Mixed Words Up

One of the areas that I see lots of abuse or mistakes is when two (or more) words sound alike, but have different meanings, and the wrong one is used in the sentence.

Examples that I see a lot (by the way, this is one example: "a lot" vs. "allot") include:

* Insure vs. ensure vs. assure. The first one ("insure") is to issue a formal policy of coverage mitigating the risk on an object, event or other asset. The next ("ensure") is to make certain that something happens. The third one ("assure") is to ease or comfort or to provide confidence, among other definitions.

"You insure your home against a loss (fire, tornado, etc.), and you ensure that you have enough coverage to replace the loss, and then you can rest easy at night because you are assured of being covered in the event of a loss."

* Another is affect vs. effect. The affect of something is the result of something occurring, while to effect something is to make a change or have an impact or cause to happen.

"If we effect (bring about) that change to the design plans, then the effect (consequence) will be that the building will be uglier." That will have an affect (feeling) on me that I don't want.

* The aforementioned "a lot" vs. "allot" is a common mistake. Another complete mistake is "alot," which is not a word at all - it is supposed to be two words. "A lot" is a large quantity of something, while "allot" is to parcel out (allocate) various things to categories or positions, for example.

"If we allot tickets at the rate of one per person, then we will have a lot of people a the party."

* Some of the most common mistakes are between words like you're and your (Paris Hilton's famous t-shirt with the slogan "I'm hot, your not"). Their, they're and there are very often mixed up; "They're not going to their house there at the beach."