Some Common Mistakes and Confusing Words in English

You must have heard that  sometimes, mistakes made at the wrong places become too big. The same applies for English as well. You may escape if you say a sentence in English wrongly, but that is not the case with written English.

Afterall, any written form is considered documented. Thus, it leaves a wrong impression on those who read the wrongly written English.

To make things worse, there are plenty of words in English that sound the same. So when one writes them, the similar sound based words often creates confusion regarding which exact word needs to be written.

 

Cafe Converse ,Delhi’s top Institute for learning spoken and written English, shares some such words,

 

Advice vs Advise

Advice is a noun, while advise is a verb.

• He took my advice and applied for a loan.
• I advised him to apply for a loan.

 

A while vs Awhile

A while is a noun phrase made up of a and while, however, awhile is an adverb meaning “for a while.” A while generally, follows the preposition for or in, while if you cannot put “for a while” into a sentence, you require to use a while.

• She went to the shop for a while. (if one replaces awhile with for a while, it does not make sense -> She went to the shop for a while.)
• You must sleep awhile. (if one replaces awhile with for a while, it makes sense -> You must sleep for a while.)

 

Among vs Between

Among is utilized to express a loose relationship of various items. Between expresses the relationship of one product to another product.

• She saw a pen hidden among the papers on the desk.
• She saw a pen hidden between two sheets of paper on the desk.

 

Assure, Ensure, and Insure

Assure means “to tell a person that something will definitely happen.” Ensure means “to make certain of something.” Insure means “to buy an insurance policy.”

• He assured me that the shop would not flood.
• He took steps to ensure that the shop did not flood.
• He is glad the shop was insured against flood damage.

 

Breathe vs breath

Breathe is a verb, while breath is the noun form of breathe.

• It seems that she breathed her last breath.

It also implements to the verb bathe and the noun bath.

 

Well, there are many such words that often creates confusion and leads to mistakes. If you are also, having such issues, Cafe Converse could help you  master the skills of  English language.

 

Happy Learning !!