Confusing words with similar sounding

Price

Prize

price – the amount of money you pay for something

prize – something (award) offered to conquerors of a competition or contest

I didn’t buy the shoes because the price was very high

You must train hard if you want to get first prize.

Lose

Loose

lose – suffer a loss or fail to keep something in your ownership

loose – not tightly or properly fixed

Please do not lose the code or you won’t be able to enter the conference

She is very thin and this shirt is loose for her

Accept

Except

accept – agree to something or take something

except – excluding something

I decided to accept your offer

I can eat anything except meat

  Advice

Advise

advice – is a noun, it is given

advise – is a verb, it is the way which advice is given

Students should follow the advice of their teachers

Doctors advise patients on their treatment

  Affect

Effect

affect – is a verb, means influence/impact

effect – is a noun, means the result of a change

Smoking affects the lungs negatively

Smoking has harmful effect on the lungs

  Principle

Principal

principle – a rule or an idea upon which to act

principal – head of an educational institute

Cheating in exams is not her principles

Our school’s principal is very strict but fair

  Personal

Personnel

personal – means private possession which belongs only to oneself

personnel – means staff or employees of any organization

You are not allowed on my personal property

The boss of our company is very selective in choosing the personnel

  Prey

Pray

prey – hunt or kill someone for food or to someone who is a victim

pray – worship

The tiger saw its prey through the long grass

Every Sunday we go to church to pray for good health

Assure

Ensure

Insure

assure – tell someone that something will definitely happen

ensure – guarantee or make sure of something

insure – to pay money to protect against risks and losses

I assure you that I will pass this exam

Our teacher ensured that this chapter will come in the exam

We should insure our cars in case they get stolen

  Breath

Breathe

breath – is a noun, it’s the air that goes in and out of tour lung

breathe – is a verb, means to exhale or inhale

He took a breath before diving

Breathe deeply and relax

  Historic

Historical

historic – means famous, important and influential in history

historical – means related to history

The historic attack on Pearl Harbour represented a turning point in World War II

I enjoy reading historical romance novels

  Piece

Peace

piece – portion/part of something

peace – end of war or fighting, or a state of calm

She gave me a piece of strawberry cake

These two countries might sign a peace treaty

  Quiet

Quite

quiet – little or absence of sound or noise

quite – something complete

The teacher asked us to remain quiet during the exam

I have eaten quite a lot today

  Cereal

Serial

cereal – a food made from grain

serial – a TV programme that is divided into parts

I always eat cereal for breakfast

I love this comedy serial on TV at the moment

  Addition

Edition

addition – something added or process of adding

edition – particular version of a book or a product

We decided to see new additions to the museum’s collection

I have bought an illustrated edition of the book

  Preposition

Proposition

preposition – refers to a word (such as on, it, at, for, with) that is used with a noun or pronoun

proposition – most often refers to something such as a plan or offer

We should learn to use prepositions properly

I have very interesting business proposition to consider

  Wander

Wonder

wander – to move around or to go to different places without having a particular purpose

wonder – think about something with curiosity

In my free time I like wandering through the meadow

I wonder where you have been

  Aisle

Isle

aisle – passage between rows

isle – small island

I don’t like having an aisle seat in the theatre

We visited a beautiful isle during our vacation

  Emigrate

Immigrate

emigrate – move away from country/city to another place

immigrate – move to country from somewhere else

My family emigrated from Egypt some years ago

His sister immigrated to the USA in 2001

  Raise

Rise

raise – move something or someone upward or increase, it must have an object

rise – move upward, does not take an object

Raise your hand if you know the answer

The sun rises in the East