A
A, an
A while, awhile
Abbreviation, acronym
Abbreviations, at end of sentences
Absolutes
Academic concerns: course titles vs. academic subjects; degrees
Accept, except
Active voice
Ad, add
Adapt, adopt
Adjectives; adverb forms of; commas with, before nouns; compound, hyphens with; defined; degrees of; good, well; phrases used as; proper; quizzes; with sense verbs; this, that, these, those
Adjunct
Adverbs; defined; degrees of; ending in -ly; good, well; phrases used as; quizzes; with sense verbs; very
Adverse, averse
Advice, advise; quizzes
Affect, effect; quizzes
Ages
Aggravate
Ahold
Aid, aide
Ail, ale
Aisle, isle
All-
All ready, already
All right
All together, altogether
Allowed, aloud
All-time record
Allude, elude, refer
Allusion, illusion
Alphabet Juice (Blount)
Altar, alter
A.m., p.m.
Ambiguous, ambivalent
American Heritage Dictionary
American Usage and Style (Copperud)
Amiable, amicable
Amid, amidst
Amount, number
An, a
An historic
And: independent clauses joined by; in numbers; pronouns and nouns linked by; subject-verb agreement
And/or
Anecdote, antidote
Anxious, eager
Any more, anymore
Any time, anytime
Apostrophes; in contractions; dos and don'ts; with initials, capital letters, and numbers used as nouns; with possessive personal pronouns; with possessive plural nouns; with possessive singular nouns; quizzes; to show joint possession; single quotation marks vs.; till, `til; with time or money
Appositive commas
Appraise, apprise
Art movements
As: like vs.; pronouns after
As regards
Ascent, assent
Associated Press Stylebook
Assume, presume
Assure, ensure, insure
Aural, oral
Averse, adverse
Awhile, a while
B
Backward, backwards
Bacteria
Bail, bale
Baited breath, bated breath
Ball, bawl
Bare, bear
Basically
Beach, beech
Beat, beet
Because since
Bell, belle
Benighted
Bernstein, Theodore M.
Berth, birth
Beside, besides
Better, bettor
Biannual, biennial, semiannual
Bite, byte
Bloc, block
Blount, Roy Jr.
Boar, boor, bore
Board, bored
Bolder, boulder
Born, borne
Boy, buoy
Brackets; [sic]; with interruptions; quizzes; with quotations. See also Parentheses
Brake, break
Bremner, John B.
Brians, Paul
Bridal, bridle
Bring, take
Broach, brooch
Bryson's Dictionary of Troublesome Words
Buoy, boy
Business writing: colons after salutation in business letter; exclamation points in
But, independent clauses joined by
Byte, bite
C
Cache, cash
Can, may
Cannon, canon
Cannot
Canvas, canvass
Capital, capitol
Capitalization; of art movements; to begin sentence after colon; of city, county, etc. before proper noun; of course titles vs. academic subjects; of first word of document and after period; of first word of quotation; following question marks; of geographic regions vs. points of compass; of kinship names; of lists following colons; of midsentence independent clause or question; of ``the national anthem,''; of nicknames; pretest; of the before proper nouns; of proper nouns; quizzes and mastery test; of spelled-out decades; of subtitles of works; of titles and offices; of titles of works
Carat, caret, karat
Careen, career
Careful Writer, The (Bernstein)
Cast, caste
Cement, concrete
Censor, censure
Center around
Cereal, serial
Chaise lounge
Chicago Manual of Style
Childish, childlike
Chile, chili
Chomping at the bit
Choral, coral
Chorale, corral
Chord, cord
Cite, sight, site
Classic, classical
Clauses: defined; dependent; essential vs. nonessential; independent; semicolons in sentences with multiple
Cliché
Click, clique
Climactic, climatic
Close proximity
Coarse, course
Cohort
Coin a phrase
Collectable, collectible
Collective nouns, subject-verb agreement
Collide, crash
Colons; after salutation in business letter; capitalization of lists following; between independent clauses when second explains first; to introduce lists; to introduce long quotations; to introduce series of items; quizzes; semicolons vs.
Comma splices
Commas; with academic degrees; after dependent clauses starting sentences; after salutation in informal letters; appositive commas; with cities and states; with dates; with etc.; with independent clauses; with interrupting expressions; with introductory words; with Jr. and Sr.; with names directly addressed; with nonessential words, phrases, and clauses; in numbers; Oxford commas; with parentheses; quizzes; with quotations; to separate contrasting parts of sentences; to separate statements from questions; to separate two adjectives before nouns; in series; with titles used with names; with two adjectives before nouns
Common Errors in English Usage (Brians)
Common nouns: capitalizing, in brand names; defined; possessives of, ending in $s$
Complement, compliment
Complete, completely
Compound adjectives
Compound nouns: defined; hyphenating; possessives of; subject-verb agreement
Compound verbs
Comprise
Concerted
Concrete, cement
Confidant, confident
Connive, conspire
Connote, denote
Consistency: capitalization and punctuation of list items; capitalization of titles of works; collective noun subject-verb agreement; parallel construction; possessives of nouns ending in $s$; singular pronouns; spelling out numbers vs. using figures
Continual, continuous
Contractions
Convince, persuade
Copperud, Roy H.
