Effect and affect. Further and farther. Altogether and all together. Accept and except. Compliment and Complement. English, am I right?!

While I was teaching my students loved working on misused and confused words. They were words that students sometimes avoided because it was a bit confusing, and it’s confusing even for adults. During Grammar Time lessons on Fridays I would have paragraphs that focused on one pair of misused and confused words to help students practice with a partner or group to see the words in context.

I thought it would be fun to see if YOU could decide which words are correct. Have fun, and enjoy. And hopefully these help you with some of the most misused and confused words.

*NOTE: some of this information was gathered over time from different sources (that I unfortunately can’t find on my documents…bad teacher. Check Grammar Girl because I have a feeling that site is the one.). So, please forgive me if you find some of this information about definitions on other websites! (Especially for Lie and Lay.)*

INSTRUCTIONS:

Read the definitions of the misused and confused words, then read the paragraph below. Are the words used correctly? Or do they need to be corrected? Grab a friend, partner, or fellow grammar nerd and try your best. Good luck and have fun! 🙂 (Also, feel free to use these in your classes.)

ROUND ONE: ALTOGETHER OR ALL TOGETHER?

Altogether: Completely, all things considered, on the whole, in total. For example, some of the information in grammar class is altogether too difficult to understand fully. Altogether, our team couldn’t have anything more to win that game. We save $50 altogether by using the coupon.

All together: Everyone together, everything together, with each other. For example, we went all together to the party last Thursday. We are sitting all together for the hockey game tonight. Gather the rackets all together after practice.

My friends and I often play basketball altogether after school. We love having the new outdoor basketball court. All together, the court has been a great addition to our school. We gather the basketballs all together and then divide up teams based on how many people to basketballs. It’s a pretty good system of deciding teams altoghter because that means each team gets a ball. Otherwise, we have to have teams with subs.

After basketball, we head over to a friend’s house for snacks, and we travel altogether down the street. Altogether, we have a great time walking down the street because someone is always pushed into a tree or a shrub and we think it’s funny. If I think about it, all together we waste about 15 minutes just being goofy, even if we are hungry. But it is so much fun that altogether we can laugh and be goofy after a long day of studying and working at school.

ROUND TWO: FURTHER OR FARTHER?

Further: Metaphorical or figurative distance. For example, I thought we would be further ahead in our ability to show compassion to our neighbours. If you complain further, I will stop handing out candy in class. I have read further than you, I’m sure!

Farther: Determine an actual physical distance that can be measured. For example, Karen has farther to walk than Alison on the way home. How much farther do we have to drive before we get to the mall? I have read farther than you because you are on page 10 and I am on page 20.

I love road trips! Not. Every time we pass a green highway sign my little brother always asks, “How much further do we have to go?” My Dad always replied, “You have farther to go because you keep asking that same question and I always give you the same response: We’ll be then when we get there.” My Mom always replies, “It won’t be much farther now.”

The funny thing about road trips is that I always read a lot. My sister and I have contests to see how can read more. She always brags, “I’ve read farther than you!” It’s annoying. She might actually be further ahead because I can see that she is always at least 10 pages ahead of me. She’s a fast reader. But I always end up reading farther in my book than I thought I would. The most I have read in one car trip is 150 pages, and I’m hoping to read further than that on our next trip.

ROUND THREE: LAY OR LIE?

Lay: To put or to place (there is an a in lay and to place; also LAy–pLAce). The past tense is laid. For example, I decided to lay my outfit on my chair before I went to bed. I laid the paper on the pile.

Lie: To recline (the is an e in lie and recline; also LIe–recLIne). The past tense is lay. For example, My cat like to lie in the sun. I spend rainy days lying on my couch. He had lain in bed days before he passed away.

My mom gets mad when I lay in bed all day. She says it’s a waste of time, but I try to convince her that lying in bed is actually good for me because it helps my body do all of the biology system stuff. When I’m sick, she doesn’t get mad at me and often lies a tray of snacks and drinks on my bed in case I get hungry.

My mom also gets mad when I lay my books on her china hutch. She says that a bookshelf is the place to lie books, not near her precious rose china. I don’t see the difference if I lay my book for a few minutes on her china shelf or on the bookshelf…it won’t stay there for long!

One of my favourite things to do at my house is lay on the roof and watch the stars. I will lie a blanket down on the roof, then lay down a gaze for hours (well, in the summer).

ROUND FOUR: COMPLEMENT OR COMPLIMENT?

Complement: To complement, to provide something lacking, or form a complement to. For example, The orange juice was the perfect complement to the breakfast of eggs and toast. The addition of the new draft pick would complement the team’s existing goal-scorers. The blue dress complemented her complexion. They had different yet complementary skills which allowed them to win the championship.

Compliment: An expression of praise, commendation, respect, or regard. It can be a formal act or a simple greeting. For example, She gave her mother a nice compliment about her cooking. The teacher complimented the student on a job well done. The airport offered complimentary shuttles to the travelers.

Tara had a weird day. It started by her deciding on what shoes would best compliment her new red sweater. That wasn’t the weird part. When she was leaving the house, her little brother complimented her on her smile: she wasn’t smiling.

On the way to school, her friend Sara yelled at her from a passing car, offering Tara a complementary ride to school. Sara and Tara were perfect complements for each other: one liked art, one liked music; one did well in Math, one did well in English. The weird part is that Sara wasn’t driving, her younger brother was! (But with her mom in the passenger seat.) Tara had only met Greg once, and now her was driving her to school! She did compliment him on a nice stop at the corner.

When she got to school, her arch nemesis, Karen, actually complemented her shoes. Weird. It wasn’t a fake compliment, but are real one! Tara felt good knowing that she had chosen the right shoes. Then, something weirder happened. At least 20 people walked by wearing the same shoes! She wanted to give a compliment to each person, but that would have made her late for class.

In Art they were learning about complimentary colours. Blue and orange, yellow and purple, red and green. And there she had it: her shoes were a compliment to her red sweater because the shoes were green! Her teacher Ms. Leibtog complemented Tara on her complementary colour choice.

So in the end, not such a weird day. Getting compliments from different people on making a decision to complement her sweater made her feel great, ready to take on the world. Maybe tomorrow she could get another complementary ride to school and keep her green complimentary shoes clean, at least for another day.

ROUND FIVE: DEFUSE OR DIFFUSE?

Defuse: To remove a fuse (like an explosive device), or to make less harmful or tense. For example, He was able to defuse the bomb. The negotiator defused the situation and the citizens were safe.

Diffuse: Disperse, spread out, no concentrated. For example, The teacher’s calming oils diffused throughout the classroom. The sunlight was diffused into an orange and pink glow by the pollution in the air.

Our family friend works for the Canadian Armed Forces and he is in charge of the ammunition factory. He is trained in how to diffuse bombs just in case there is ever a time that he needs to defuse a bomb in the factory. He is also trained in leadership skills and is good at diffusing tough situations between angry people, which is necessary because angry people in the ammunition factory is not a great idea.

I love to drink tea. One of the best gifts I got this Christmas was a new tea diffuser. It allows me to use loose leaf tea in my mug because the defuser acts like a regular tea bag. Another gift that I loved is a brand new essential oil defuser. I love to use good smelling oils in my house to stay calm, or focused, or upbeat. The diffuser allows the oils to mix with water and defuse throughout the room.