isreal vs israel
To remember how to spell “Israel” properly, try pronouncing it the wayIsraelis do when they’re speaking English: “ISS-rah-el.”
Read MoreCommon Errors Starting with I
in the fact that vs by the fact that
Many people mistakenly write “in the fact that” when they mean simply“in that” in sentences like “It seemed wiser not to go to work in thefact that the boss had discovered the company picnic money wa…
Read Moreidea vs ideal
<p>An idea is a result of a mental activity like thinking formed on the mind or recalled by memory.</p><pre>"Delilah has once again proven how smart she is by presenting a magnificent businessidea gu…
Read Moreidle vs idol
Something or someone inactive is idle. The word can also mean “lazy” (“the idle rich”). Unemployed workers are said to be idle, fired ones to have been idled. A car engine can idle.Someone you admire…
Read Moreif vs whether
“If” is used frequently in casual speech and writing where some otherswould prefer “whether”: “I wonder if you would be willing to dress up asa giant turnip for the parade?” Revise to “I wonder wheth…
Read Moreignorant vs stupid
A person can be ignorant (not knowing some fact or idea) without beingstupid (incapable of learning because of a basic mental deficiency). Andthose who say, “That’s an ignorant idea” when they mean “…
Read Moreimmaculate conception vs virgin birth
The doctrine of “immaculate conception” (the belief that Mary was conceived without inheriting original sin) is often confused with the doctrine of the “virgin birth” (the belief that Mary gave birth…
Read Moreimpactful vs influential
Many people in business and education like to speak of things that have an impact as being “impactful,” but this term does not appear in most dictionaries and is not well thought of by traditionalist…
Read Moreimpassible vs impassable
“Impassible” is an unusual word meaning “incapable of suffering” or “unfeeling.” The normal word for the latter meaning is “impassive.” But “impassible” is most often a spelling error for “impassable…
Read Moreimpertinent vs irrelevant
“Impertinent” looks as if it ought to mean the opposite of “pertinent,” andindeed it once did; but for centuries now its meaning in ordinary speech has beennarrowed to “impudent,” specifically in reg…
Read Moreimply vs infer
These two words, which originally had quite distinct meanings, have become so blended together that most people no longer distinguish between them. If you want to avoid irritating the rest of us, use…
Read Moreincase vs in case
Just in case you haven’t figured this out already: the expression “in case” is two words, not one. There is a brand of equipment covers sold under the incase brand, but that’s a very different matter…
Read Moreincent, incentivize vs encourage
Business folks sometimes use “incent” to mean “create an incentive,” butit’s not standard English. “Incentivize” is even more widely used, butstrikes many people as an ugly substitute for “encourage.”
Read Moreincidence vs incidents vs instances
<p>Incidence is the act of something or an event occurring or happening. It usually refers to the frequency of something.</p><pre>"High incidence of sports injuries among high school students has wor…
Read Moreincredible
The other day I heard a film reviewer praise a director because he created “incredible characters,” which would literally mean unbelievable characters. What the reviewer meant to say, of course, was …
Read Moreincredulous vs incredible
“When Jessica said that my performance at the karaoke bar had been incredible, I was incredulous.” I hope Jessica was using “incredible” in the casual sense of “unbelievably good” but I knew I used “…
Read Moreindepth vs in depth
You can make an “in-depth” study of a subject by studying it “in depth,” but never “indepth.” Like “” this expression consists of two words often mistaken for one. The first, adjectival, use of the p…
Read Moreindian vs native american
Although academics have long promoted “Native American” as a moreaccurate label than “Indian,” most of the people so labeled continue torefer to themselves as “Indians” and prefer that term. In Canad…
Read Moreindite vs indict
“Indite” is a rare word meaning “to write down.”Authorities indict a person charged with a crime. This act is called an “indictment.” The C is not pronounced in these words, so that “indict” sounds e…
Read Moreindividual vs person
Law-enforcement officers often use “individual” as a simple synonym for"person” when they don’t particularly mean to stress individuality: “Ipursued the individual who had fired the weapon at me for …
Read Moreinfact vs in fact
We use “In fact” to add more information to what has been said earlier. It is a two letter word. "Infact" is incorrect. "In fact" is correct.
Read Moreinfamous vs notorious
“Infamous” means famous in a bad way. It is related to the word “infamy.” Humorists have for a couple of centuries jokingly used the word in a positive sense, but the effectiveness of the joke depend…
Read Moreinflammable
“Inflammable” means the same thing as “flammable”: burnable, capable of being ignited or inflamed. So many people mistake the “in-” prefix as a negative, however, that it has been largely abandoned a…
Read Moreinfluencial vs influential
<p>Influential means the ability to exert influence. It is the power to affect, control and manipulate someone or something. The ability to change the development of fluctuating things such as conduc…
Read Moreink pen vs pen
If there were any danger of confusing pens for writing with other kinds of pens (light-, sea-, pig-) the phrase “ink pen” might be useful, but it seems to be mainly a way of saying “not a pencil.” Pl…
Read Morein route vs en route
<p>En route is a popular expression that means someone or something is in transit or on the way. Its imported from a French phrase that literally translates to "on the way".</p> <pre>"There are enem…
Read Moreinsight vs incite
An insight is something you have: an understanding of something, a bright idea about something. To incite is to do something: to stimulate some action or other to be taken. You can never have an inci…
Read Morein spite of vs despite
Although “in spite of” is perfectly standard English, some people prefer “despite” because it is shorter. Be careful not to mix the two together by saying “despite of” except as part of the phrase “i…
Read Moreinstall vs instill
<p>Install could mean to set up or prepare something for use or admitting formally into any office, rank or positioned.</p><pre>"The CEO installed a new manager for the firm."</pre><p>Instill m…
Read Moreinstances vs instants
Brief moments are “instants,” and examples of anything are “instances.”
