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#004: SIMILAR WORDS

#004: SIMILAR WORDS

Mar 17, 2021

You'd be completely forgiven for assuming that 'typos' are explicitly reserved for when you make a full-on spelling mistake, or when you confuse your possessive with your singular.

A very common mistake that I see often (sometimes, even in traditionally published works) is writing a word that is grammatically correct, but is used in the wrong context.

In this post I'm going to go over a few common, and a few not so common words that you might be using wrong without even realizing it.

EFFECT vs AFFECT

Simple trick to remember this one is that the EFFECT causes the AFFECT.

The coffee AFFECTED her badly.
The EFFECT the coffee had on her was terrible.

SPUTTER vs SPLUTTER

Machinery and people both do this, but (for some reason) there are different words to describe the action.

The car exhaust SPUTTERED to life.
Sarah SPLUTTERED with disbelief, unable to get her words out.

COMPLIMENT vs COMPLEMENT

Compliments tell people they look good. Complements make people look good.

"You look lovely today," is a COMPLIMENT.
Ketchup really COMPLEMENTS fries, and makes them taste better.

BARE vs BEAR

You might want bare arms. You may also want bear arms, but they'd be really hairy.

Stephen took off his shirt, revealing a tanned BARE chest.
Katie could not BEAR the tension any more.
Adam fought a BEAR with his BARE hands. (Adam is also now dead, RIP)

LED vs LEAD

This one has a few ways of being used, bear in mind your tense when using this one.

Sharon LED the revolution to victory.
Sharon will LEAD the revolution to victory.
Sharon had already LED the revolution to victory.

Also LEAD is the thing that writes in your pencil and has no alternative spelling.

DEFIANTLEY vs DEFINITELY

This is a very common misspelling I see around, so check this one if you think it applies.

DEFIANTLY is when someone does something in protest. DEFINITELY is when a person absolutely does something without doubt.

Sarah DEFIANTLEY skipped school to protest the obscene dress code.
Sarah DEFINITELY skipped school; I haven't seen her in class all day.

Baby BYE, BUY, BY...

To BUY is to purchase, to say BYE is to leave someone, and BY is a multi-use preposition word.

I want to BUY all the puppies!
It's time to go, BYE!
BY the way, what is with the N'Sync reference?

LAY vs LIE

This one is tricky, so I left it until the end because it's a little inconsistent with its rules.

Here's a few examples of when to use lay or lie. Sometimes they are interchangeable, but not always. Check Britannica for a bit of extra info on this one if you're still confused.

The past tense of LIE is LAY, but as mentioned above there are overlaps. Check the link above for more information, as it's explained in a lengthy post there.

CORRECT: Thomas lay down on the bed
INCORRECT: Thomas lied down on the bed

CORRECT: He lay the book on the table
INCORRECT: He lied the book on the table

CORRECT: She went to lie down
INCORRECT: She went to lay down (however if you were writing in present tense you would say 'she is going to lay down', which would be correct)

Hope that helps. Remember to not worry too much about all this during your first draft (that's where you can make mistakes and get away with it), but scope them out like a hawk during edits. Happy writing! <3

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