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Top 20 Misused (and Mistreated) Words

accept: to receive; to answer positively

except: not including; everything but

anxious: worried/nervous

eager: excited/looking forward to

affect: to pretend; to influence

effect: a result

assure: to make certain (such as with a person)

ensure: to make sure (such as with a thing)

insure: to provide or obtain insurance

beside: at the side of

besides: in addition to

between: two items that are related

among: three or more things related

choice: a decision or an option

choose: to make a decision

chose: past tense of choose

compliment: to praise

complement: something that completes

farther: literal or physical distance

further: to a greater extent

fewer: comparative with plural items

less: items that are singular

imply: to suggest

infer: to deduce

its: possessive form of it

it’s: contraction for it is or it has

lay: to place, which is always followed by an object

**For present tense only. Tip: If you can replace the word in question with put, then use lay.

nauseated: not feeling well

nauseous: disgust

As per Merriam Webster: nauseous = causing nausea or disgust.

Nauseated means “experiencing nausea,” whereas nauseous means “causing nausea”—in other words, offensive or loathsome. If you feel a queasy sensation in your stomach, you are nauseated; only if you cause other people to be ill are you nauseous.

set vs. sit:

In general, set refers to an object ("Set the materials down on the table") and sit does not ("She sat for an hour, waiting for the bus").

--"Which" is frequently used to introduce a nonrestrictive clause, a phrase that isn’t necessary or supplies additional information and is usually set off by commas.

For example: The burned CD, which she received from a friend, was of a lesser quality than the original from a music store.

--"That" is used for introducing restrictive clauses that refer to things, phrases that ARE essential to the meaning of the rest of the sentence.

For example: The CD that consists of all of the band’s top-ten singles is her favorite.

that vs. who/whom

In most cases, "who/whom" is the standard form when referring to human beings, especially in regards to an individual person. "That" is used when referring to a class, species, or type. "Which" should never be used in reference to humans.

A correct example with "who": She goes to the hairstylist who is the best.

A correct example with "that": He is the type of hairstylist that should charge more because he is the best.

their: possessive form of they

there: in or at that place

they’re: contraction for they are

whose: possessive form of which, who

who’s: contraction for who is

your: possessive form of you; belonging to you

you’re: contraction for you are

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