Commonly confused words

awhile vs a while

Awhile as one word is an adverb meaning "for a short time" — stay awhile. A while as two words is a noun phras...

aye vs eye

Aye means yes — it is the word used in formal votes and at sea: "The ayes have it." An eye is the organ you se...

bacteria vs virus

Bacteria are living single-celled organisms that feed, grow and reproduce on their own — the ones in yoghurt a...

bare vs bear

<em>Bare</em> means uncovered, empty or minimal: <em>He walked across the gravel in bare feet.</em> <em>Bear</...

barely vs rarely

Barely is about degree — only just, by the narrowest margin: "I barely passed the exam." Rarely is about frequ...

bazaar vs bizarre

A bazaar is a market, especially a Middle Eastern or South Asian one, and by extension a charity sale. Bizarre...

bear vs bull

In market language, a <strong>bull</strong> expects prices to rise and a <strong>bear</strong> expects them to...

beatnik vs hippie

Different decades and different moods. Beatniks belong to the 1950s — literary, jazz-driven, dressed in black,...

because vs cos

They mean exactly the same thing — <em>cos</em> is just a clipped, spoken form of <em>because</em>: <em>I left...

because vs since

<em>Because</em> always gives a reason: 'We stopped because the engine failed.' <em>Since</em> can give a reas...

been vs gone

Been means the person went and has already returned; gone means they went and are still there. "Marco has been...

began vs begun

Began is the simple past and stands alone: "the meeting began at ten." Begun is the past participle and needs...

belief vs believe

Belief is the noun, the thing itself: "she has a firm belief in second chances". Believe is the verb, the act:...

beloved vs loved

Loved is the ordinary past participle of love and works anywhere: "she loved him", "a loved one". Beloved is a...

below vs beneath

Below is the plain, everyday word for a lower position or level: "The flat below ours is empty", "temperatures...

beside vs besides

Beside means physically next to something: "She parked beside the church." Besides means in addition to, or ap...

betadine vs iodine

Iodine is a chemical element. Betadine is a brand name for povidone-iodine, a preparation in which iodine is b...

biannual vs biennial

Biennial means every two years. Biannual means twice a year — but it is so often misused for the other meaning...

bigamy vs polygamy

Bigamy is the offence of marrying one person while still legally married to another — the deception and the il...

bigot vs racist

Racist is specific: prejudice or discrimination on grounds of race or ethnicity. Bigot is general: someone int...

billion vs trillion

A billion is a thousand million: 1,000,000,000, with nine zeros. A trillion is a thousand billion: 1,000,000,0...

bistro vs restaurant

Restaurant is the general word for any business serving meals. A bistro is a particular kind — small, informal...

blew vs blue

Blew is the past tense of the verb blow: "The wind blew the fence over." Blue is the colour, and by extension...

bloc vs block

A bloc is a group of countries, parties or people acting together — the Eastern bloc, a voting bloc. A block i...