Commonly confused words

may vs might

For talking about possibility, may and might now mean much the same thing: "she may be at lunch" and "she migh...

maybe vs may be

Maybe as one word is an adverb meaning perhaps — maybe we should leave. May be as two words is a verb phrase,...

mean vs median

The mean is the total divided by the number of values: for 2, 3, 4 and 11, the mean is 5. The median is the mi...

meantime vs meanwhile

Meantime is normally a noun and needs a preposition in front of it: <em>in the meantime, help yourself to coff...

meat vs meet

Meat is the flesh of an animal used as food — "we've cut down on red meat". Meet is the verb for coming togeth...

medal vs metal

A <strong>medal</strong> is a disc awarded for an achievement — "She won a bronze medal in the 400 metres." <s...

meditation vs medication

Meditation is a practice of calming and focusing the mind. Medication is a drug used to treat an illness. <em>...

mentality vs mindset

Mentality describes a characteristic way of thinking, and usually carries a critical edge — "a siege mentality...

metaphorically vs figuratively

Figuratively is the broad term: not literally, covering every kind of non-literal language. Metaphorically is...

meter vs metre

British English distinguishes them: metre is the unit of length and the rhythm of verse, while meter is a meas...

methadone vs methamphetamine

Two entirely different drugs with opposite effects, confused only because the names begin alike. Methadone is...

mezzanine vs balcony

A mezzanine is a partial intermediate floor inside a building, sitting between two main storeys and usually op...

microbiology vs biology

Biology is the study of life in general — every living thing, at every scale. Microbiology is one of its branc...

midnight vs noon

Noon is twelve o'clock in the middle of the day; midnight is twelve o'clock in the middle of the night. "We br...

miner vs minor

A miner is someone who works in a mine. Minor means lesser or less important, and as a noun means a person und...

mink vs muskrat

Different animals with different diets. A mink is a carnivorous member of the weasel family that hunts fish, b...

mom vs mum

They are the same word in two dialects: <strong>mom</strong> is standard in the United States and Canada ("My...

moot vs mute

The phrase is moot point, not mute point. Moot means debatable — and in American usage, of no practical releva...

moral vs morale

Moral concerns right and wrong — a moral question, a moral person — and as a noun it means the lesson of a sto...

morality vs mortality

Morality is about right and wrong: "The debate turned on the morality of the decision." Mortality is about dea...

moreover vs furthermore

Both add a point to the one before, and in most sentences you can swap them. The slight difference: moreover t...

motility vs mobility

Motility is a biological term: the ability of an organism or cell to move itself, using its own energy — sperm...

motto vs slogan

A motto expresses what a person or institution stands for, and tends to last for generations — often in Latin,...

multimillionaire vs millionaire

A millionaire has a net worth of at least one million in the relevant currency. A multimillionaire has several...