plaidshirt.
shirt.
B
His fashion since
since isisisgradually
sense gradually
graduallyimproving.
improving.
improving.
CC

A. complement
B. compliment
C. sense
sense
D. No change is necessary.
 Item 3

If you go by
by the
the supermarket,
supermarket, buy
buyaapackage
packageofof
A B
hotdog buns. Than
Than we
Then we can
can grill
grill the
the sausage
sausage for
for
C
dinner.

A. buy
B. by
C. Then
Then
D. No change is necessary.
 Item 4

Heed my advice,
advice, and
and don’t
don’t loose your
looseyour
lose receipt.
yourreceipt.
receipt.
A BB
The college bookstore will not accept
accept any
any excuse
excuse
C
if you need to return those books.

A. advise
B. lose
lose
C. except
D. No change is necessary.
 Item 5

The heard
heardofof
herd ofgazelle
gazelle
gazelleleaped
leaped
leapedthrough
through
throughthe
theair
airasas
AA BB
the animals tried to elude
elude the
the cheetah.
cheetah.
C

A. herd
herd
B. threw
C. allude
D. No change is necessary.
 Item 6

Maybe Gerald
Gerald is
is caught
caught in
in traffic,
traffic, or
or he
he maybe
maybe
may be
A BB
flirting with the cute cafeteria cashier. Either way,

don’t accept
accept any
any excuse
excuse for
for his
his tardiness.
tardiness.
C

A. May be
B. may be
may be
C. except
D. No change is necessary.
 Item 7

When there
there are
are fewer
fewerstudents
studentsininaaclass,
class,the
the
A B
professor has less
less worries
fewer worries
worriesthat
that
that
everyone
everyone
everyoneis
isis
CC
getting individual attention.

A. their
B. less
C. fewer
fewer
D. No change is necessary.
 Item 8

We were
were successful
successful baking
baking 300
300 cupcakes
cupcakes for
for
A
the charity event, but today we’re
we’re exhausted
exhausted after
after
B
spending all night preparing the desserts.
desserts.
C

A. we’re
B. were
C. deserts
D. No change
changeisisnecessary.
necessary.
 Item 9

Gregory passed
passed hishis chemistry
chemistry final,
final, so
so now
now he
he
A
won’t loose his
loosehis
lose scholarship.
hisscholarship. As
scholarship.As he
Ashe walked
hewalked past
walkedpast
past
B CC
the diner, he rewarded himself with a milkshake.

A. past
B. lose
lose
C. passed
D. No change is necessary.
 Item 10
Mr. Ramos hopes to except
except the
accept the bid
bid on
on the
the house.
house.
A
He has agreed to all of the buyer’s conditions

except retiling
except retiling the
the master
master bathroom
bathroom since
sinceitit
B C
would be too much work.

A. accept
accept
B. accept
C. sense
D. No change is necessary.
 Grammar Bytes!
provides additional
handouts and exercises on
commonly confused
chomp!
words. Go to
chomp!
chompchomp.com !
The End.
Watch where
you’re going,
fool!