༉˚*ೃ 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐋𝐘 𝐌𝐈𝐗𝐄𝐃-𝐔𝐏 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐒.

it's super easy to get some common words mixed up due to them either sounding similar or having similar spelling. most of these are homophones, words that sound the same but have different meanings "bear" vs "bare" or otherwise similar. this is a list of all the commonly mixed-up words i could think of and find, and the proper ways to use them!

you can use this as a reference for formal writing too, like essays or reports (REMEMBER YOU'RE NOT ALLOWED TO USE CONTRACTIONS — LIKE DON'T, YOU'RE, WOULD'VE, ETC — IN ESSAYS!) because using "whom" in essays makes you sound super educated ngl.

YOUR VS YOU'RE.   →      *   .    &

a very simple one, but the most common one i see people (including native-english-speaking adults) getting wrong! "your" always refers to possession. "YOUR eyes are beautiful", because you own your eyes. "can i have some of YOUR lunch?" because you own your lunch.

"you're" is a contraction of "you are", and you only use it to replace that word. "YOU'RE smart", because "you are smart". "YOU"RE a fast runner", because "you are a fast runner".

so to combine them, "YOUR stomach's rumbling, that means YOU'RE hungry", is correct, because "your stomach (belongs to you) is rumbling, that means you are hungry".

saying "you're eyes are beautiful" is incorrect, because that means "you are eyes are beautiful" which makes no sense. "your smart" makes no sense, because you do not own smart (unless in a sentence like, your wits and smarts, which is in a different context and then is referring to smarts as a trait — property — of your own).

THEIR VS THEY'RE VS THERE.   →      *   .    &

i still see people mixing these up so! "their" refers to possession, "it was THEIR lunch", essentially, "that lunch belonged to them".

"they're" is a contraction of "they are". therefore, "THEY'RE hiking the mountain" because "they are hiking the mountain".

"there" is referring to distance. "they are over THERE", "i left the bike over THERE", "she's back THERE". 

THROUGH VS THREW VS THOROUGH VS THOUGH.   →      *   .    &

"through" means something to be finished or refers to something in or out of. for example "he sprinted THROUGH the bushes". "we're THROUGH".

"threw" means to throw or discard of something. "john THREW the ball", "she THREW away his love letters".

"thorough" means a job done carefully and fully. "she checked THOROUGHLY for any bugs", "he cleaned his room THOROUGHLY".

"though" means an exception, "however" or "nonetheless". "THOUGH she was nearly eighteen, she knew little of the world", "he's a sweetheart even THOUGH he looks tough".

TO VS TOO VS TWO.   →      *   .    &

"to" is the act of doing something, or going towards something. "i went TO university".

"too" means also or excessively. "i want to come TOO", "he drank TOO much".

"two" is the number. "there were TWO of them."

WHO VS WHICH VS THAT.   →      *   .    &

in reference of how to refer to people or situations correctly. i get this wrong all the time. "who" is a pronoun referring to a person or persons. "jane wondered how jack, WHO is so smart, could be having difficulties".

"which" is the pronoun that replaces a singular or plural thing, not referring to people. "WHICH section of history did you get into?"

"that" is used to refer to things or a group of people. "i lost the book THAT i bought last week".

WHO VS WHOM.   →      *   .    &

i JUST discovered this after being confused for so long on how to properly use it and it's actually very simple! so if you want to replace the pronoun "he", "she", "they", or any other subject pronoun, use "who". for example, the question "[who/whom] writes the songs?" the answer would be "HE writes the songs". therefore, "WHO writes the songs?" is correct. 

if you want to replace "him", "her", "them", or another object pronoun, use "whom". so for the example "[who/whom] do you love", the answer is "you love HIM" not "you love he". therefore, the correct question would be "WHOM do you love?"

another example: "[who/whom] do you want to cover?" you want to cover for HIM. so "whom" is correct.

"[who/whom] is eligible for coverage?" HE is eligible for coverage. so "who" is correct. a bit confusing, but good to know. then again, it does sound a bit formal in casual writing, so maybe we'll stick to being grammatically incorrect for this one.

WHO'S VS WHOSE.   →      *   .    &

this one's really easy! "who's" is a contraction of "who is", so you would only use "who's" in contexts of when describing someone or what they're doing. for example: "katie, WHO'S only ten, ...". 

"whose" refers to possession, and is used to convey that the person referenced owns that thing. for example: "katie, WHOSE eyes were blue, ...".

so basically, it has the same rules as your vs you're. if you're unsure, break up the contraction of "who's" and see if it fits in the sentence. "katie, who is eyes were blue" is not correct, therefore, "katie, who's eyes are blue" is not correct. i know it's a bit confusing since typically an apostrophe signals possession, but in this case it has the same rules at its and it's! when i discovered the difference between these only a few years ago i was totally floored.

