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Spelling

Commonly Confused Words

Affect and effect, fewer and less, lie and lay.

Explanation

Affect is usually a verb and effect usually a noun. Fewer goes with countable nouns and less with uncountable ones. Lie is intransitive and lay is transitive. Then is time and than is comparison. These pairs account for a large share of writing errors.

Examples

The delay affected the schedule and the effect was costly.
Fewer cars, less traffic.
She lay the book down and then lay on the sofa. Correct: She laid the book down and then lay on the sofa.

Common mistakes

The delay effected the schedule.
The delay affected the schedule.
Affect is the verb.
Less cars, fewer traffic.
Fewer cars, less traffic.
Countable takes fewer.
She laid on the sofa.
She lay on the sofa.
Lie is intransitive.

More Spelling

Spelling: Doubling, -y and -ie

Patterns behind common spelling errors.