Accept Vs. Except
One of the most common mistakes in English is to confuse accept and except. Accept is a verb, which means to agree to take something: I accept that I should have applied for the job earlier”. Except is a preposition or conjunction, which means not including: “I get up at 8:00am every day except Sundays.
Advice vs. Advise
It is a common mistake in English for writers to confuse the word Advice for Advise. Advice is a noun that refers to an opinion or recommendation that someone provides to you: “I need advice on which job to apply for.”. Advise is a verb, when you advise someone, you direct him or her to take particular course of action:” I advise you to apply for the job as soon as possible.” Notice in this example that the noun form (the naming word) ends in ”ice” and the verb form ends in “ise”. This is very often the case in English language and can be used to assist you to ensure that you use the correct word in your writing.
Affect vs. Effect
Affect and effect are two words that are most commonly confused. Affect is usually a verb (an action or a doing word), which means to influence or change something. You should use the word affect when you are referring to something you intend to do in the future: “Insufficient sleep will affect my ability to compete in the race on Sunday”. Effect is usually a noun (a naming word or a thing) that is generally used to discuss something that you have already done: “The lack of sleep has an effect on my performance”. It can also mean the result of something: “I have experienced side effects when I took the tablets the doctors gave me. Avoid these common mistakes in English Language.
All Right Vs Alright
All right have a number of different meanings that has warranted its eventual misuse as a most occurring mistake in English Language. The meaning of the word, “all right” includes, Yes, Satisfactory, suitable and Okay: yes, it’s alright for you to borrow my basketball. While many people use the word alright, this actually s not correct and many educators, teachers may strike a big red mark through it, if it used for academic or professional writing. When in doubt, use “all right”.
A lot Vs. Alot Vs Allot
Many people use the word a lot as an informal way of identifying a “large quantity” of something: “I have a lot of shoes. While this is permissible in everyday language, it is actually a slang and unacceptable in English Language, as such, this shouldn’t be used in written form. The more suitable usage is when you are trying to measure something that cannot be physically counted like water, heat or fog: There was a lot of mist surrounding the castle”. As for “a lot”, this word does not exist. You should never use it. Allot is a verb which means to give, assign or allocate. We were allotted a job each.