IT'S VS ITS.   →      *   .    &

this is another easily confused one since we're used to apostrophes typically signalling possession, however, like who's vs whose, in this case, the apostrophe signals a contraction. "it's" means "it is". for example: "IT'S only right that ..."

"its" refers to possession in this case. so the correct use would be, for example: "ITS coat was black". again, confusing because of apostrophes, but when has the english language ever made sense?

WOULD'VE, COULD'VE AND SHOULD'VE.   →      *   .    &

it's "would've", "could've" and "should've", not "would of", "could of", and "should of". "would've" is a contraction of "would have". grammatically, "would of" doesn't make sense. 

BARE VS BEAR.   →      *   .    &

one i still get confused with most of the time, tbh. "bare" essentially means naked, "her feet were BARE". it's also used when someone "BARES their teeth". the past tense of this is "bared", typically in reference to baring your teeth.

"bear" is the animal, of course, but it also means to carry something or to endure. "give me the weight to BEAR", or "the walls cannot BEAR the weight" are examples of this. the past tense of this is "bore", "she BORE the weight of the world".

BROUGHT VS BOUGHT.   →      *   .    &

another one i still mess up every single time. "brought" is the past tense of the verb "to bring", so taking someone or something to a person or a place. you "BROUGHT a picnic down to the seaside", "i BROUGHT my ds with me".

"bought" is the past tense of the verb "to buy". you "BOUGHT the bike from the salesman", "i BOUGHT a new golden ball".

COMPLIMENT VS COMPLEMENT.   →      *   .    &

one that is very pleasing to me. "compliment" is the act of giving someone praise. "she COMPLIMENTED me on my worth ethic", "i COMPLIMENTED her appearance".

"complement" is to add to something in a positive way, something that completes. "the red roses COMPLEMENTED the white dining table", "the addition of poetry COMPLEMENTED the novel". this one is very easy to mess up with a typo just from that one letter and i often find myself getting it wrong, simply for just typing quickly and not even realising.

TAUGHT VS TAUT.   →      *   .    &

one that i don't personally mix up, but is another homophone so i'm sure many people do. "taught" is something that you learned, perhaps in school. "i was TAUGHT english and arithmetic".

"taut" is an adjective which means that something is pulled tight, tense and strained. "the rope was TAUT". "taut" also often gets confused with "tight", but the difference is that "tight" means to firmly hold together, so as to not come loose easily, "taut" is pulled to its limit, and is an adjective describing something that is tight. "pulled TAUT to its limit".

ACCEPT VS EXCEPT.   →      *   .    &

"accept" is to receive: "he ACCEPTS defeat well", "he ACCEPTED the bounty prize".

"except" is to take or leave out: "take all the books EXCEPT for the red one", "kill them all EXCEPT for the girl". 

AFFECT VS EFFECT.   →      *   .    &

"affect" means to influence something or somebody. for example, "lack of sleep AFFECTS the quality of work". "he was AFFECTED by her love".

"effect" means the lasting impact or result on somebody or something. i literally learned this through the potion effects on minecraft. "the subtle EFFECT of the lighting ...". "damn that poison EFFECT is really getting to me". it can also mean to accomplish something, "can the university EFFECT such a change?"

BREATH VS BREATHE.   →      *   .    &

it lowkey drives me crazy when people use this wrong, when it's not just a typo. "breath" is what comes out of someone's mouth, "her BREATH was warm". "her BREATHS were coming out quickly". "her lungs were heaving, BREATH after BREATH".

"breathe" is the action or description of breathing. "if you don't BREATHE, you'll die". "BREATHE slowly, with me". "it was getting continuously harder to BREATHE".

THAN VS THEN.   →      *   .    &

"than", used as a comparison. "she was more beautiful THAN aphrodite", "i would rather go out THAN eat at home".

"then" refers to at that time, or the next. "i studied for hours, THEN went to bed", "and THEN, the unthinkable happened".

ILLUSION VS ALLUSION.   →      *   .    &

something that came up in all my english classes. "illusion" is a false perception of reality, seeing something that isn't really there. "the room was just an ILLUSION". 

an "allusion" is an indirect reference to something, they're alluding to a concept. "biblical ALLUSIONS were present throughout the novel", "the professor made an ALLUSION to virginia woolf's work".

LEAD VS LEAD VS LED.   →      *   .    &

"lead" (prounounced 'led') is the type of metal. "is that pipe made of LEAD?".

"lead" can also be the present form of "led", in that case pronounced 'leed' — also may be referring to the lead of a dog's collar, also known as a leash. "it was her job to LEAD them to safety".

"led" is the past tense of to lead something. "she LED them over the mountains".

ELICIT VS ILLICIT.   →      *   .    &

"elicit" is to draw or bring out, sometimes referring to making a noise. "she ELICITED a small cry", "the teacher ELICITED the correct response from the student".

