Do any of these sound familiar?
"Which do I use: affect
or effect
?"
"Is dessert
spelled with one s
or two?"
"Which is correct: raise
or rise
?"
If you can relate to any of the above, then you're not alone. Even though I am an ESOL professional, I admit that I have had my fair share of moments when I have had to think twice before using these words. I found a great resource that I have referred to on occasion to clear up some confusion that I used when teaching writing in American Samoa.
Here are just a few combinations of challenging words, instruction of which would prove helpful in an ESOL classroom, which I've adapted from
The Essentials of English: A Writer's Handbook.
accept/except
Accept is a verb;
except is a preposition.
Examples: Please
accept my apology.
Everyone
except Sam went to the party.
affect/effect
Affect is a verb;
effect is a noun.
Examples: Her decision will
affect the rest of us.
We hope it will have a positive
effect on us.
amount/number
Use
amount with noncount nouns. Use
number with count nouns.
Examples: That property is worth a large
amount of money.
A large
number of investors are anxious to buy it.
borrow/lend/loan
Borrow is a verb that means to use something that will be returned later.
Lend and
loan are both verbs that mean you give someone something that will be returned later. (
Loan can also be a noun.)
Examples: May I borrow your book? I will give it back to you tomorrow.
Will you lend me your book?
Will you loan me some money?
desert/dessert
A
desert is a large area of hot, arid land. A
dessert is a sweet treat usually eaten after a meal. (When I was learning the different spellings of these two words, my teacher taught this pneumonic: "You spell
dessert with
two s's because you want
two desserts!"
Examples: My hometown is a
desert.
I would like some pie for
dessert.
loose/lose
Loose is an adjective that has the opposite meaning of tight.
Lose is a verb that means "unable to find," "not have anymore," or "not win."
Examples: My seatbelt feels
loose.
I will
lose my keys if I don't put them in the same place everyday when I come home.
passed/past
Passed is the past tense and past participle forms of
pass.
Past is a preposition or adverb that means "farther/later than." Past is also an adjective or noun meaning "before now."
Examples: I
passed the test.
We drove
past the scene of the crime this morning.
I have worked for this company for the
past 12 years.
raise/rise
Raise (
raised) is a transitive verb and always has an object;
rise (
rose, risen) is an intransitive verb and never has an object.
Examples: If the student does not
raise his grades, he will be suspended.
My grandmother
raised 10 children.
The sun always
rises in the east.
set/sit
Set is a transitive verb and always has an object. (
Set can also be an intransitive verb, as in, "the sun
sets in the west.")
Sit (
sat) is an intrasitive verb and never takes an object.
Examples: Could you help me
set the table?
Please
set the grocery bags on the table.
Please
sit wherever you feel comfortable.
they're/there/their
They're is a contraction of
they are.
There is a word that indicates a place.
Their is possessive.
Examples:
They're coming at 5:00.
Let's go over
there.
My grandparents love
their neighborhood.
Reference: Hogue, A. (2003). The Essentials of English: A Writer's Handbook. New York: Pearson Education, Inc.