Malza's entries Page #5

Disk vs. Disc

Can you replace “disk” with “disc” according to your own preferences, or are there some significant differences that you should consider before using each spelling correctly?Let’s see what specialists in grammar, as well as notorious dictio...

Dependant vs. Dependent

Dependant vs. DependentSo you saw "dependant" and "dependent" written both ways, used both as nouns and as adje...

Denounce vs. Renounce

Denounce” and “renounce” are only different due to their first letters. This spelling difference is also often not remarked during the pronunciation of these words, which becomes an important reason why they are confused easily and frequently m...

Deceased vs. Diseased

The spellings of “deceased” and “diseased” are, of course, similar, but not that similar that they would tempt you to misspell or confuse them. Unfortunately, we can’t say the same about their pronunciations, which are actually almost ident...

Criteria vs. Criterion

Criteria” and “criterion” might be a pair of words that you rarely hear of, mainly because one is barely used, whereas the other is frequently used wrongly. If you believe that these words are synonyms, paronyms or different spellings of the sa...

Dairy vs. Diary

Simply inverting the order of two letters in a word can completely change its meaning. This is exactly the situation for "dairy" and "diary", which are two nouns spelled very similarly. This similarity is also the one that causes confusion, because p...

Cue vs. Queue

Cue” and “queue” are one of the problematic English words, especially for inexperienced users. The confusion is owed, obviously, to the amazing similarity between their pronunciation. If you don’t see these words written, you can hear “cue�...

Counsel vs. Council

The pronunciations of “counsel” and “council” are almost identical, and this is the reason why they are so often confused. But despite their similarity, they have distinct meanings and should be used in different contexts.The safest way to ma...

Coarse vs. Course

This pair is pretty tricky, that's true, because they sound the same and it is also easy to misspell "coarse" and "course". But after a short review of what meaning each word carries, things will clear out right away. Let's take a closer look to thes...

Coma vs. Comma

Most pairs of words that are frequently misspelled do have some subtle differences in the way they sound, due to a different letter or pronunciation. That makes it easier to spot the difference between them. But when it comes to “coma” and “com...

Cloth vs. Clothes

In the case of "cloth" and "clothes", we are not necessarily talking about a misspelling or about completely different senses of the words, but about the confusion often created between them. "Cloth" is often used as the singular form of the noun "cl...

Choir vs. Chorus

A pair of very often misspelled words in English is represented by the “choir” and “chorus”. In fact, it’s not necessarily a problem of misspelling, but more of a problem of misunderstanding, of confusion. They are used in the wrong context...

Check vs. Cheque

The fact that you see words spelled very similarly and used with the same meaning often can be overwhelming, especially if you are not sure whether both of them are correct. The same applies to "check" and "cheque", which are often confusing or used ...

Center vs. Centre

Both "center" and "centre" refer to the same thing. As nouns, they signify the "middle" part or point of an area. As verbs, they refer to the action of placing something into the middle of something else.So why are they spelled differently, w...

Chord vs. Cord

Can one letter change the entire message of a word? Yes, it can. An amazing example to illustrate this is the pair of words "chord" and "cord". Simply adding or not adding the letter "h" will result in completely distinct definitions of these nouns....

Cavalry vs. Calvary

The similarity between the spellings of “cavalry” and “calvary” can easily confuse you, especially because none of these words is frequently used nowadays, so the contexts aren’t very helpful in identifying the meanings of these words and t...

Bus vs. Buss

Bus vs. Buss"Bus" is one of the first English words people learn, in the "means of transport" chapter, from the...

Comradery vs. Camaraderie

There is a small probability that you saw "comradery" spelled like this, according to statistics that show that "camaraderie" is used significantly more frequently in English. Yet, if you are wondering whether both versions are correct or not, or abo...

Binging vs. Bingeing

Gerund – or present participle – forms of verbs can easily become confusing while adding the suffix “-ing”. Some word structures require to drop the last vowel before adding the suffix, whereas others don’t. This dilemma also occurs for the...

Brooch vs. Broach

If you look up “brooch” and “broach” on google translate, you’ll most probably get the same result, as if they would mean the same. It’s not the first error of this kind that appears this way, and this is a good reason why you should firs...

Benefitted vs. Benefited

The basic rule when building the past-tense form of a regular verb is to add "-ed". A special rule, anyway, is used when we're talking about a monosyllabic verb that ends in this pattern: consonant-vowel-consonant. In this specific case, doubling the...

Bellow vs. Below

How often do you find yourself wondering whether you should spell "below" or "bellow" while writing something? If you have seen this word spelled in both forms, chances are you got confused and you are not sure anymore about which one is correct....

Axe vs. Ax

Axe vs. Ax They sound the same, they mean the same and they are also written almost the same. One single letter represents the only spelling difference. Is this all? Is the pair of words "axe" and "ax" just another common American/Brit...

Barbeque vs. Barbecue

People love "barbecue time", as they usually associate it with a free day spent with friends, chatting and feeling good outdoors. But taking a closer look at its name, this word started to create confusion within the last years.You might have...

Bear vs. Bare

They may be pronounced just the same, but “bear” and “bare” can definitely not be confused in an expression. They represent completely different things and should never be misspelled.Both words have double functions, both working as verbs and...