"illicit" is something illegal. "he was arrested for his ILLICIT activities", "ILLICIT drugs".

ASCENT VS ASSENT.   →      *   .    &

"ascent" means a climb, or "ascending". "the plane's ASCENT made my ears pop".

"assent" refers to agreement. "the girl ASSENTED to undergo experiments".

COUNCIL VS COUNSEL VS CONSOLE.   →      *   .    &

a "council" is a group of people that consults or advises. for example, "the men and women on the COUNCIL voted".

"counsel" is to advise someone. "the officer COUNSELLED the victim", "i went to COUNSELLING", "she came to COUNSEL me".

to "console" is to comfort someone. "she CONSOLLED me in my unsurest of times", "i was CONSOLLED by his kindness".

PASSED VS PAST.   →      *   .    &

"passed" is a verb, the past tense of "to pass", to have moved. "the tornado PASSED through the city quickly", "their car PASSED by our own", "she had PASSED away".

"past" is something belonging to a former time, place or person. "she was his PAST maid", "it's all in the PAST", "go PAST the fire station and turn right".

LOSE VS LOOSE.   →      *   .    &

another one that really bugs me, i don't know why! "lose"  is to misplace something or not win, present tense of "lost" and "losing". "she hated to LOSE", "if you LOSE my glasses, we're no longer friends". pronounced 'looz'.

"loose" is pronounced in a way that it rhymes with "goose", and describes something that is not tight, or is a verb that means "release". related to the action of"loosening". "the rope was slack and LOOSE" , "LOOSE the arrows!".

STATIONARY VS STATIONERY.   →      *   .    &

i must get this wrong all the time because i totally forgot there were two versions of this oh my god. "stationary" means standing still. "i ran into a STATIONARY object", "she was STATIONARY".

"stationery" are office supplies like pens and paper, etc. "my mother bought me STATIONERY from the store".

EMINENT VS IMMANENT VS IMMINENT.   →      *   .    &

"eminent" is something or someone famous or respected. "the EMINENT politician won an award".

"immanent" is something inherent or intrisic. "the meaning of the poem was IMMANENT".

"imminent" means something close, or that's ready to take place. "a fight between us was IMMINENT". i lowkey thought they all meant this oops.

LIE VS LAY.   →      *   .    &

one that i mix up constantly. "lie" is to lie down, a person or an animal only. "i'm going to LIE down for a while". this also applies to "lying", "lay", "has/have lain". "the dog was LAIN in the shade". "yesterday, the dog lay there for hours".

"lay" is to lay down an object. "LAY down that shotgun", "she LAY the sword on its side".

FATHER VS FARTHER VS FURTHER.   →      *   .    &

"father" describes a male parent. "my FATHER's favourite colour is blue", "he FATHERED three children".

"further" and "farther" are both used to describe far distance or something that is being extended to a more advanced stage. "father" describes an extension of physical difference. "the rest stop was two miles FARTHER than we expected", "you'll find the lighthouse FARTHER along the coast". on the other hand, "further" describes an extension of metaphorical or figurative distance. "she took a course as her manager said it would help FURTHER her career", "her sister was FURTHER along in the netflix series".

ALL READY VS ALREADY.   →      *   .    &

i also thought these were interchangeable oops. "all ready" means "prepared". "dinner was ALL READY", "she was ALL READY to fight".

"already" essentially means "by this time". "the dinner was ALREADY burned", "she was ALREADY battered and bruised".

ALL TOGETHER VS ALTOGETHER.   →      *   .    &

another one i was probably messing up. "all together" is people or things gathered, everything in one place. "we were gathered ALL TOGETHER at the reunion".

"altogether" means "entirely". "ALTOGETHER, i thought the presentation was rather good".

APART VS A PART.   →      *   .    &

"apart" means to be separated. "the fence kept the angry dogs APART", "the car fell APART".

"a part" means to be joined with, or a segment of something. "the new course was A PART of the new field of study", "A PART of this plans involves ..."

CONSCIENCE VS CONSCIOUS.   →      *   .    &

one i also always mix up. "conscience" is the sense of write and wrong in somebody or something's head. "his CONSCIENCE was telling him no".

"conscious" means "awake". "i was CONSCIOUS when the burglar entered the house".

PRECEDE VS PROCEED.   →      *   .    &

"precede" is to come before something. "pre-writing PRECEDES the rough draft of good papers".

"proceed" is to go forward. "let's PROCEED in the maze".

PRINCIPAL VS PRINCIPLE.   →      *   .    &

a "principal" is a person or a thing that has authority, may be referring to the head of a school. "the PRINCIPAL ran the school", "chocolate chips were the PRINCIPAL ingredients in the cookies".

"principle" is a general or fundamental truth. "the study was based on the PRINCIPLE of gravity".