One of the great things about the English language is its extraordinary depth. It has so many words that there seems to be one assigned to every possible sliver of an idea; every shade or nuance of meaning is covered. The difficulty with this, however, is that many of these nuances escape us, and we mistake one word for another—we make usage errors. In the next three chapters, we’ll take a magnifying glass to pairs of words that are often confused and identify their precise meanings so that you’ll know when and how to use them correctly.

This chapter will consider words that we mix up because they sound almost the same. One little letter can make a big difference!

Here’s Why: “Accept” means to receive something or to agree to it as valid. “Except” means to exclude. In this sentence we are talking about excluding Louis from the group of men who wore ties, not receiving him, so “except” is correct. Additional correct examples are:

Here’s Why: “Advise” is a verb, meaning the action of providing someone with counsel or suggestions on how she should behave. “Advice” is the noun meaning the suggestions themselves. You advise a person to do something. That something is the advice you offer. In this sentence, we’re referring not to the action of offering a suggestion, but to the suggestion itself, namely that no more of this chili should be eaten. So the noun “advice” is right. Additional correct examples are:

Here’s Why: The verb “affect” means to influence or to touch the feelings of someone, which is clearly what happened in this sentence with poor Larry. The verb “effect” is incorrect here because it means to bring something about, to cause something. “Effect” can also be a noun used to identify the result, the thing that has been brought about, as in The effects of smoking are bad. Here are some additional correct examples featuring “affect” and “effect”:

Here’s Why: “Amoral” means to be completely outside the question of morality, neither good nor bad. “Immoral” means to be inside the boundaries, but to choose the wrong side. It means behavior that is not moral. In the example sentence, the meaning is that the mother’s behavior is bad, so “immoral” is the word we want. Here are more correct examples:

Here’s Why: “Averse” means to be in opposition. “Adverse” means unfavorable or bad. If it helps you, think of “bad” rhyming with the first syllable of “adverse.” In this case, where we’re talking about bad side effects, the word we want is “adverse.” Additional correct examples are:

Here’s Why: “Beside” without an “s” means to be at the side of. “Besides” with an “s” means in addition to, or moreover, as in our sentence here, where the idea is that others in addition to the person being rebuked would like to get through the line. Here are more correct examples:

Here’s Why: This one’s tricky: Both words begin with the prefix “bi-,” which means two. But “biennially” means every two years, and “biannually” means twice a year. If it helps you, think of the “annual” in “biannually” as a reminder that you’re talking about a single year’s worth of time. Here are two other correct examples:

Here’s Why: “Climactic,” which comes from “climax,” refers to a dramatic event, a peak moment. “Climatic,” which comes from “climate,” refers, of course, to the prevailing weather conditions. That extra little “c” in there makes all the difference. Here are additional correct examples:

Here’s Why: This error springs from a common trick on the ear: The word “have” often sounds like the word “of’ in everyday speech. So lots of the great helping verb teams in English—such as could have, would have, should have, may have, and might have—sound like could of, should of, and so on. This is especially true when “have” is contracted—when, for example, ”should have“ becomes ”should’ve.“ But don’t be fooled. You want to avoid two related errors here: In formal speech, avoid pronouncing “have” like “of”, and when you’re writing, make sure to use “have” Here are additional correct examples:

Here’s Why: “Elude” and “allude” have very different meanings. “Elude” means to escape or avoid, as in The thief eluded the police. But “allude” means to refer to something indirectly, as in He alluded to his ambitions, but wouldn ’t come right out and tell us what he wanted. Two additional correct examples are:

Here’s Why: “Eminent” is an adjective meaning famous or distinguished. “Imminent” describes a thing that is about to happen. In the example, Amy is wondering if she is about to be fired, so “imminent” is correct. Other correct examples are:

Here’s Why: These words are virtual opposites. “Ingenuous” means artless or naïve. “Ingenious” means clever and resourceful, often with a dash of trickiness thrown in. The meaning of our sentence here is that these people have come up with a clever plan, not an artless one, so “ingenious” is the word we want. Additional correct examples are:

Here’s Why: “Jibe” means to agree, to correspond. “Jive” refers to a kind of music or dance and also the slang term used to describe them, as in “jive talk.” So here we need “jibe.” Additional correct examples are:

Here’s Why: “Tact” means the quality of being adept at dealing with others, particularly where personal feelings are involved. This sentence isn’t about that. “Tack” means a course of direction or policy; in this case, the angle Kim’s story is taking. Here are more correct examples:

Here’s Why: What a difference a little “r” makes. “Tortuous” means winding, crooked, a complicated path, as in The road across the mountains was tortuous. “Torturous” means full of pain or torture, which is what this poor soul is saying about the visit to the dentist’s. Here’s another correct example of each: