Popularly Confusable Words - Part One
At times I mistakenly use the wrong word and don't even know it. Some words simply find new meanings merely due to popular wrong use. Using the incorrect words affects my writing style, because there are readers out there who know the difference. So when I use the incorrect word, I'm confusing my reader and tainting my style.
Here are a few words commonly misused:
Ability, Capacity
Ability is the skill to do something; capacity is the volume of a space.
I showed great ability to fill my stomach to its capacity.
I can use capacity to mean ability (it's not incorrect), but to be precise, they are different words with different meanings.
I have the capacity to eat too much. Which means I have a stomach with enough room to eat too much. But if I mean I have the ability to put more food in my stomach than there's really room for, I probably want to write: I have the ability to each too much. I have to consider what I'm really trying to say before I choose the correct word.
Accept, Except
Accept is a verb meaning to agree to receive something; except is a word that means letting alone or separating out.
John accepted her proposal for marriage. Everyone except John showed up for the wedding.
Advise, Advice
I confuse these two all the time, mainly because they both mean the same. I try to remember the se and ce rule: se is a verb; ce is a noun. They are not interchangable.
I advised my proctologist to take my advice and stop trying to find my head up there.
That's all for now. There will be more. . .so watch for Popularly Confusable Words - Part Two.
On Word!
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