Frequently Confused Words 1.Accept, Except 2.Either …or, Neither…no 3.Between, Among 4.Briefly, Shortly 5.Borrow, Lend 6. Few, Little 7.Principal, Principle 8.Hard, Hardly 9.Lose, Loose 10.Stationary, stationery

1.Accept - to receive Except - not included, to be left out. E.g: The students accepted the teacher’s explanation religiously. All the students except Moira signed up for the trip to Penang. 2. Either …or - an avoidable choice between two things. Neither…no - not one or the other. E.g: You may take either flight F23 on 20 March or flight F33 on 28 March. We have no other flights to London this month. Neither flight F23 on 20 March nor flight F33 on 28 March is suitable for me. I must be in London before 20 March.

3. Between – refers to two people, things, or places. Among – refers to more than two. E.g: I had to choose between the English Language Society and Interact Club because both have their meeting on the same day and time. Football is the most popular game among the boys in this school. 4. Briefly – in a few words. Shortly – very soon. E.g: The president explained briefly the guidelines of choosing the right career. Shortly after take off, the plane developed engine troubles due to a mechanical fault.

5. Borrow – to obtain something that belongs to someone, usually stated ‘borrow from’. Lend – to allow the use of something that belongs to us, usually stated as ‘lend to’. E.g: I need to borrow the car from my brother because my car’s battery went flat. My brother was willing to lend me his car because he was on leave. 6. Few – not many (used with countable nouns) Little – not much (used with uncountable nouns) E.g: There were few cars on the road yesterday. We need to buy more sugar. This is very little left in the jar.

7. Principal – person in charge of a school. Principle – guides or rules in life. E.g: The principal congratulated the debating team for winning in the inter-school contest. We must live by good principles in life. 8. Hard - to work a lot is to work hard. Hardly – almost never E.g: This quiz is difficult. You must think hard. He is hardly at home because his job requires a lot of travelling.

9. Lose – unable to win / to misplace Loose – not tight E.g: If we lose this round, we will be out of the tournament. The bolt was loose so the wheel came off the bicycle. gourmet 9. Stationary – not moving Stationery – writing materials E.g: The driver of the car banged into the stationary lorry along the highway. Before we go for any examination, we must make sure we have the proper stationery.