At a corporate training I taught last week, participants asked me to clarify the meaning of the above word pairs. Since these words seem to perplex many people, here are simple definitions.
Affect (verb) This word has many meanings in the dictionary. It can refer, as a noun, to one’s emotional state. As a verb, it also has multiple meanings. However, if you want to keep your life simple and always use it correctly, I advise you to use it exclusively as a VERB, meaning something like “to have an influence on”.
Effect (noun) This word also has a variety of meanings and can be used as either a noun or as a verb. Again, if you want to always be right and keep life straightforward, use effect exclusively as a NOUN, meaning something like “the object of a cause, the result”.
He seemed unaware that his adolescent actions would affect him all his life.
He seemed unaware that he would feel the effect of his adolescent actions all his life.
Advise (verb) Use this word as a verb only. It means giving counsel, i.e. giving advice.
Advice (noun) This noun is the object of advise. When one advises, he gives advice or counsel, telling a person what he should do.
I advised him not to take their advice, but he did not listen to me.
Counsel (verb or noun) As a noun, this word refers to any advice. It also refers to one’s legal advisers. As a verb, it means “to advise.”
His counsel counseled him against pleading guilty.
Council (noun or adjective) As a noun, this refers to a group of people called together for a consultation, or a body of officials. As an adjective, it describes something related to a council. In England, it may refer to houses provided by a council, as in council houses.
Lose (verb) This is the opposite of gain. It means to come to destruction, to mislay, or to fail to keep.
Loose (adjective or verb) This is the opposite of tight. It means unconstrained, unbound, easily accessed, inexact. It can be used as a verb meaning “to release”.
He did not loose the loose arrows in his quiver; this caused him to lose the archery tournament.
I would like to think that people only confuse these words because of typographical errors, but the mixup happens so frequently that I’m beginning to wonder. Please don’t write If you loose your password, here’s how you can resetit.
If you ever wonder about the distinction between words that seem similar, an easy solution is at hand: Look the words up in a dictionary. A simple shift-F7 in MS Word will bring you to a thesaurus, and a quick visit to www.yourdictionary.com will yield etymology, definition and usage information. Curiosity: Use it or lose it.
Interested in improving writing skills in your organization? Contact Elizabeth Danziger at (310) 396-8303. With our customized writing trainings, we turn bad writers into good writers.