Word up!

     Here’s your dilemma: You’re on a roll: writing away, pumping out those ideas, typing with a fast pace.  Click, click, click, until suddenly, in the middle of a great sentence, you think about a word, or part of a word, from way back when.  You decide that you would rather use that word instead of the overused one that is fixed in your brain.  Problem is, not only can you not remember what that better word is, you do not remember how to spell it.  All that you know is that a better word exists.   Read on partner, we might have a solution here.

     Similar to the idea of climbing a mountain one step at a time, or building a house one brick at a time, you create great writing one word at a time.  Choosing the right word is just as important to the creative outcome of your writing as spelling the word right.  My goal is to help you find and spell the exact word that you need in order to complete the next best-seller. 

     The following list includes words (plus a few phrases) that often confuse many writers. I must confess; for years, deciding when to choose than over then created a grammatical crisis for me. Most of the words listed below are what we linguists—I’m a linguist—call confusing words. 

     Hymonyms, heteronyms, homographs, and homophones (I call them the 4-h words) are words that could send even the most dedicated ESL student over the edge.  These words are downright confusing.  Some of them look alike and sound alike, but have different meanings.  Others are spelled alike, but are pronounced differently.  Still others are spelled alike, pronounced the same, but mean something different.  Holy smokes!  Here are definitions for members of the 4-h club:

• homonym: One of two or more words that has the same sound, and often the same spelling, but have different meanings (see the word "fair").
• homophone: One of two or more words that are pronounced the same, but have different origin, spelling and meaning. (see the word "see").
• homograph: One of two or more words that are spelled the same but are pronounced differently and have different meanings. (see the word "bow").
• heteronym: two words that are identical in spelling and pronunciation, but have different meanings (see close and close).

      When I was a child, I remember my mother and I sitting at the kitchen playing word games (Yea, my life was nerdy like that). The end result was that I grew up loving words. I encourage you to sharpen your skills by studying members of the homonym family. You will benefit with an impressive inner word vault. Next time, the specific word that you need will rest at the tip of your pen rather than (or is it then?) at the tip of your tongue.

accept: v. believe, agree, recognize, receive; assume, tolerate, admit 

except: prep. if not, apart from, but, not including 

ad: n. advertisement 
add:  v. to perform addition

adapt: v. to adjust
adept: adj. proficient

advice: n. recommendation; guidance; suggestion; opinion 

advise: v. to offer guidance; give advice

affect: v. to influence, change
effect: n. result, outcome, consequence

affluent: adj. rich, wealthy, well-to-do

effluent: n. overflow, seepage, liquid waste matter 

agape: wide open
agape: Christian love

agnostic: n. one who believes the existence of God cannot be proved or disproved.

atheist: one who doesn’t believe that gods or divinities exist, but is willing to accept existence with the right evidence.  (SPELL CHECK: e comes before i in atheist).

aid: v. help, support, assist
aid: n. benefits, assistance
aide: n. assistant, helper, adviser

air: n. the stuff we breath
err: v. to make a mistake

allowed: permitted
aloud: out loud

all ready: n. complete, done  

already: previously; by now; before now

allude: v. refer to something or somebody indirectly
ellude: v. escape, avoid, dodge, evade, get away from

allusion: hint, insinuation, reference 

illusion: magic trick , false impression

appropriate: adj. suitable, apposite, apt, right, correct
appropriate: v. set aside (money), designate (without permission)


arc: n. a bow 
ark: n. Noah’s boat

ascent: climb, rise, gradient,  incline    

assent: concur, go along with, agree,

beside: next, on the side of, near, by, close, alongside

besides: in addition to, as well, also, moreover, what’s more

bitch: n. a female dog
bitch: v. complain
bitch: adj.  difficult

boar: a big pig
bore:  a person who is boring, not interesting

boarder: a paying house guest 

border: boundary,  frame, margin, edge

bow (this is an example of a homograph):

