Many mistakes that look like spelling mistakes are really the wrong word: altogether for all together, past for passed, their for there. This article explains 6 sets of commonly misused words, each with an example sentence.
Spell checkers are worth using for any kind of writing. A good one can clean up your blog post, email, or article before you send it out into the world. However, a spell checker can only do so much. Often people think they have a problem with spelling, when the real problem is that they are using the wrong word. The article on easily confused words covers some of these words, but there are many more. Here are a few of them.
All together vs. altogether
- Altogether means "completely" or "in total": "He was altogether pleased with the outcome of the meeting."
- All together is used for people or things that act or are treated as a group: "We are going to the party all together tomorrow."
E.g. vs. i.e.
These two abbreviations are on every list of commonly misused words, but they have different meanings.
- E.g. is short for the Latin exempli gratia and means "for example": "She was skilled at many different sports (e.g., basketball, softball, track, and volleyball)."
- I.e. is short for the Latin id est and means "that is" or "in other words": "The best part of my day (i.e., seeing my dog get so excited when I come home) is something I look forward to on the whole drive home."
There is more about the two in when to use i.e. and e.g..
Past vs. passed
These two words are often confused because both are related to the verb pass. However, they are different words with distinct meanings.
- Past has two main meanings. It refers to time that has gone by: "That is a trend from the past decade that has come back into fashion." It is also a preposition that means "beyond": "She walked past the bakery."
- Passed is the past tense and past participle of the verb pass: "I drove very carefully when I passed the crash site."
Precede vs. proceed
People often mix up these two words without being aware of it.
- Precede means "to come before": "The quarterback's long throw preceded the winning catch."
- Proceed means "to move forward" or "to continue": "When the light turned green, I proceeded through the intersection."
Stationary vs. stationery
Only one letter separates these words, but that letter completely changes the meaning.
- Stationary means "in one place" or "not moving": "A stationary bike is a great way to exercise at home."
- Stationery means writing materials, such as paper and envelopes: "He wrote the note on company stationery so that it would look more professional and official."
A memory trick: stationery has an e, as in envelope, and stationary has an a, as in at rest. There is more in stationery vs. stationary.
There vs. they're vs. their
These three words drive people crazy. They are a problem if you do not know how to use them, and they annoy people who do know, because they see them misused so often.
- There refers to a place: "Put the book you brought for me over there."
- They're is the contraction of "they are": "They're standing by the elevator, waiting for you."
- Their is a possessive form: "It was their car that took them to the concert."
This sentence uses all three correctly: "They're all going to meet at the front gate and will park their cars over there, in the same garage, so they can walk in together." The article on there, their, and they're has more examples.
Why a spell checker is not enough
Each word in this article is a real, correctly spelled word, so a spell checker that compares words with a dictionary has nothing to mark when you pick the wrong one. The AI Spell Checker reads whole sentences, so it also catches many real words in the wrong place. Still, there are so many commonly misused words that it pays to know the difference yourself.