Commonly Confused Words - Answers
- (Beside, Besides) the spaniel, the Morgans have two other dogs; however, the Snyders have five dogs - more (than, then) anyone else in the neighborhood.
Besides. (Besides - other than; Beside - next to, by the side of)
Than. (Than indicates comparison; Then indicates time) - The player (that, who, which) was injured last week played for the team (that, which) won the tournament.
Who. (Who refers to people; which refers to things)
That. (Use that to refer to things or people representing a group or class of people, like a team. - Martin refused to (accept, except) the job offer even though he was (between, among) the best applicants for the position.
Accept. (Accept - receive; Except - excluding)
Among. (Use among with three or more entities, between with two.) - A small (number, amount) of volunteers showed up to clear away a large (amount, number) of debris.
Number. (Number is used with countable things.)
Amount (Amount is for masses or quantities you cannot count) - The (affect, effect) of that medication was to put me to sleep; however, in spite of the way it (affected, effected) me, I'm now feeling better.
Effect. (Effect - [noun] result)
Affect. (Affect - [verb] to influence) - We went (all together, altogether) to see the director about the walk-on parts; unfortunately, she informed us that she has (already, all ready) filled all the roles.
All together. (All together - all in a group; altogether - completely)
Already. (Already - previously; all ready - fully prepared.) - If your shoelace comes (loose, lose), you're likely to (lose, loose) your sneaker.
Loose. (Loose - not securely attached; lose - misplace.) - Bob and Susan (implied, inferred) that they wanted a small wedding; we (implied, inferred) that only family and close friends would be invited.
Implied. (Imply - suggest)
Inferred. (Infer - to make an educated guess.) - (Who's, Whose) hat is on the shelf? (Who's, Whose) tall enough to reach it?
Whose. (Whose is a possessive, usually followed by the noun it modifies.)
Who's. (Who's is a contraction of "who" and "is".) - Americans would feel safer with (less, fewer) guns and (less, fewer) violence.
Fewer. (Fewer is used for people or objects that can be counted)
Less. (Less is used for amount that cannot be counted.)