• n. arc of a ship
• v. curtsy, bend over
• v. distort
• n. ribbon in a little girl's hair

breadth: n. width, span, wideness, girth, extent
breath: n. inhaled or exhaled air, pant, breathing

breathe: v. to inhale or exhale, take breaths, take in air

broad: far-reaching, wide, expansive, extensive
broad: n. slang for "woman."

brows: n. eyebrows 

browse: v. look around, peruse, surf, look through 

buck: n. dollar, money, cash
buck: v. jump, resist, oppose

cache: n. hidden storage
cash: n. money, legal tender

canvas: n. heavy cloth 

canvass: v. drum up support, campaign, solicit votes 

capital: n. upper case letter, a city 

capitol:  a building MEMORY TIP:  Think of "old building.  Match the "o" in "old" with the "o" in capitol.

cent: n. a penny
scent: n. smell, aroma, odor, bouquet, whiff
sent: v. past tense of "send

cereal: n. breakfast food     

serial: adj. sequential, ongoing, successive

cheep: v. peep, tweet, twitter

cheap: adj. inexpensive, stingy, tightfisted, miserly

chord: n. musical tone, harmony, arpeggio 

cord: n. rope, string, twine

cite: v. quote, name, mention
site: n. location, spot
sight: n. view, vision

close: prep. nearby, local, adjacent, within walking distance
close: v. shut, slam, lock, seal, secure


compel: v. to constrain someone in some way to yield or do what one wishes.  Think of the bill collector who threatens to send the repo man if you don't pay your car note. 
impel: v. to provide a strong motive toward a certain end.  Think of promising your child $5.00 for every "A" he gets on his report card.

complement: v. enhance, balance 

compliment: n. praise, accolade, kind word

compost: n. organic fertilizer
compost: v. process of making compost

conscience: n. sense of right and wrong, ethics, principles
conscious: v. alert, aware, awake, cognizant, deliberate, premeditated

creak:  v. or n. squeak, screech, groan, scrape 

creek: n. small stream of water

data: plural, observations, measurements, figures, statistics 
datum:  singular, and observation, measurement or fact

dear: adj. beloved, cherished, treasured
deer: n. an animal

device: n. machine, tool, gadget, contraption  

devise: v. create, plan formulate

dew: n. morning mist    do: v. operate   due: adj. unpaid, payable

die: v. cease to exist, depart this life, expire, pass away

dye: n. colorant, stain, pigment 

duel: n. contest, clash, gunfight, battle
dual: adj. double, twin, twofold 

elicit: v. draw out, bring out, educe, obtain
illicit: adj. illegal, against the law, criminal, dishonest

emigration: v. moving from a country
immigration: v. moving to a country

eminent: adj. famous, distinguished, well-known, renowned
immanent: inherent, intrinsic
imminent: adj. about to happen, forthcoming, pending

ensure: v. guarantee, make sure

insure: v. underwrite, cover, assure, insurance

ewe: n. female sheep  

you: n. second-person personal pronoun

fair (this is an example of a homonym):

• adj. describes appearance
• n. County fair
• adj. reasonable

famous: adj. well-known, popular, renowned, famed
infamous: adj. same as famous, but for bad reasons

farther: n. distance measured in inches, actual distance (MEMORY TIP: Remember the "a" in farther and the "a" in actual distance.
further: n. distance (abstract measure) e.g., "That couldn't be further from the truth."

faze: impact
phase: stage, point in time

feasible: adj. realistic, viable
probable:  adj. likely, credible

fewer: adj. a smaller number   
less: adj. a smaller amount

flea: biting insect
flee: v. run

for: prep. on behalf of, intended for,  used for

fore: forefront four: one more than three

forth:  adv. onward, forward  

fourth:  numerical position

freak: n. a strange-looking person, monster, a weird person, a sexually expressive person
freak: v. to frighten, to react excitedly

gorilla: n. big ape, brute, thug, bully,  

guerrilla: n. warrior, rebel, revolutionary

holey: adj. full of holes, leaky, permeable
holy: adj. divine, sacred, hallowed, sanctified, blessed
wholly: adv. entirely, completely

hour: sixty minutes
our: belonging to us

in: prep. inside, location
within: prep. surrounded by, contained by

knead: massage, press, rub
need: want, desire

knot: tied rope
not: negative

lie vs. lay vs. lied vs. laid:

