Common Confusions & Confusable Words

Some words keep swapping places because they sound the same or look alike — affect and effect, its and it's, fewer and less. They are not hard once you have the one-line test for each. This is the quick card: the pair, which is which, and a way to remember. When one keeps catching you out, follow the link to the article that owns it.

These slips are so common because English is full of words that sound identical (their/there) or look almost the same (lose/loose). Your ear cannot always tell them apart, so you need a quick eye-test instead — which is exactly what the table gives you. Read down it, find the pair you are unsure about, and apply the test.

The lookalikes and soundalikes

The three biggest culprits

• its / it's — the single most common apostrophe slip. Full fix in Its / It's, Their / There, You're / Your.
• affect / effect — the verb/noun mix-up. Sorted in Affect or Effect?.
• fewer / less — the countable/uncountable line, covered in Fewer or Less, Much or Many?.

A quick UK/US note

Most confusables are the same on both sides of the Atlantic. The main one that differs is practice / practise: British English uses the -ce spelling for the noun and -se for the verb, while American English just writes practice for both. Otherwise, the tests above work whichever variety you are in.

Keep this card handy for a final check, and pin down the ones you personally trip over — everyone has two or three.

Where next

• Common Errors — the young-learner clinic — the bigger map this sits inside
• Its / It's, Their / There, You're / Your — the apostrophe lookalikes
• Affect or Effect? — the classic verb/noun mix-up
• Fewer or Less, Much or Many? — the quantity words