Sometimes writers choose a word that is incorrect, imprecise in meaning, pronounced the same as the correct word (a homophone), or used widely but unacceptable in formal writing situations. In addition, problems can arise with idiomatic phrases, common everyday expressions that may or may not fit, or words whose denotations or connotations do not precisely suit the context of a particular sentence. This list will help you avoid imprecise popular usages in formal writing.

accept/except Accept is a verb (“receive with favor”). Except may be a verb (“leave out”) but is more commonly used as a preposition (“excluding”). Other forms: acceptance, acceptable; exception.

adapt/adopt Adapt means “adjust to make more suitable.” Adopt means “take as one’s own.” Other forms: adaptable, adaptation; adoption.

advice/advise Advice is a noun; advise is a verb. Other forms: advisable, adviser.

affect/effect Affect is commonly used as a verb, most often meaning “influence”; in psychology, the noun affect is a technical term for an emotional state. Effect is generally a noun (“result or consequences”); it is only occasionally used as a verb (“bring about”), although the adjective form (effective) is common.

all right All right is the preferred spelling, rather than alright, which many people regard as unacceptable.

a lot A common expression meaning “a large number,” a lot is always written as two words. Because it is vague and informal, avoid it in college writing.

among/between Use among when you are referring to more than two objects; limit between to references to only two objects.

amount/number Amount refers to the quantity of a unit (“amount of water,” “amount of discussion”), whereas number refers to the quantity of individual items (“number of papers,” “number of times”). In general, use amount only with a singular noun.

anxious/eager Anxious means “nervous” or “worried”; eager means “looking forward [impatiently].” Avoid using anxious to mean eager.

between/among See among/between.

capital/capitol Capital is the more common word and has a variety of meanings, among them the principal city in a state or country; capitol refers only to a government building.

cite/site/sight Cite as a verb means “refer to as proof” or “summon to appear in court.” Site is a noun meaning “place or location.” Sight may be a verb or a noun and always refers to seeing or what is seen (“a sight for sore eyes”).

complement/compliment Complement refers to completion, the making of a satisfactory whole, whereas compliment indicates admiration or praise; both can be used as either nouns or verbs. Complementary means “serving to complete” or “contrasting in color”; complimentary means “given free.”

could of/should of/would of In standard speech, “could have,” “should have,” and “would have” sound very much like “could of,” “should of,” and “would of”; however, substituting of for have in this construction is too casual for written work. The same holds true for “might of,” “must of,” and “will of.”

council/counsel Council is a noun (“an assembly of people who deliberate or govern”). Counsel is a verb meaning “advise” or a noun meaning “advice.” Other forms: councilor (“member of a council”); counselor (“one who gives advice”).

desert/dessert As a noun or an adjective, desert (dez´ ert) means “a dry, uncultivated region”; as a verb, desert (di zurt´) means “abandon.” A dessert is a sweet dish served at the end of a meal.

eager/anxious See anxious/eager.

effect/affect See affect/effect.

emigrant/immigrant An emigrant moves out of a country; an immigrant moves into a country. Other forms: emigrate, emigration, émigré; immigrate, immigration.

etc. An abbreviation of the Latin words et cetera (“and other things”), etc. should never be preceded by and in English. Also be careful to spell the abbreviation correctly (not “ect.”). In general, use etc. sparingly, if at all, in college writing.

except See accept/except.

fewer/less Use fewer when referring to count nouns (nouns that name people or things that can be counted: one teacher, several teachers); reserve less for amounts you cannot count.

fortuitous/fortunate Often used incorrectly, the adjective fortuitous means “by chance” or “unplanned” and should not be confused with fortunate (“lucky”).

hisself/theirselves In nonstandard speech, “hisself” is sometimes used for himself and “theirselves” for themselves, but such usage is not acceptable in written work.

hopefully In conversation, hopefully is often used as a convenient shorthand to suggest that some outcome is generally to be hoped for (“Hopefully, our nominee will win the election”); this usage, however, is not acceptable in most written work. Better substitutes include I hope, let’s hope, everyone hopes, and it is to be hoped, depending on your meaning. The adverb hopefully (“full of hope”) should always modify a specific verb or adverb.