The mother of all confusing words!

lie: untruth, present tense, e.g., Do not lie to me.

lied: untruth, past tense, e.g., You lied to me. 

lie: recline, present tense, e.g., lie in bed.

lay: recline, past tense, e.g., lay in bed (NOTE: not laid)

lay: put down, place, e.g., Lay it on the table.

lead: n. a type of metal
lead: v. direct, show the way, escort, guide; n. clue, information
led:  v. to have been lead


lessen: v. reduce, decrease, cut, lower, minimize
lesson: class, tutorial, seminar


lure: v. to attract, with the connotation of danger
allure: v. to attractwith something desirable

minute: adj. minuscule, tiny, infinitesimal
minute: n. sixty seconds, moment, brief moment


more: compares exactly two things
most:  compares more than two things 

piece: n. a portion of something
peace:  n. calm, quiet, solitude, tranquility

Polish:  from Poland
polish: v. shine, buff, clean, sparkle

precede: v. come first, go before, pave the way, herald

proceed: v. ensue, keep on, continue, advance, go on, carry on

proceeds: n. income, profits, earnings, takings

predicate:  n. one of two main sentence parts.
predicate: v. proclaim, assert, declare, affirm

project: n. assignment, job, venture
project: v. forecast, predict  v. throw, launch

putting: v. situate, place (I am putting the dishes away.)
putting: v. golf term

quail: v. to draw back, shy away, tremble
quail: n. a bird


rain: n. rainfall, downpour, drizzle, rainwater
reign: n. a time in power; v. to be in power


recover: v. restore, refinish (furniture)
recover: v. get well, recuperate, recover, reposess, recoup


refuse: n. garbage, junk, litter, waste, rubbish
refuse: v. decline, reject, say no, rebuff


resume: v. start again
resumé: n. summary of work history

row: n. line, strip,
row: v. paddle, propel: v. disagreement, wrangle, argument, argue

sea:  n. the ocean
see: v. observe, distinguish

slough: n. quagmire, estuary, bayou, inlet, backwater
slough: v. remove dead skin, shed, discard, ignore

stationary: adj. motionless, inactive, immobile, standing still
stationery: n. writing paper

supposed to: obligated to, presumed to NOT: suppose to
suppose: v. reason, expect, understand, believe, imagine, pretend, guess
supposing: conj. what if

tear: n. from eye
tear: v. to rip apart, split, sprain, dash, rush out

terminal: adj. closing, concluding
terminal:  n. airport terminal

than: conj. (comparative) indicates difference

then: adv. (temporal / often comes with cause-and-effect relationship) next, after that, subsequently, followed by, indicates time

there: a specific place, location
their: belonging to them
they're: contraction for "they are"

to: in the direction of, for the purpose of
too: in addition, also
two: the number that comes after one

through: adj. finished, done, complete, concluded
threw: v. past tense of throw
thru: slang for through - not appropriate in standard writingthorough: adj. detailed, scrupulous, methodical, systematic



though: conj. although, even if ; adv. however, all the same, nonetheless

tweak: v. fine-tune, regulate, adjust, correct, modify;

tweet: v. chirp, peep, twitter, chirp, cheep, n. a message sent via Twitter.

weather: v. get through, endure, survive, withstand,

whether: conj. if

rather: on the contrary, slightly, somewhat, fairly, instead

which: interrogative pronoun, used to introduce a nonrestrictive clause, what one
witch: n. sorceress

whose: posessive pronoun
who's: contraction for "who is"

wind: n. current of air, airstream
wind: v. coil, twist, curl (unwind: antonym)

wound: n injury, cut, gash
wound: v. past tense of wind "Minnie was all wound up, i.e., she was nervous."

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