Seven of these ten commonly confused word pairs beginning with the letters I-L are frequent enough to have earned one or more full posts at Daily Writing Tips. You’ll find links at the end of each item.
1. illicit / elicit
Illicit is an adjective meaning, “not allowed by law or social conventions.” Elicit is a verb meaning, “to draw out a reply or reaction.”
2. imply / infer
Increasing numbers of speakers ignore the distinction between these words, but it remains a useful one. Imply is “to suggest indirectly.” Infer is “to draw a conclusion.”
Related posts:
Confused Words #6: Imply vs. Infer
Imply and Infer
3. it’s / its
Despite the hundreds, perhaps thousands of explanations to be found on the Web regarding the difference between these two spellings, the mistake of writing it’s for its remains the most common written error of them all.
It’s is the contracted form of the words it and is. Its is the possessive adjective that corresponds to his and their:
Max has dyed his hair red.
The children have passed their exams.
The cat has paint on its tail.
Related posts:
It’s or Its?
The Truth About “It’s”
4. jibe / jive
The most common error with this pair is to use jive, a word that derives from musical terminology, in a context that calls for jibe, a word that means, “to agree with.” Here are two correct uses of the word jibe:
His interpretation of the law doesn’t jibe with mine.
Your explanation does not jibe with the facts.
Related posts:
Gibe, Gybe, Jibe, and Jive
5. loath / loathe
Loath (pronounced with an unvoiced th like the one in thin) is an adjective originally meaning hostile, angry, or spiteful. In modern usage it means averse, disinclined, reluctant, or unwilling, as in this New York Times headline:” Inquiry Goes To Committee That May Be Loath to Act.” A variant spelling is loth.
Loathe (pronounced with a voiced th like the one in this) is a verb meaning “to feel strong aversion for” as in the title of a TED topic: “Why Do So Many People Loathe Their Jobs?”
Note: TED is a nonprofit organization that sponsors and broadcasts lectures on various social issues. The name is an acronym formed from the words Technology, Entertainment, and Design.
Related posts:
Verb Mistakes #5: Loathe
“Loath” and “Loathe”
6. loose / lose
Loose can function as a verb meaning “to free” or “to release,” but its most common use is as an adjective to mean, “not tight.” Lose is a verb that has various connotations of loss. For example, a person may lose his way in the woods. The past tense of lose is lost.
Related posts:
Confused Words #3: Lose, Loose, Loss
Loose or Lose?
7. latter / ladder
As a noun, latter means “the person or thing mentioned second of two.” A ladder is an appliance of wood or other material, consisting of a series of bars/rungs/steps/ fixed between two supports.
Speakers who do not distinguish clearly between the sounds of t and d may misspell latter as ladder, as in these examples:
INCORRECT: There are two modes to constructed play: Casual, and Ranked. Some people choose the former, some people choose the ladder.—Gaming site.
CORRECT : There are two modes to constructed play: Casual, and Ranked. Some people choose the former, some people choose the latter.INCORRECT: Many police officers know that much of their job is to collect revenue. It’s now apparent, that when given the option to conduct extortion or not, they will choose the ladder.—A talk radio website.
CORRECT : Many police officers know that much of their job is to collect revenue. It’s now apparent, that when given the option to conduct extortion or not, they will choose the latter.
Related post:
“Latter,” not “Ladder”
8. lightening / lightning
The word lightening comes from the verb to lighten, “to make lighter.” An artist can lighten a color. A kindly neighbor can lighten someone’s loneliness. A driver can lighten a load. Dark hair may be lightened by the sun. Lightning is “the visible discharge of electricity between one group of clouds and another, or between the clouds and the ground.”
9. libel / slander
Libel functions as a noun and as a verb. The noun is usually used to mean “a published statement damaging to the reputation of a person.” The verb means, “to defame or discredit by the circulation of libelous statements.”
As a noun, slander denotes “the utterance or dissemination of false statements or reports concerning a person in order to defame or injure that person.” As a verb, slander is “to spread slanderous reports about.” The legal difference between the two is that libel is written and slander is spoken or conveyed in some other non-written manner.
Another error with libel is that the noun (libel) is sometimes used incorrectly in place of the adjective liable, as in this example from a Canadian government site:
INCORRECT: The landlord testifies that the tenant became libel for the rent from December 01, 2008 and that he allowed her to move in on November 19, 2008 until December 01 without payment of rent.
CORRECT : The landlord testifies that the tenant became liable for the rent from December 01, 2008 and that he allowed her to move in on November 19, 2008 until December 01 without payment of rent.
Liable is an adjective that means, “bound or obliged by law or in accordance with a rule or convention.”
Related post:
Is it Libel, or is it Slander?
10. lay / lie
Some would argue that insisting on the distinction between the verbs lay (to put or to place) and lie (to recline) is beating a dead horse. I continue to insist on the difference because I believe that speakers who are bright enough to want to master a standard form of English are bright enough to learn the difference between these two verbs. Tell your children to lay their homework on the table. Tell your dog he may lie under it. Lay is transitive (has an object). Lie is intransitive (has no object).
Related posts:
Verb Mistakes #9: Past Tense forms of Lay and Lie
Lay vs. Lie: What’s So Hard?
Mixing up “lay” and “lie”
Nice summary for ‘lay’ and ‘lie’, which still tend to trip me up. Thanks.
I’m surprised you didn’t include ‘accept / except’ in the list. I run across mistakes with those two words far more often than several of the pairs you included (loathe / loath, lightening / lightning, jibe / jive). Another horribly mistaken pair I run across regularly is ‘moot / mute’, as in “It’s a moot point” (not a “mute point”, which can’t be a point at all since it isn’t spoken).
Everyone’s tired of seeing others point out the distinction of “its” and “it’s,” but it does show up in first drafts enough to warrant mention. The related article, “The Truth About ‘It’s'” is the best explanation of why I’ve ever read.
How about “lead” and “led”? More and more frequently, I’ve been seeing “lead” written incorrectly as the past tense of “to lead.”
This is a mixture of words that get confused and spellings that are confused. I don’t think people who would write, “I fear I may loose my way” are really confusing the words lose and loose. They are simply misspelling lose.
I have to give a big Yup to libel and liable. I see that one all the time, especially because they occur in the same context so frequently, e.g. If you are liable to libel, you just may be liable for libel.