This document provides clarification on commonly confused word pairs through examples of their correct definitions and usages. It addresses 12 sets of words that sound similar but have different meanings: accept vs except, affect vs effect, bath vs bathe, sunbathe vs sunbath, council vs counsel, its vs it's, loss vs lost, lose vs loose, advice vs advise, through vs thorough vs though. For each pair, it defines the words and gives examples to illustrate the distinction.

1. Confusing Words
Prepared by Kirsten Lee
Think Tank Centre

2. Accept vs. Except
• Accept - To take something from a person
• Except - Excluding – I want all the
toppings except the mayonnaise
• The pronunciation is almost the same.

3. Affect vs. Effect
• Affect - The verb – His father’s death
affected him.
• Effect - The noun – His father’s death had
an effect on him.
• The pronunciation is almost the same.

4. Bath vs. Bathe
• Bath - The noun
• Bathe -The verb – I like to bathe in the
morning.
• The noun has the voiced ‘th’ sound and the verb
has the unvoiced ‘th’ sound

5. Sunbathe vs. Sunbath
• Sunbathe - Right.
• Sunbath - Wrong!

6. Council vs. Counsel
• Council - A group of people who meet for
a specific purpose
• Counsel - To give advice
• Also: councillor, counsellor

7. Its vs. It’s
• Its - The possessive form – The cat licked
its bum.
• It’s - It is

8. Loss vs. Lost
• Loss - The noun – George was blamed
for the loss of the money
• Lost - The adjective/past participle

9. Lose vs. Loose
• Lose - I don’t want to lose you!
• Loose - Not tight – These jeans are too
loose; I need a belt

10. Advice vs. Advise
• Advice The noun – Please give me some
advice
• Advise The verb – Please advise me

11. Through vs. Thorough vs.
Though
• Through - To the other side – The car
passed through the tunnel
• Thorough - Complete – He did a thorough
job
• Though - Although