Easily confused words
Stop mixing up commonly confused words: affect/effect, rise/raise, lie/lay, economic/economical, sensible/sensitive, borrow/lend.
In this lesson you will
- Distinguish 15 pairs of confusing words
- Understand why they’re confused
- Self-correct in writing
Learn
Grammar pairs: affect (verb: The rain affected sales) / effect (noun: a big effect). rise (no object: Prices rose) / raise (+ object: They raised prices). lie (no object: lie down) / lay (+ object: lay the table).
Meaning pairs: economic (about the economy) / economical (saving money); sensible (practical) / sensitive (easily upset / aware of feelings); historic (important in history) / historical (about the past).
Direction pairs: borrow (take temporarily) / lend (give temporarily); bring (towards here) / take (away from here). remember / remind (make someone remember).
Others: loose (not tight) / lose (not find); advice (n) / advise (v); principal (main) / principle (rule); complement (complete) / compliment (praise).
Examples
- The new law will affect everyone.
- Could you lend me your pen? Can I borrow it?
- That was a sensible decision.
- Please remind me to call my mum.
Vocabulary
affect
(verb) influence
effect
(noun) a result
economical
not wasteful; saving money
sensitive
easily upset; aware of feelings
compliment
a nice comment about someone
Practice
Stress can ___ your health.
Speaking
Make a sentence for each word in five confusing pairs (e.g. borrow/lend, rise/raise), then explain the difference to a learner in your own words.
Writing
Write a paragraph (100–130 words) that correctly uses at least six words from this lesson — for example, advice about saving money.
Lesson quiz
The new rules had a big ___ on sales.
Review
Key points
- affect (v) / effect (n).
- rise (no object) / raise (+ object).
- economic / economical; sensible / sensitive.
- borrow / lend; remember / remind.
What you learned
- ✓ I can distinguish confusing pairs.
- ✓ I self-correct common errors.
- ✓ My writing is more accurate.