Read Moreinsundry vs and sundry
“Sundry” means “various” in modern English, so strictly speaking expressions like “various and sundry” and “all and sundry” are redundant; but many redundant expressions are standard in English, as a…
Read Morein tact vs intact
<p">Intact means a state of complete wholesomeness. An item or object can be regarded as intact if its unbroken or untouched.<p></p><pre>"Despite the fatality of the accident, Joe's body parts remain…
Read Moreintend on vs intend to
You can plan on doing something, but you intend to do it. Many people confuse these two expressions with each other and mistakenly say “intend on.” Of course if you are really determined, you can be …
Read Moreintense vs intensive
If you are putting forth an intense effort, your work is “intense”: “Myintense study of Plato convinced me that I would make a good leader.”But when the intensity stems not so much from your effort a…
Read Moreintensifiers
People are always looking for ways to emphasize how really, reallyspecial the subject under discussion is. (The use of “really” is one ofthe weakest and least effective of these.) A host of words hav…
Read Moreintercession vs intersession
<p>Intercession is a prayer to a supreme being on behalf of someone else. It could also describe the act of intervening or mediating between two parties.</p><pre>"The pastor set up an intercession se…
Read Moreinterface vs interact
<p>Interface is the point of connection between two entities. It facilitates healthy relation between two or more people.</p><pre>"I could use you as an interface to get to your friends."</pre><p>Int…
Read Moreintergrate vs integrate
<p>You are integrating, if you collecting small parts to make a whole or part of a whole. On the other hand, if you intergrate ....well... you can never intergrate because "intergrate" is NOT a word.…
Read Morein terms of
Originally this expression was used to explain precise quantifiable relationships: “We prefer to measure our football team’s success in terms of the number of fans attending rather than the number of…
Read Moreintermural vs intramural vs extramural
“Intramural” means literally “within the walls” and refers to activities that take place entirely within an institution. When at Macbeth State University the Glamis Hall soccer team plays against the…
Read Moreinternet vs intranet
“Internet” is the proper name of the network most people connect to, andthe word needs to be capitalized. However “intranet,” a network confinedto a smaller group, is a generic term which does not de…
Read Moreinterpretate vs interpret
“Interpretate” is mistakenly formed from “interpretation,” but the verb form is simply “interpret.” See also “.”
Read Moreinto vs in to
“Into” is a preposition which often answers the question, “where?” For example, “Tom and Becky had gone far into the cave before they realized they were lost.” Sometimes the “where” is metaphorical, …
Read Moreintricate vs integral
<p>Integral refers to an important part of something, a business, idea, machine, etc.</p><pre>"That young man is an integral part of this operation."</pre><p>Intricate on the other hand refers to som…
Read Moreinvested interest vs vested interest
If you have a personal stake in something which causes you to be biased toward it, you have a vested interest in it. People discussing financial investment sometimes pun on this phrase by writing “in…
Read Moreinvite vs invitation
“Invite” (accent on the second syllable) is perfectly standard as a verb: “Invite me to the birthday party and I’ll jump out of the cake.” But “invite” (accent on the first syllable) as a noun meanin…
Read Moreironically vs coincidentally
<p>Ironically relates to irony, the act of conveying covert sarcasm under a serious or friendly pretense like an ironical compliment or disguised sarcasm.</p><pre>"Ironically, the story ended with hi…
Read Moreirregardless vs regardless
<p>Regardless is an adverb that means without paying attention to the situation of circumstances. </p><pre>“Susan and Matt kept driving regardless of the pounding rain.” </pre><p>Nowadays, you will h…
Read Moreislams vs muslims
Followers of Islam are called “Muslims,” not “Islams.” Muslim is now widely preferred over the older and less phonetically accurate Moslem.The S in “Islam” and “Muslim” is unvoiced like the S in “sai…
Read Moreisn't it vs innit
In South Asia you often hear people end sentences with “isn’t it?” in contexts where traditional English would require “doesn’t it,” “won’t it,” “aren’t you,” and related expressions. In Britain and …
Read Moreissues vs problems
An “issue” used to be a matter for consideration or discussion. For instance, a group might discuss the issue of how best to raise funds for its scholarship program. But people could also disagree wi…
Read Moreitch vs scratch
Strictly speaking, you scratch an itch. If you’re trying to get rid of atingly feeling on your back scratch it, don’t itch it.
Read Moreits vs it’s
The exception to the general rule that one should use an apostrophe to indicate possession is in possessive pronouns. Some of them are not a problem. “Mine” has no misleading “s” at the end to invite…
Read Morein the mist vs in the midst
When you are surrounded by something, you’re in the midst of it—its middle. If you’re in a mist, you’re just in a fog.
Read Morei vs me vs myself
In the old days when people studied traditional grammar, we could simply say, “The first person singular pronoun is ‘I’ when it’s a subject and ‘me’ when it’s an object,” but now few people know what…
Read Morein regards to vs with regard to
Business English is deadly enough without scrambling it. “As regards your downsizing plan . . .” is acceptable, if stiff. “In regard to” “and “with regard to” are also correct. But “in regards to” is…
Read Morein shambles vs a shambles
Your clothes are in tatters, your plans are in ruins, but you can console yourself that your room cannot be “in shambles.” The expression meaning “like a wreck” is “a shambles”: “Your room is a shamb…
Read Moreif i was vs if i were
The subjunctive mood, always weak in English, has been dwindling awayfor centuries until it has almost vanished. According to traditionalthought, statements about the conditional future such as “If I…
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