Commonly Confused Words

Created by Kathryn Reilly

Background Information

• Just one letter can make a huge difference!

• Knowing the difference between tricky word pairs avoids reader confusion!

Example: principal – is a person principle – is a belief Vs.

10 Confusing Word Pairs• This slideshow will review ten tricky word pairs

– Allusion vs. Illusion– Averse vs. Adverse– Conscience vs. Conscious– Disassemble vs. Dissemble– Elicit vs. Illicit– Emigration vs. Immigration – Hear vs. Here– Hoard vs. Horde– Passed vs. Past– Stationary vs. Stationery

Allusion vs. Illusion

• Allusion is a reference to something

• West Side Story is an allusion to Romeo and Juliet.

• Illusion is a visual trick.

• Magicians use illusions such as pulling a rabbit from a hat.

Averse vs. Adverse

• Averse means to strongly oppose something.

• Many people are averse to smoking in public areas.

• Adverse means unfavorable.

• The football game continued despite adverse weather.

Conscience vs. Conscious

• Conscience refers to morality; choosing the correct action

• Marley’s conscience would not let her shoplift.

• Conscious means to be aware of what’s going on

• After ten days, the coma patient regained consciousness.

Disassemble vs. Dissemble

• Disassemble means to take apart

• The curious child disassembled the remote to see how it worked.

• Dissemble means to lie.

• When caught, some people dissemble to try and get out of trouble.

Elicit vs. Illicit

• Elicit means to coax a response

• Teachers try to elicit answers from students during class discussions.

• Illicit means illegal

• Cocaine and heroine are both illicit drugs.

Emigration vs. Immigration

• Emigration occurs when one leaves a country

• During the Irish potato famine, a mass emigration happened to America.

• Immigration occurs when one enters a country

• Immigration into America is limited every year to a certain number.

Hear vs. Here

• Hear means to understand with one’s ear.

• Did you hear what Maddie said about Mark?

• Here refers to a specific place.

• Let’s meet over here by the fountain.

Hoard vs. Horde

• Hoard means to accumulate many things

• She hoarded books until she didn’t have any more room.

• Horde means a large group

• On Black Friday, hordes of shoppers went to the mall.

Passed vs. Past

• Passed is the past tense of pass

• I passed the ball to Richard during the game.

• Past refers to an event that has already occurred

• We should learn from the past so we do not repeat the same mistakes.

Stationary vs. Stationery

• Stationary means not moving

• Statues are always stationary.

• Stationery is something you write letters on

• Molly wrote letters on stationery with cats because she owned 10!