Coral, choral
Cord, chord
Corral, chorale
Council, counsel
Couple (of)
Course, coarse
Crash, collide
Craven
Criteria
Currently
D
Daily basis
Dangling modifiers
Dashes; punctuation replaced by; spacing with; subject-verb agreement
Data
Dates: apostrophes in decades; commas with; using figures to express; years beginning sentences
Definite, definitive
Degrees: academic; of adjectives; of adverbs
Denote, connote
Dependent clauses: commas with independent clauses followed by; commas with sentences starting with; defined; with whoever/whomever
Desert, dessert
Despise
Device, devise
Dictionary of Modern American Usage, A (Garner)
Dictionary of Usage and Style, A (Copperud)
Different from, different than
Dilemma
Disburse, disperse
Discomfit, discomfort
Discreet, discrete
Disinterested, uninterested
Dock
Dos and don'ts
Drug (dragged)
Dual, duel
E
Each
Eager, anxious
Effect, affect; quizzes
E.g., i.e.
Either
Either/or
Eke out
Ellipses; defined; to express hesitation, changes of mood, etc.; with omitted words or sentences; spacing with
Elude, allude, refer
Emigrate, immigrate
Eminent, imminent
Empathy, sympathy
Emulate, imitate
Enormity
Ensure, insure, assure
Enthuse
Epitaph, epithet
Epitome
Erstwhile
Essential clauses
Etc., et al.
Every day, everyday
Ex-
Exacerbate, exaggerate
Except, accept
Exclamation points; in formal business writing; overuse of; replacing periods; to show emotion, emphasis, or surprise
F
Factious, fractious
Faint, feint
Fair, fare
False possessives
Farther, further
Faze, phase
Feat, feet
Fewer, less
Fir, fur
Firstly
Flair, flare
Flammable, inflammable
Flaunt, flout
Flea, flee
Flounder, founder
Flour, flower
For instance
Forego, forgo
Foreword, forward
Forth, fourth
Fortuitous, fortunate
Foul, fowl
Fractions: hyphenating; mixed; subject-verb agreement
Fractious, factious
Free gift
Fulsome
Fun
Fur, fir
Further, farther
G
Gait, gate
Gamut
Gantlet, gauntlet
Garner, Bryan A.
Gel, jell
Gilt, guilt
Glib
Good, well
Graduate
Graffiti
Grammar: mastery test; pretest
Grill, grille
Grisly, gristly, grizzly
Guerrilla
Guilt, gilt
H
Hair, hare
Hall, haul
Halve, have
Hangar, hanger
Hanged, hung
Have, of used in place of
Heal, heel
Healthful, healthy
Hear, here
Helping verbs
Here
Heroin, heroine
Historic, an
Hoard, horde
Hoarse, horse
Hole, whole
Holy, wholly
Homage
Hone in
Hot water heater
Hung, hanged
Hyphens
I
Idle, idol, idyll
I.e., e.g.
Illusion, allusion
Imitate, emulate
Immigrate, emigrate
Imminent, eminent
Impact
Imply, infer
In, into
In order to
In regard(s) to, with regard(s) to
Incite, insight
Include
Incomparables
Incredible, incredulous
Independent clauses: capitalization of midsentence; commas with; defined; semicolons between. See also Sentences
Indirect questions
Infinitives
Inflammable, flammable
Ingenious, ingenuous
Initials, plurals of
Insure, assure, ensure
Interrupting expressions: brackets for; commas with; dashes with; subject-verb agreement
Introductory words: commas with; semicolons before
Irony, 93
Irregardless
Irregular nouns
Is is
Isle, aisle
It is, it was
Italics: for sic; for titles of works
It's, its
J
Jell, gel
Jibe, jive
Jr.
Just
Just deserts
K
Karat, carat, caret
Kindergartner
Knew, new
Kudos
L
Language, concrete vs. vague
Lastly
Latter
Laxadaisical
Lay, lie; quizzes
Lead, led
Leak, leek
Less, fewer
Lessen, lesson
Let he who is without sin.~.~.
