CONFUSABLES Words with slight variation in spelling but sounding similar and having different meanings.

advice is the noun; advise the verb, affect and effect can both be verbs. To affect is to have an influence on: affected his health. To effect is to bring about: effect changes. There is a noun effect meaning result or (in the plural) property, but no noun affect except in the technical language of psychology. alternate means every other, happening in turns: on alternate days; in American use it sometimes replaces alternative, which chiefly means available instead of another or others: an alternative route. To amend something is to improve it, to emend (a text) is to remove errors from it annex is the verb, annexe the noun To appraise is to estimate the value of: appraised her skills. To apprise is to inform: apprised him of the facts. An auger is a sort of large corkscrew; to augur is to portend a particular outcome. autarchy is despotism; autarky is economic self-sufficiency. One bails out a prisoner, and bails water out of a boat. One bales hay, and bales out of an-aircraft bait is for fish, or is rat poison; but bated breath balmy means fragrant, barmy means crazy. bass and base both mean low, but bass is for music and base is inferior or ignoble

 A beret is a hat; a berry is a fruit A berth is for sleeping in; birth is being born. beside is by the side of, or compared with; besides is as well as, or other than. A bloc is a combination of parties, governments, or groups. Use block for all other meanings A boar is a male pig; a bore is a dull person or thing, or a tidal wave. The verb is bore. bogey is a golf score, bogey or bogy is a goblin, a bogie is a wheeled truck. A child is born; borne means carried, or given birth to: she has borne two sons. A breach is a gap or a breaking, but breech for a gun or for breech birth. A bridle is for horses; bridal concerns brides and weddings. by is the adverb or preposition; bye is a term in cricket or golf, or is short for goodbye. A caddie caries golf clubs; a caddy is a container of tea. A calendar is for dates, but a calender is a mangle. A cannon is a gun or a stroke in billiards; a canon is a clergyman, a law, or a term in music. canvas is cloth, but to canvass votes. carousal is noisy celebration; a carousel is at an airport of luggage, or else it is a merry-go-round A censer contains incense; a censor examines books, films, etc. beofe public release; to censure is to disapprove. chord is for music, mathematics, and engineering; cord is any kind of string, including such anatomical strings as the spinal cord and vocal cords.

 complaisant means politely acquiescent; complacent is self-satisfied A complement makes something complete; to compliment is to praise A confidante is someone in whom you confide; confident means bold and trusting. A corps is a body of people, especially troops; a corpse is a dead body. A council is an assembly, whose members are councilors; counsel is advice, and a counselor is either an adviser or a senior diplomat. crape is a black fabric; crepe is either a thin fabric, a kind of rubber, or a pancake. A crevasse is a hole in ice; a crevice is any small fissure. crochet is rather like knitting; a crotchet is a musical note A curb is a restraint, and to curb is to restrain; the edge of a pavement is a curb or a kerb. A cygnet is a young swan, but a signet is a seal, often set in a ring. Cyprus is an island, but a cypress is a tree. D

dependant is the noun, dependent the adjective To deprecate something is to deplore it; to depreciate it is to belittle it or reduce its value To desert is to abandon, and a desert is a dry sandy place; but the sweet course of a meal is dessert device is a noun, devise a verb A dinghy is a boat; dingy means grimy discreet means judicious; discrete means separate To douse is to quench; to dowse is to use a divining rod

A draft is a military party, a money order, or a sketch; as a verb it means to prepare a document, the work of a draftsman A draught is a current of air, a drink, a ships depth, while a draughtsman either draws plans or is one of the pieces in the game of draughts. (But the Americans sensibly use draft for both)

E, F

etymology is about words, entomology is about insects.

o

A faun is a rural deity; a fawn is a young deer, and to fawn is to flatter To flaunt something is to display it ostentatiously; to flout a rule is to break it contemptuously To forbear is to abstain, but a forebear is an ancestor foregoing and foregone mean preceding, complete; but to forgo something is to relinquish it fortuitous means accidental, fortunate means lucky

Gallic means French; Gaelic means the Celtic languages or peoples A geezer is an old man, but a geyser is a hot spring or a bathroom water heater To gibe or jibe is to jeer; to gybe is what a sail does A gourmet is a connoisseur of food, but a gourmand is just greedy grisly means horrible; a grizzly is a bear A groin is a kind of arch, or an anatomical part; a groyne is a breakwater.