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Simmons.
 Confused
Confused and
and Misused
Misused
Words
Words and
and Phrases
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
On an
an objective
objective test,
test, an an
item
item evaluating
evaluating the
the skill
skill
might
might look
look like
like this
this ......
 Sample
Sample Item
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.
AtIsC
At C,, you
you need
need
Is the
the word
word
A.their there
there,, the
the
confused
confused or
or
expletive,
expletive, oror
B.they’re misused
misused at
placeholder at A
A,,
placeholder,,
B or C
B,form.
or C??
,form.
C.there
there
D.No change is necessary.
Recognize
Recognize misspelled/correctly
misspelled/correctly
spelled
spelled words
words and
and phrases.
phrases.

X
Alright ● All right
XAlot ● A lot
X
Rite ● Right, write
Xof
Should ● Should have
Xto
Suppose ● Supposed to

Spelled Spelled
wrong! correctly!
 Recognize
Recognize the
the distinctions
distinctions among
among
related
related words.
words.
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
Know these
these
differences
differences!!
 Know
Know the
the difference
difference that
that a
a single
single
new
new letter
letter can
can make.
make.
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
More toto
learn!
learn!
 Know
Know the
the difference
difference that
that an
an
apostrophe
apostrophe can
can make.
make.
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
Possessive pronouns
pronouns Contractions do
Contractions do contain
contain
never
never contain
contain an
an an
an apostrophe.
apostrophe.
apostrophe.
apostrophe.
 Know
Know the
the difference
difference aa change
change to
to a
a
single
single letter
letter can
can make.
make.
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
Why is English so
so
complicated
complicated??
 Don’t
Don’t let
let these
these homonyms
homonyms [sound
[sound alike
alike
words]
words] confuse
confuse you.
you.
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
Relax,
full!
dude, we’re
almost
there!
 To,
To, Too,
Too, Two
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.
 There,
There, Their,
Their, They’re
They’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
At many
many objective
objective exams,
exams, you
you
cannot
can not use
use a
a dictionary!
dictionary!

X
 When
When in
in doubt,
doubt, rely
rely on
on
“gut”
“gut” feelings.
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
Quick Test
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
Item 1
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.
A.whole
whole
B.set
C.preceded
D.No change is necessary.
 Item
Item 2
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
Item 3
3

If you go by
by the
the supermarket,
supermarket, buy
buyaapackage
packageof of
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
Item 4
4

Heed my advice,
advice, and
and don’t
don’t loose
looseyour
lose your
yourreceipt.
receipt.
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
Item 5
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.
A.herd
herd
B.threw
C.allude
D.No change is necessary.
 Item
Item 6
6

Maybe Gerald
Maybe 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
may be
be
C.except
D.No change is necessary.
 Item
Item 7
7
When there
there are
are fewer
fewerstudents
studentsininaaclass,
class,the
the
A B
professor has less
less worries
fewerworries
worriesthat
that
that
everyone
everyone
everyoneis
isis
CC
getting individual attention.

A.their
B.less
C.fewer
fewer
D.No change is necessary.
 Item
Item 8
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
Item 9
9

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

A.past
B.lose
lose
C.passed
D.No change is necessary.
 Item
Item 10
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.
A.accept
accept
B.accept
C.sense
D.No change is necessary.
 Grammar Bytes!
provides additional
handouts and exercises on
commonly confused
words.
Go to
chompchomp.com!
The End.
Watch where
you’re going,
fool!