Commonly confused words

bale vs. bail

bale vs. bail bale (bundle, bunch, package) The fire burned 50 bales of hay. a bale of paper/straw/cotton bail (money pledged to release an accused person until trial) Can your father put up bail for you? I’ll be out on bail in no time.   bale vs. bail – English …

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bait vs. bate

bait vs. bate bait (food used in a trap) We used a piece of meat as bait. The fish took the bait from the hook.   bate (decrease, reduce) The salesman won’t bate his price. The landlord will bate the rent.     bait vs. bate – English Vocabulary

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backup vs. back up

backup vs. back up backup (extra help or support in case of emergency) This place has a backup power supply. They requested the army forces as backup. back up (move backwards) Please back up a little so that I can park here. The bus stopped and then backed up.   …

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assay vs. essay

assay vs. essay assay (test, evaluation) The ore assay result shows a high level of gold. Scientists found new microbes in their assay.   essay (a piece of writing on a subject) Write an essay of about a thousand words. I hope I will get a good grade for my …

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aural vs. oral

  aural (relating to the ear or hearing) This soundtrack gives us an aural appeal. We used tapes as aural teaching.   oral (relating to the mouth; spoken) Brushing your teeth is an important step in maintaining oral hygiene. I had an oral test in the class this morning.   …

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