Pairs/Groups Of Words Often Confused - Part 1 of 6

ACCEPT, EXCEPT
Not commonly seen even from unpublished writers, who are probably familiar with the difference because they're all waiting for an acceptance!

"We accept your invitation to your party, except for Bill, who will be away on that day."

ADAPT, ADEPT, ADOPT
Adapt means to adjust, adept means skilled and
adopt means to take as your own:

"Some people cannot adapt to new surroundings."
"He is very adept at dodging awkward questions."
"He tends to adopt the attitudes of those around him."

ADVERSE, AVERSE
Adverse means inauspicious, hostile; averse means disinclined, repelled.

"I'm very much averse to making a long, arduous journey under such adverse weather conditions."

ADVICE, ADVISE
Advice is the noun and advise the verb.

"His advice was that we should advise everybody to either stay away or be extremely careful."

AFFECT, EFFECT
Affect is a verb; effect is a noun.

"Bad weather will affect the quality of the fruit."
"The effect of bad weather is a reduction in fruit quality."

ALREADY, ALL READY
Already means by this time; all ready means prepared.

"Are you already packed?"
"Yes, I'm all ready to leave."

ALTOGETHER, ALL TOGETHER
Altogether means wholly; all together means everybody in a group:

"It's altogether too bad you can't come."
"All together, now: 'Good morning, Sir!'"

ALL RIGHT, ALRIGHT
All right is the correct form; alright is grammatically incorrect.

ALLUDE, ELUDE
Allude means to refer to; elude means to dodge or escape.

ALLUSION, ILLUSION
Allusion is an indirect reference or hint; illusion means deception or mirage.

ALL WAYS, ALWAYS
All ways means by every way or method; always means all the time, forever.

ANNUAL, ANNUL
Annual means yearly; annul means to make void or invalid.

ANYONE, ANY ONE
This is quite tricky. Anyone means anybody, any person at all; any one means any one person and is followed by "of".

"Does anyone else want to come?"
"Any one of you is welcome to come along."

APPRAISE, APPRISE
Appraise is to assess or estimate. Apprise is to inform or notify:

"I will appraise the situation and immediately apprise everybody of my conclusions."

Please don't make your character say or write anything like this, though--unless you want him to sound like a pompous twit!

ASCENT, ASSENT
Ascent is an upward movement; assent means agreement.

ASSISTANCE, ASSISTANTS
Assistance means help or aid; assistants is the plural of assistant, one who gives help.

ASSURE, ENSURE, INSURE
Assure means to guarantee; ensure means to make sure; insure means to protect against loss or damage:

"I assure you there's no call for alarm."
"To ensure your crockery doesn't get broken, wrap it all in bubble wrap."
"In case of breakage or loss, you should insure everything with a good insurance company."

About The Author
Laraine Anne Barker writes fantasy for young people. Visit her web site at http://lbarker.orcon.net.nz - Fantasy for Children & Young Adults for FREE stories and novel excerpts. Sign up for the NOVELLA OF THE MONTH CLUB, absolutely FREE!

---

Create Confidence With Your Writing

Whether you are writing a magazine article, composing a press... Read More

Writing For The Web: Where To Get Article Ideas

A friend and I were talking the other day about... Read More

How To Write to a Word Count

You've finished your story, and you're pretty happy with it.... Read More

Becoming the Total Package

Being a great writer is no longer enough if you... Read More

The Daily Rite

If you want to be a writer, then you must... Read More

Another Way to Show Your Expertise: Write a Book!

Maybe you should write a book! This is not as... Read More

Writing Query Letters that Count -- Close the Deal with Your First Letter!

Your query letter can be a deal maker or a... Read More

Is The Theme Reinforced In The Ending?

Creative Writing Tips ?By now you should have an idea... Read More

Writing - Copyrights and Trademarks Protect You

When most people consider writing a book, they don't think... Read More

Learning How To Write

As a student of Spanish, my goal was to think... Read More

Permission NOT To Write

Quite a few years ago, I enrolled in a Degree... Read More

Writing With Power: 5 Snappy Rules For Success

Almost everyone could profit from enhancing their writing skills. From... Read More

Italics Part 2 - Using Italics to Show Thoughts

Way back in your early school years, you were probably... Read More

Getting Past The Shoulds To Write

During the past few months I have received many questions... Read More

Keeping a Journal - One of the Three Treasures to Leave Behind

(excerpted from the "How to Use a Journal" audio series... Read More

Writing Requires Self-Control

The only way to become a writer is to write.... Read More

What Does It Take To Make Your Memories Into Publishable Memoirs?

Why should you consider creating a memoir of your personal... Read More

How to Create Stories that Sizzle

How to Start Your Story with a BangThe purpose of... Read More

The Cost of Being a Writer

You are the only one who knows what being a... Read More

A Perfect Day for Writers

In one of the exercises in my "Getting Started as... Read More

Mixing and Mingling: The Door to Publication?

Mixing and mingling with industry professionals is an opportunity that... Read More

Ten Quick Tips for Inexperienced Writers

One of the biggest problems that inexperienced writers have is... Read More

Help! I Cant Write!

Writer's Block can strike like a King Cobra, paralyzing every... Read More

Writing Made Them Rich #3: Richard Bach

One day in the mid-1970's a young man stumbled into... Read More

Top 7 Writers Sites for 2005

If you dream of turning your book into a best... Read More

The ENTP Inventor Writes A Novel

People familiar with the Myers-Briggs Personality test know that the... Read More

Writing Good Dialogue.

There's nothing that kills a scene like hackneyed dialogue. Just... Read More

How to Use Textpad to Write Articles Faster

It's a good idea to use TextPad because all opt-in... Read More

Tips On Writing A Killer Sales Letter

Writing a sales letter doesn't have to be that difficult... Read More

Are Writing Exercises Effective?

It was reported that the great American author Sinclair Lewis... Read More

Plotting Problems - Episodic Writing

The rejection letter says: "Your story, on the surface, appears... Read More

How You Can Find Freelance Editing Jobs

Freelance editing opportunities are out there, you just need to... Read More

Advice for New Writers

With the advent of email communications in the workplace, it's... Read More