by Kerry Michael Wood

Created on: September 02, 2010   Last Updated: February 08, 2011

What follows are explanations of commonly confused words in  English. Such lists are usually very long. This one is restricted to the kinds of word confusions repeatedly seen by raters in Helium articles .

A, An, & And

Use the indefinite articles a and an before nouns: a before a nouns beginning with a consonant sound (a door, a hose, a utiliity); an before a noun that begins with a vowel sound (an envelope, an honor, an uncle).

Examples:
A bank is a place where they lend you an umbrella in fair weather and ask for it back when it begins to rain.


All Ready and Already

All ready means "completely prepared." Already is an adverb meaning "previously" or "by this time."

Examples:
Our luggage has already been inspected; we are all ready to fly.

Complimentary and Complementary

Complimentary means praiseworthy or expressing a compliment. Complementary means adding to or completing.

Examples:
She blushed at his complimentary remarks about her figure.

This wine is delightfully complementary to the salmon dish.

Hoard and Horde

The noun hoard means a supply of something that has been stored up and often hidden away. The verb hoard means to collect and store away or to keep something to oneself. The noun horde means a crowd, throng, or swarm.

Examples:
The child kept his hoard of comic books stacked in his closet,
A man with a metal detector stumbled upon one of the greatest hoards of Anglo-Saxon treasure ever discovered in Britain.
Nintendo's new video game system has attracted hordes of game players.


Its and It's

Its is a possessive pronoun. It's is a contraction of "it is" or occasionally "it has." The apostrophe in it's marks the omission of a letter, not possession.

Examples:
When it's hot, we set the thermostat at its lowest setting.
Note: With no apostrophe its is a possessive  pronoun: We feel its rays when the sun rises. Like other possessive pronouns (his, hers, yours, ours), it takes no apostrophe. However, nouns do take apostrophes when they are possessive, as in book's cover or class's assignment. Whenever you write it's, remember to think to yourself it is.

Lay and Lie

The verb lay means to put or place, and it always takes a direct object. The verb lie means to recline or rest, and it never takes a direct object. Be sure you know the principal parts of these verbs.

Lay (present), laid (past), laid (past participle)
Lie (present), lay (past), and lain (past participle)

Examples:
The uneducated nurse told me lay on my side; she should have said lie.

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