Some English words look almost the same but mean different things, so you cannot swap one for the other. This article explains 6 pairs that people often confuse: stationery and stationary, amiable and amicable, advice and advise, capital and capitol, principal and principle, and loose and lose.
The article on 5 common grammar mistakes already looked at some confusing words that look similar but have different meanings. Here are some more that are just as confusing.
Stationery vs. stationary
Using stationary instead of stationery, or the other way around, is a very common mistake. You can even find it in business letters.
To clear things up: stationery means writing supplies, while stationary means not moving, or fixed in one place. A simple way to remember it: stationery with an e is for envelopes.
Examples:
- Molly needs to buy new stationery because she lost her school bag yesterday.
- Molly remains stationary as the monster slithers under her bed.
For more on this pair, see stationery vs. stationary.
Amiable vs. amicable
Both words come from the same Late Latin word, amicabilis, but their meanings in English differ slightly. Amiable describes a person's character: friendly and pleasant. Amicable describes a relationship or an agreement between people or groups: friendly and without conflict.
Examples:
- Sam is such an amiable football player.
- After a long dispute, the two clubs reached an amicable agreement.
Advice vs. advise
Advice is a noun, and advise is a verb. They are two different words, not two spellings of the same word. The problem is that they are used in similar contexts. Advice means a suggestion, while advise means to give a suggestion.
Examples:
- Sherry advises Jim to leave his toxic relationship.
- Jim thanks Sherry for her advice to leave his toxic relationship.
Capital vs. capitol
Have a look at these two examples:
- The capitol building is right in the city center.
- Washington, D.C., is the capital of the United States.
Do these two examples clear up the difference between capitol and capital?
Both words are nouns. Capital in the example above means the most important city of a country or region, the seat of its government. Capitol means a building where a legislature meets.
You can also use capital for a city that is the center of something other than government. Here is an example:
- Paris is the fashion capital of the world.
Capital has other meanings, too: money that is used to start or grow a business, and an upper-case letter. Capitol only ever means the building.
Principal vs. principle
Principal can be a noun or an adjective. As a noun, it means the person who holds the most important position in an organization, such as the head of a school. As an adjective, it means first in order of importance.
Examples:
- Johnny is being sent to see the school principal again today.
- Cost was the principal reason for the delay.
Principle, on the other hand, is always a noun. It means a basic truth, a rule, or a belief that guides how someone acts.
Examples:
- Jack never bends his principles.
- The principle of flight is well understood today.
The post on principle vs. principal has more examples.
Loose vs. lose
Still confused about these two? You are not alone. First, remember that you cannot have loose shoelaces if you lose your shoes.
Loose is the opposite of tight. Here are some examples:
- The horror movie is loosely based on a web novel.
- My jeans feel loose since I lost 20 pounds.
And lose? You lose something when you can no longer find it, or when you stop having it, as in these examples:
- Many people will lose their minds if England wins the World Cup.
- I did not want to lose my keys, so I strapped them to my wrist.
Because both words in each pair are spelled correctly, a check against a dictionary alone does not catch a mix-up. The AI Spell Checker reads whole sentences, so it also catches many real words in the wrong place.