Which Word Is Correct?

Accept vs. Except

• Accept means to take something that is offered, or possibly inclusion.
• Except means exclusion.

Advice vs. Advise

• Advice is a noun, meaning words that are intended to help someone.
• Advise is a verb, the action of offering words to help someone.

Affect vs. Effect

• Affect is usually a verb, meaning to exert influence over someone or something.
• Effect is usually a noun, meaning the influence exerted by someone or something.

Aid vs. Aide

• Aid is (physical or verbal) help offered to a person.
• Aide is a person who assists someone.

Aisle vs Isle

• An aisle is a passageway between rows of chairs.
• An isle is a small piece of land (an Island).

Allowed vs. Aloud

• Allowed means permitted; the past tense of "to allow."
• Aloud means spoken (as opposed to silent or written).

Allude vs. Elude

• Allude means to refer to something indirectly or obliquely.
• Elude means to avoid meeting someone or something.

Altar vs. Alter

• An altar is a table, usually specifically used in a religious rite.
• Alter is a verb, meaning to change something.

Apart vs. A part

• Apart (one word) means separated.
• A part (two words) means a constituent of the whole, and not separated.

Bare vs. Bear

• Bare is an adjective meaning uncovered or naked.
• Bear is a verb, meaning to carry. 
• Bear is also the large, sometimes dangerous, animal.

Brake vs. Break

• Brake is the device that stops or slows a moving vehicle.
• Break has several meanings, including fracture, luck, interval.

Breath vs. Breathe

• Breath is a noun, describing inhalation and exhalation.
• Breathe is the verb, the action of inhaling and exhaling. (Sometimes it just means exposure to oxygen, as in "letting the wine breathe.")

Canvas vs. Canvass

• Canvas is a noun, heavy fabric used in painting or sailing.
• Canvass is a verb, soliciting or counting votes.

Capital vs. Capitol

• Capital is the town or city that serves as the seat of government.
• Capitol is the building in which a legislative body sits.

Censor vs. Censure

• Censor is the act of hiding something, either for secrecy or to protect sensibilities.
• Censure is the act of expressing disapproval of some action or inaction.

Cite vs. Sight vs. Site

• Cite means to refer to something formally, especially of a written work, by someone else's written work.
• Sight is the visual sense; or something one can see.
• Site is a (real or virtual) place, often a venue where some event occurs.

Complement vs. Compliment

• Complement is something that makes something else whole
• Compliment is an offer of praise; or greeting between peers, or from a higher ranking person to a subordinate.

Desert vs. Dessert

• To desert (a person or place) is to leave that person (place) alone. Note that this is related to the differently pronounced desert, a desolate place.
• Dessert is the course after the main part of a meal, usually of sweets.

Device vs. Devise

• A device (noun) is a mechanism (physical or metaphorical).
• To devise (verb) is to create such a mechanism.

Discreet vs. Discrete

• Discreet means cautious or careful.
• Discrete means separate or distinct.

Disinterested vs. Uninterested

• Disinterested means not invested in (as, an outcome); often meaning the financial sense of investment.
• Uninterested means bored or uncaring about.

Dual vs. Duel

• Dual means in two parts.
• Duel is a one-on-one contest.

Elicit vs. Illicit

• Elicit is a verb, meaning to draw out.
• Illicit is an adjective, meaning illegal or immoral (not fattening).

Familial vs. Familiar

• Familial means related by blood; literally, part of the same family.
• Familiar means recognized, or well-known, and not necessarily related. (It's possible to have a familial relationship with someone you have never met!)

Farther vs. Further

• Farther usually refers to physical distance, as in "farther down the road."
• Further usually refers to metaphorical distance, as in "further research."

Flair vs. Flare

• Flair is distinctive style.
• Flare is a sudden burst of light, used for a distress signal or celebration (fireworks)

Forth vs. Fourth

• Forth is an adverb meaning forward.
• Fourth is the ordinal form of the number four (and an excuse for fireworks).

Hanged vs. Hung

• Hanged means killed by being suspended from a rope around the neck.
• Hung is any sense of the past tense of the verb "to hang" other than execution.

Hear vs. Here

• Hear is to sense with the ears.
• Here is "at this place."

Its vs. It's

• Its is the possessive pronoun for a thing (not a person). Pronouns never have apostrophes.
• It's is a contraction for "it is" or "it has."

Lay vs. Lie

• Lay is a transitive verb (a verb with an object); one may "lay something down."
• Lie is an intransitive verb; one may "lie down on the sofa." 

Lightening vs. Lightning

• Lightening means adding more white to a color, or removing mass from a load.
• Lightning is the bright flash that precedes thunder.

Loose vs. Lose

• Loose is an adjective meaning slack, or a verb meaning to set free.
• Lose means to misplace or fail to win.

Mantel vs. Mantle

• Mantel is the shelf over a fireplace, from which Christmas stockings are hung.
• Mantle is a covering (as of the light source in a lantern) or the layer beneath the earth's crust.

Moral vs. Morale

• Moral is an adjective describing a sense of right and wrong; or the point of a story or parable.
• Morale is a noun, describing a sense of good feelings of a group of people. ("The beatings will continue until morale improves.")

Palate vs. Palette

• Palate is the roof of one's mouth, or metaphorically, one's taste in food.
• Palette is a board used by an artist to hold dabs of different colors of paint, for immediate use on the canvas; or the total possible colors available on a computer screen.

Peak vs. Peek

• Peak is the top of a mountain, or metaphorically the top level of one's performance.
• Peek is a quick look at something, often surreptitiously.

Pedal vs. Peddle

• A pedal (noun) is a control that one touches with one's foot.
• To peddle (verb) is to sell goods or services.

Principal vs. Principle

• Principal is usually an adjective, meaning "main" or "head" of something; or sometimes a noun, referring to the person in that position (as a school principal).
• Principle is always a noun, referring to a deeply held belief or moral standpoint.

Reign vs. Rein

• Reign is the ceremonial action of a monarch, or the period during which a monarch holds office; or metaphorically, the time when a sports champion holds that title.
• Rein is the rope used to hold a horse or other working animal, or team of animals.

Right vs. Wright vs. Write

• Right (adjective) means "correct" (or the opposite of "left," which also has the connotation of correct; compare the Latin words for right and left, respectively dexter and sinister.)
• Wright (noun) is a maker or builder, as in shipwright, playwright, or wheelwright.
• Write (verb) is to put pen to paper, producing words, or to compose a written work (so a playwright writes plays).

Stationary vs. Stationery

• Stationary is an adjective, meaning "fixed" or "at rest."
• Stationery is a noun, meaning supplies for writing (often, particularly writing letters).

Tail vs. Tale

• A tail is an appendage at the back end of an animal, or the trailing edge of a long item (such as a freight train).
• A tale is a story, which might be told by an idiot, possibly full of sound and fury, and may or may not signify something.

Than vs. Then

• Than is a comparison word, as in "I am older than my kid brother."
• Then is an adverb, signifying a later time or order.

Their vs. There vs. They're

• Their is a possessive pronoun for the third person; nominally plural, though current usage allows a singular person of unspecified gender. (Pronouns never use apostrophes.)
• There is an adverb for a place that is distant from the speaker; not here.
• They're is a contraction for "they are."

To vs. Too vs. Two

• To is a preposition, meaning "intended for" or "moving toward" its object; or the indicator of an infinitive verb.
• Too is an adverb, meaning either a surplus ("too much") or "also" ("me too").
• Two is the cardinal number after one and before three.

Your vs. You're

• Your is the second person possessive pronoun (pronouns still don't have apostrophes).
• You're is a contraction for "you are."