Liable, libel, likely
Lie, lay; quizzes
Lightening, lightning
Like
Likely
Linking verbs
Lists: capitalization and ending punctuation; colons before; etc. vs. et al. with. See also Series
Literally
Loan, lone
Loath, loathe
Loose, lose
M
Mail, male
Maize, maze
Manner, manor
Marquee, marquis
Marry, merry
Marshal, martial
Masterful, masterly
Material, materiel
May, can
Medal, meddle, metal, mettle
Media
Meretricious
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage
Mic
Miner, minor
Minuscule
Misnomer
Modern American Usage
Modifiers: dangling; misplaced
Moral, morale
More importantly, most importantly
Morning, mourning
Muscle, mussel
N
Namely
Names of people: capitalization of kinship names; commas with degrees or titles; commas with, directly addressed; commas with Jr. or Sr.; hyphens with double last names; nicknames; plurals of; possessives of
Names of places: capitalization of city, county, etc. before; capitalization of geographic regions; commas with cities and states
Naval, navel
Negatives, double
Neither
Neither/nor
Neither.~.~.or
New, knew
New record
None
Nonessential clauses
Nonplussed
Not just
Notoriety
Nouns: collective, subject-verb agreement with; common; compound; defined; linked with pronouns by and or or; phrases used as; plurals of initials, capital letters, and numbers used as; possessives of; quizzes on finding; regular vs. irregular. See also Proper nouns; Subjects
Number, amount
Numbers. See Writing numbers
O
Object of the preposition
Object pronouns
Of: subject-verb agreement and phrases beginning with; used in place of have
Off of
Oneself
Or: independent clauses joined by; pronouns and nouns linked by; subject-verb agreement
Oral, aural
Ordinance, ordnance
Orwell, George
Overdo, overdue
Overly
Oxford commas
P
Pail, pale
Pain, pane
Palate, palette, pallet
Parallel construction
Parentheses; for clarifications and asides; comma placement with; punctuation of complete sentences in; quizzes; subject-verb agreement. See also Brackets
Parish, perish
Parody, satire
Participles
Particles, initial negative
Passed, past
Passive voice
Past history
Pastime, past time
Peace, piece
Peak, peek, pique
Peal, peel
Pedal, peddle
Peer, pier
Penultimate
Percent
Periods: with abbreviations at end of sentences; after indirect questions; capitalization after; with complete sentences in parentheses; at end of sentences; with et al. and etc.; exclamation points replacing; question marks replacing; quizzes; with quotation marks; semicolons replacing
Perpetrate, perpetuate
Persecute, prosecute
Persuade, convince
Phase, faze
Phenomenon
Phrasal verbs
Phrases: beginning with of, subject-verb agreement with; defined; essential vs. nonessential
Piece, peace
Pique, peak, peek
Pistil, pistol
Place names. See Names of places
Plain, plane
Plum, plumb
P.m., a.m.
Point in time
Pole, poll
Poor, pore, pour
Possessive pronouns
Possessives: amounts of time or money as; of compound nouns; false possessives; with joint ownership; of nouns; of personal pronouns; of words ending in $s$; of words ending in y
Pray, prey
Precipitate, precipitous
Predominately
Prefixes; confusing without hyphens; defined; ending in same vowel that begins root word; hyphens with; before proper nouns or adjectives; quizzes on hyphens with; re-; self-, ex-, all-
Premier, premiere
Prepositions; in, into; defined; different from, different than; of vs. have; as, as if, as though, the way; like; phrases used as; quizzes; sentences ending with
Presently
Presume, assume
Principal, principle
Profit, prophet
Prone, supine
Pronouns; caution on apostrophes with; consistency with singular pronouns; defined; following than or as; linked with nouns by and or or; object pronouns; possessive pronouns; quizzes; reflexive pronouns; subject pronouns; this, that, these, those; who, which, that
Proper adjectives: capitalizing; prefixes before
Proper nouns: capitalization of; capitalization of city, county, etc. before; capitalization of the before; defined; possessives of; prefixes before. See also Names of people; Names of places
Prophecy, prophesize, prophesy
Prosecute, persecute
Proximity, close
Punctuation: mastery test; pretest
Purposely, purposefully
Q
Question marks; after direct questions; capitalization following; with half statement/half question; not used with indirect or rhetorical questions; quizzes; with quotation marks; replacing periods
Questions: capitalization of midsentence; commas to separate statements from; indirect; rhetorical
Quotation, quote
Quotation marks; double; with nonstandard expressions; with periods and commas; with question marks; quizzes; with quotations longer than one paragraph; single; spacing between single and double; for titles of works
