50 Words People Get Wrong All the Time

These two have related meanings: aural refers to the ear or hearing, and oral to the mouth or speaking.

“With bated breath” means nervously or anxiously; bated is hardly ever used in any other context, and people often wrongly spell it with an “i.” Baited is the past principle of bait, which means to tease or put a trap.

People often confuse bear and bare. Although they are short and simple words, they mean very different things — and each has more than one meaning. Bear can mean carry or endure, bear with someone, or even give birth. It’s also a furry animal. As an adjective, bare can mean uncovered or simple; as a verb it means to expose.

A bazaar is a market. A bizarre bazaar is a strange market indeed. The former has Persian roots, the latter Spanish.

These words are pronounced the same but have very different meanings. A berth is where a ship moors or a passenger sleeps. Birth can be used as a noun, adjective, and verb in relation to having offspring.

These words are easily confused. Biannual means twice a year, while biennial means every two years.

Bloc means a group of nations or people united by a common interest. Block has a number of meanings, including prevent, as in block a bloc from working together.

Canvas is something you paint on or sleep under. To canvass means to solicit votes or support. One “s” makes all the difference.

Congress meets in the United States Capitol, one of the most recognizable buildings in the world, which is located in the United States capital, Washington, D.C. — and people often mix up the two.

Censor means to remove or suppress content, while censure means to criticize.

Compliment is a verb and noun meaning praise. Complement means goes well with. “My compliments to the chef. The eggs complement the bacon.”

These two words have different meanings depending on whether you are talking about the whole or the parts: “The pizza is composed of dough and cheese and comprises eight slices.” (Some people say “comprised of,” although the “of” is redundant.)

These words look very similar and are used interchangeably, but there’s an important difference — continual means with interruptions, continuous means without.

Counsel means advice or the person giving it, whereas a council is a group of people that advises or decides on different matters.

The difference is simple — criteria is the plural of criterion, although the singular is falling out of use in everyday English.

People often confuse desert, the sandy place, and dessert, the sweet treat. The difference is only an “s,” but with desert, the first syllable is stressed, and with dessert, the second.

Discreet means unobtrusive, low key, whereas discrete means separate, individual. You can have discreet and discrete conversations.

Elicit means to draw out or evoke. You wouldn’t elicit praise for something that was illicit, however, as that means illegal or unapproved.

To evoke means to summon or call to mind, while to invoke means to call upon, as in, to invoke a rule of law.

These words are often used interchangeably, but disinterested means neutral or not having a stake in the outcome, whereas uninterested means you just don’t care.

To ensure means to make sure something happens; to insure means to cover something with an insurance policy, which almost always means you don’t want it to happen.

As a verb, to faint means to pass out, while to feint means to fake something, such as an attack. As an adjective, faint means slight or imperceptible.

It’s not a super strict rule, but fewer should be used for things that can be counted, while less should be used for things that can’t be counted or don’t have a plural. Fewer grammar mistakes mean less embarrassment.

To flaunt means to show off, whereas to flout means to openly disregard a rule. You could flout convention by flaunting your wealth.

To flounder means to struggle whereas to founder means to sink. Of course, flounder is also a fish, and they’re pretty good swimmers, so that might help you remember the distinction between the two. However, founder can also mean someone who builds something up, which is almost the opposite of to sink.

Forbear is a verb meaning to refrain from something. Forebear is a noun meaning ancestor. You wouldn’t be reading this if your forebears had decided to forbear.

The difference between these words is simple. To infer means to draw a conclusion, while to imply means to suggest something. Put simply, infer relates to getting information and drawing a conclusion from it, while implying is suggesting information.

Irregardless means the same as regardless. It bothers language purists, however. Some even argue that there’s no such word.

People sometimes confuse learn and teach, as Yogi Berra did when he said, “Bill Dickey is learning me his experience.” In standard English, Dickey was teaching and Berra was learning.

Literally literally means actually, but people often use it when they mean figuratively, which is something entirely different. We’ve all heard statements like, “I literally laughed my head off,” or “I literally died with embarrassment.”

A moral is a lesson you draw from something. Morals are your standards or ethics. Morale is your mental or emotional state. It’s probably good for your morale to be a moral person.

Nuclear is incorrectly pronounced “nucular” by some people, including former President George W. Bush and Homer Simpson.

A peak is the top of something, such as a mountain. To peek means to look briefly or glance at. Pique can mean to stimulate interest, but it can also mean to upset somebody. We hope we have piqued your interest and not piqued you.

Perpetrate means to commit or carry out something, such as a crime. Perpetuate means to prolong the existence of, possibly forever.

To pore means to read or focus on something carefully. I could pour you a drink while you pore over this.

As an adjective, premier means first or most prominent. As a noun, it can be a synonym for prime minister. A premiere is the first time a movie or play is shown. A premier could attend a premiere.

These look-alike words can have opposite meanings. To prescribe means to order or recommend something, as doctors might do. To proscribe means to forbid something, as dictators might do.

A principle is a fundamental idea or rule, such as a principle of justice. Principal as an adjective means the most important as in, the principal principle. Principal as a noun means the head of an organization or institution, such as a company or school. The principal should be principled.

These words are sometimes mixed up. Rain falls from the sky; a rein is used to control a horse; and a monarch reigns over a country.

Sank is the past tense of sink, as in the ship sank, while sunk is the past participle, as in the ship has sunk.

Stationary means standing still, while stationery relates to paper and other office supplies.

Systematic relates to the process or procedure by which something happens, while systemic means ingrained in the system.

People often say “very unique,” but strictly speaking nothing is very unique. Something is either unique, which means one of a kind, or not — there aren’t degrees of uniqueness.