MEPX
Chapter 2 of 10All chapters
  1. 1Sound alike
  2. 2Look alike
  3. 3Meanings people get wrong
  4. 4Who is doing what
  5. 5Grammar-driven pairs
  6. 6Words misused at work
  7. 7Phrases people mangle
  8. 8British and American differences
  9. 9Checking yourself
  10. 10Why it matters

Chapter 2 of 10

Look alike

Similar spelling, different meaning.

Pairs to separate

Affect and effect, accept and except, advice and advise, lose and loose, than and then, elicit and illicit, ensure and insure.

  • Advice is the noun and advise the verb; the s sounds like a z.
  • Then is time, than is comparison.

The affect trick

Affect is an Action, effect is the End result. The exceptions, effect as a verb meaning to bring about and affect as a noun in psychology, are rare enough to learn separately.