| |
EXPLANATION
|
EXAMPLE
|
| AFFECT/EFFECT |
Affect
|
Influence (verb) |
The colors affect her mood. |
| |
Effect
|
Produce (verb)
Result(noun) |
The teacher is effecting changes in the program.
The effect of sales on profits has been excellent. |
| GOOD/WELL |
Good
|
Competent, positive
(adj)
|
Her scores were quite good. |
| |
Well
|
Satisfactorily (adv)
Good health (adj) |
The plan is progressing very well.
John felt well and looked forward to school. |
| LAY/LAID/LAYING |
Lay
|
Put or place (verb) |
The coaches lay great emphasis on exercise. |
| |
Laid
|
Put or place (verb) |
The blanket was laid on the ground. |
| |
Laying
|
Put or place (verb) |
Brad is laying the tile tomorrow. |
LIE/LAY/LAIN/
LYING |
Lie
|
An untrue remark
(verb) |
He told a lie to get a date with Beth. |
| |
Lay
|
Rest or recline (verb) |
Last week the key lay on the table. |
| |
Lain
|
Rest or recline (verb) |
For two days, the key had lain on the table. |
| |
Lying
|
Rest or recline (verb) |
The book is lying on the shelf. |
| ME/MYSELF/I |
Me
|
Personal pronoun |
He gave the report to Alice and me. |
| |
Myself
|
Compound personal
pronoun
Other personal
pronouns: yourself,
herself, himself,
and itself
|
I told myself it didn't matter.
When using a compound personal pronoun,
the sentence must always include the
antecedent (word referred to by the pronoun).
In the example, the word I is the antecedent. |
| |
I
|
Personal pronoun |
Rhonda and I want to go to the movies. |
| SELL/SALE |
Sell
|
Give up property to
another for money
(verb) |
She's going to sell the car to Jeff. |
| |
Sale
|
The act of selling
(noun) |
The store will have a sale on Saturday. |
| SET/SIT |
Set
|
To place in position
or to bring about
(transitive verb) |
She set the timer on the oven.
Ashley set a record in scoring. |
| |
Sit
|
To be in a sitting
position
(verb) |
She asked the child to sit in the chair. |
| WHO/WHOM |
Who
|
Subject of the verb |
Who opened the package? |
| |
Whom
|
Object of the verb
Object of the
preposition |
Whom did David pick as his partner?
To whom did you give the money? |