Even Smart People Make These Word Mistakes!
What are some words you hear people frequently misuse?
379693 14: Teacher Tina Cheuk of “Knowledge is Power Program” (KIPP) Academy discusses how to write a persuasive essay October 4, 2000 in The Bronx, New York. The Knowledge Is Power Program educates 200 middle-school students, mostly poor black and Latino neighborhood children, housed in a hallway on the fourth floor of a regular Bronx public schooI. Because of strict discipline where each student gets two hours of homework a night and a regular school day runs nine-and-a-half-hours, including Saturdays and throughout the summer, test scores are the highest in the Bronx. Governor George Bush of Texas, where another KIPP school is run, singled out KIPP for praise during his presidential debate against Vice President Al Gore. (Photo by Chris Hondros/Newsmakers)
Getty Images: Chris Hondros / Staff
English is a notoriously difficult language to learn according to people who picked it up later in life. There are lots of rules and words that sound similar, but mean very different things. Even us native speakers can get tripped up and make these usage mistakes... which we see every day on Facebook, am I right?
"Invariably" is sometimes used to mean frequently, but it actually means something that happens every time. Meanwhile "Intensive purposes" isn't what you meant to say. The expression is actually "for all intents and purposes."
"Insure" and "Ensure" sound similar but refer to different things. To ensure means you don't want something to happen, while insure means you do.
Same goes for "Accept" and "Except," where the X in the word is your clue. Except means to cut something out, where accept means to receive.