Quotations: brackets with; capitalization of first word of; colons to introduce; commas with; within quotations
R
Rack, wrack
Raise, raze
Rap, wrap
Re-
Real, reel
Reason being is
Reason is because
Reek, wreak
Refer, allude, elude
Reflexive pronouns
Regular nouns
Reign, rein
Relish in
Renown
Rest, as they say, is history
Rest, wrest
Restaurateur
Retch, wretch
Reticent
Reverend
Review, revue
Rhetorical questions
Riff, rift
Right, rite, write
Ring, wring
Road, rode, rowed
Role, roll
Root words
Run-on sentences
Rye, wry
S
Satire, parody
Saver, savor
Scent, sent
Secondly, thirdly, fourthly
Self-
Semiannual, biannual, biennial
Semicolons; colons vs.; before introductory words; quizzes; between sentences; in sentences with multiple clauses; in series containing commas
Sensual, sensuous
Sentence fragments
Sentences: beginning with numbers; capitalization of independent clause or question in middle of; colons between, when second explains first; commas to separate contrasting parts of; ending with prepositions; parallel construction; in parentheses; periods at end of; run-on; semicolons between; word order in. See also Independent clauses
Serf, surf
Serial, cereal
Series: colon to introduce; commas in; semicolons in. See also Lists
Set, sit
Sew, so, sow
Shear, sheer
[sic]
Sight, site, cite
Simplistic
Since, because
Site, sight, cite
Slash (/)
Sleight, slight
Snuck
So, sew, sow
Soar, sore
Sole, soul
Some, sum
Son, sun
Spacing: with AM or PM; around hyphens; with dashes; with ellipses; between single and double quotation marks
Split infinitives
Sr.
Staid, stayed
Stair, stare
Stake, steak
Stationary, stationery
Steal, steel
Step, steppe
Stomping grounds
Straight, strait
Strategy, stratagem
Subject pronouns
Subjects: defined; how to find; quizzes on finding; underlining
Subject-verb agreement; with and; with collective nouns; with dashes; with distances, period of time, sums of money, etc.; with here and there; with interrupting expressions; with none; with or, either/or, neither/nor; with parentheses; with phrases beginning with of; with portions; with pronouns; quizzes; singular vs. plural verbs; subjunctive mood; with who, that, which
Subjunctive mood: defined; subject-verb agreement
Subtitles
Suffixes; beginning with same letter that ends root word; defined; not usually hyphenated; quizzes on hyphens with; using discretion with hyphenating
Sum, some
Sun, son
Sundae, Sunday
Supine, prone
Suppose to
Surf, serf
Sympathy, empathy
T
Tack, tact
Tail, tale
Take, bring
Taught, taut
Team, teem
Temblor
Tenant, tenet
Than, pronouns after
Than, then
That, who, which; quizzes
That is
The, capitalization before proper nouns
The national anthem
Their, there, they're; quizzes
There is, there are
There's
They and their, with singular pronouns
This, that, these, those
Those kind of
Till, `til
Titles and offices: capitalization of; commas with
Titles of courses
Titles of works: capitalization of; quotation marks or italics for
To, too, two
Tort, torte
Tortuous, torturous
Totally
Toward, towards
Transpire
Tremblor
Troop, troupe
Truly
Turbid, turgid
U
Uninterested, disinterested
Unique
Utilize
V
Vain, vane, vein
Venal, venial
Verbs: compound; defined; how to find; infinitives; quizzes on finding; types of; underlining. See also Subject-verb agreement
Verses, versus
Very
Viable
Vial, vile
Vice, vise
Virgule
Virtually
Voice, active vs. passive
W
Waist, waste
Wait, weight
Waiver, waver
Warn, worn
Warrantee, warranty
Wary, weary
Way, weigh
Ways to go
Weak, week
Weather, whether
Webster's New World College Dictionary
Well, good
Whether or not
Which, who, that; quizzes
While, wile
Who, subject-verb agreement
Who, which, that; quizzes
Who, whom; quizzes
Whoever, whomever; quizzes
Whole, hole
Wholly, holy
Who's, whose
With regard(s) to, in regard(s) to
Won't, wont
Words on Words (Bremner)
Worn, warn
Wrack, rack
Wrap, rap
Wreak (wreck) havoc
Wreak, reek
Wrest, rest
Wretch, retch
Wring, ring
Write, right, rite
Writing, effective; active vs. passive voice; concrete vs. vague language; dangling modifiers; double negatives; misplaced modifiers; overuse of there is/are, it is/was, etc.; parallel construction; quizzes; sentence fragments. See also Business writing
Writing numbers; beginning sentences; commas in; dates; decades; decimals; fractions; hyphens with ages; hyphens with spelled-out numbers; large numbers; money; quizzes, pretest, and mastery test; time of day; using figures vs. spelling out numbers; when to use and in spelled-out numbers; years
Wry, rye
Y
Yoke, yolk
You're, your