Confusing words

Apostrophes
An apostrophe or not?
Look at the groups of words below. The words within each group sound the same
or very similar, but one of the words in the group has an apostrophe in it. In each
case the apostrophe shows a letter (or letters) is missing. By putting in the
missing letters and thinking about the meaning of the words you should find them
less confusing.
Word

Meaning

it's

is short for it is or it has

e.g. It's been a long, hard day at work.

its

means belonging to it
e.g. The dog hurt its paw.

who's

is short for who is or who has

e.g. Who's got the remote control?

whose

means who does it belong to

e.g. Whose is this brown coat?

you're

is short for you are

e.g. You're always late for the bus.

Word

Meaning

your

means belonging to you

e.g. Is this your pair of shoes?

they're

is short for they are

e.g. They're waiting for us downstairs.

their

means belonging to them

e.g. Their dog barks all the time.

there

means in that place or is used in phrases such as there is or there are

e.g. The movie theatre is over there.

we're

is short for we are

e.g. We're going on holiday next week.

were

is part of the past tense of the verb to be

e.g. We were students.

For more information on apostrophes see the 'Apostrophes' factsheet.

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Is it a 'u'?
The letter 'u' can often confuse you when you are spelling a word.
To help you to remember the spelling of such words, say them to yourself as they
are spelt when you write them.
Sometimes an 'o' can sound like a 'u'
e.g. 'oven' can sound like it should be spelt
'uven'

oven
among
come
money
government
discover
none

'u' often makes an indistinct, or unclear

sound which can make it difficult to hear
that it is in the word.

antique
cheque
business
Saturday
laugh
aunt

Some words may seem to have too

many 'u's in them.

unusual
queue (don't confuse this word with
'cue' - a billiard or snooker cue)

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Words that sound similar

With words that sound similar it is important to know their meanings or how they
are used in sentences. This will help you to work out which word and spelling you
should use.
Word

Hint

of

stress 'ov' when you write 'of'

e.g. I'll have some of that chicken pie.

off

stress 'ff' when you write 'off'

use in phrases such as - to get off / to fall off
e.g. Can you turn the light switch off?

quiet

means to be silent, make very little noise

e.g. Please be quiet, or you'll wake the baby.

quite

means fairly, almost

e.g. He won quite a large prize.

Word

Hint

chose

past tense of 'to choose' - stress 'o' sound

e.g. I chose the largest piece of cake.

choose

present tense of the verb - stress 'oo'

e.g. Which meal will you choose?

lose

think of 'lost'
e.g. Be careful not to lose your wallet.

loose

means not tight - stress 'oo'

e.g. The lid on the jar was loose.

affect

means have an influence on - affect is only used as a verb

e.g. Smoking can affect your health.

effect

means a result or to bring something about - effect can be used as a

noun or a verb
e.g. The aspirin had an immediate effect on her headache.

accept

means to receive
e.g. I can't accept this gift because it's too expensive.

except

means not including

e.g. Everyone was invited to the party except Jeannine.

Word

Hint

past

this is used mainly for time gone by - past is an adjective or

describing word
e.g. Some people believe in past lives.

passed

means moved by - passed is a verb or action word

e.g. The car that passed us was going very fast.

stationary

means standing still or not moving

e.g. The tractor was standing stationary in the field.

stationery

means notepaper, exercise books, envelopes etc - you can

remember this one by the 'e' in exercise books and envelopes.
e.g. Can you please order some more office stationery?

personal

individual or private - a letter that is only to be opened by the person it

is addressed to may be marked 'personal'
e.g. She left the room to take a personal phone call.

personnel

means employees or staff

e.g. The personnel department looked after 100 employees.

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Words that look similar

The two following groups of words don't sound so similar but look similar so you
may confuse them. The best way to remember them is to know their meanings or
how they are used in sentences, which will help you work out which word and
spelling you should use.
Word

Hint

bought

past tense of the verb 'buy'

e.g. He bought three shirts in the sale.

brought

past tense of the verb 'bring'

e.g. She brought lots of food to the party.

though

- means in spite of the fact

e.g. She ran 3 miles though it was very hot.

through

- to go through from end to end

e.g. He pushed his way through the hedge.

thorough

- means complete or very detailed

e.g. She gave a thorough account of the event.

Is it an 's' or 'c'?

Remember the difference between each of the words in the pairs below, by the
fact that the noun is always spelt with a 'c' and the verb with an 's'.
So if you are confused think about how the word is being used in the sentence.
You might find it helpful to remember the following phrase: Send for the cat.
Think 's' for the verb 'send' and 'c' for the noun 'cat'.
She had lots of practice in running.

noun

She practises every day.

verb

He has a driving licence.

noun

The publican is licensed to sell beer, wines and spirits.

verb

My advice is to run away.

noun

I advise you to stand still.

verb

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Are there double letters?

These words may confuse you if you're not sure whether there are double letters
or which of the letters are double. You can often find ways of remembering the
double letters by thinking of phrases to jog your memory (these are called
mnemonics).
e.g. necessary - it is necessary for a shirt to have one collar and two sleeves
(one 'c' and two 'ss')
Here are some other words you may wish to make up phrases for to help you
remember how to spell them.
tomorrow

accident

occasion

opportunity

community

disappoint

recommend

cigarette

committee

succeed

accommodation

embarrass

apply

address

carrot

How to make up a memory phrase.

1. Work on the part of the word which you forget.
e.g. In the word accommodation, the double 'cc' and double 'mm' are usually
the problem.
2. Make up a phrase that will remind you of the difficult part of the word, as well
as the word that you're trying to remember.
e.g. For accommodation, you might try and think of two people with the initials
'CC' and 'MM' sharing a house together. Your memory phrase or mnemonic
would then be something like, Cheerful Charlie and Mad Mary share
accommodation.
3. Once you have invented a phrase you may also find it useful to try and draw it.
This can also help to fix it in your memory.
4. Often the best phrases are the ones you make up yourself and most people
are more likely to remember something which is very silly or even slightly rude!