immigrant See emigrant/immigrant.

its/it’s Its is a possessive pronoun; it’s is the contraction of it is.

lay/lie The verb lay, meaning “put, place,” is transitive (forms of lay are lay, laid, laid): It needs an object—something that received the action of the verb—to make its meaning complete. The verb lie, meaning “recline,” is intransitive (forms of lie are lie, lay, lain): It does not need an object to make its meaning complete. Writers may incorrectly use laid as the past tense of lie, or lay as the present tense of lie. Other forms: laying, lying.

less/fewer See fewer/less.

literally Literally means “exactly as stated, actually” and is often used to suggest that a cliché has in fact come true. However, to say, “The movie made my hair literally stand on end” is to misuse the word (although a person who suffered a fatal heart attack brought on by a fearful shock might correctly be said to have literally died of fright).

lose/loose Lose is a verb (“mislay, fail to maintain”); loose is most often used as an adjective (“not fastened tightly”).

number/amount See amount/number.

persecute/prosecute Persecute means “mistreat or oppress”; prosecute most often means “bring a legal suit or action against.”

prejudice/prejudiced Prejudice is a noun or a verb. When used adjectivally, it should take the form of the past tense of the verb: prejudiced.

principal/principle Principal implies “first in rank, chief,” whether it is used as an adjective (“the principal cities of the Midwest”) or a noun (“the principal of a midwestern high school”). Principle is generally a noun meaning “a basic law or truth.”

prosecute/persecute See persecute/prosecute.

sensual/sensuous Both sensual and sensuous suggest the enjoyment of physical pleasure through the senses. However, sensual generally implies self-indulgence, particularly in terms of sexual activity; sensuous has a more positive meaning and suggests the ability to appreciate intellectually what is received through the senses. Other forms: sensuality; sensuousness.

set/sit The difference between the verbs sit and set is similar to that between lie and lay: Sit is generally intransitive (“rest on one’s buttocks”), and set is transitive (“put [something] in a certain place”). Set also has a number of uses as a noun. The past tense and past participle forms of sit are both sat; these forms for set are both set. (Remember that a participle is a verb form showing present tense [dancing, freezing] or past tense [danced, frozen] that can also act as an adjective.)

should of See could of/should of/would of.

sight/site See cite/sight/site.

stationary/stationery Stationary is an adjective meaning “fixed, remaining in one place” (“Concrete will make the pole stationary”). Stationery refers to writing paper. One way to keep the distinction in mind is to associate the er in paper with that in stationery.

that/which When used as a subordinating conjunction (a word or phrase [such as although, because, since, or as soon as] that introduces a dependent clause and relates it to an independent clause), that always introduces a restrictive word group (a group of words, not set off by commas, that provides information essential to defining or identifying the noun or pronoun it modifies). The word which is generally used for nonrestrictive word groups (groups of words, set off by commas, that provide extra or nonessential information).Although it is acceptable to use which before a restrictive word group, that is generally preferred to make it clear that the clause is restrictive. (See the discussion of restrictive and nonrestrictive word groups in P1-c and P2-b, and the review of sentence structure and sentence elements on pp. H-96–111.)

Their/there/they’re Their is a possessive pronoun, there specifies a place or functions as an expletive, and they’re is a contraction of they are.

theirselves See hisself/theirselves.

to/too/two To is a preposition, too is an adverb, and two is generally an adjective. The most common error here is the substitution of to for too.

unique To be precise, unique means “one of a kind, like no other.” Careful writers do not use it loosely to mean simply “unusual or rare.” Nor can it correctly take a comparative form (“most unique”), although advertisers sometimes use it this way.

used to In colloquial speech, used to often sounds like “use to.” However, used to is the correct form for written work.

weather/whether Weather is a noun (“atmospheric conditions”); whether is a conjunction.

which See that/which.

who’s/whose Who’s is the contraction of who is or who has; whose is a possessive pronoun.

would of See could of/should of/would of.