What’s the Difference Between Yours and Your’s? Only one of these two spellings is an actual word. Your’s is a common error when trying to spell the correct word your. Yours is a possessive pronoun. It indicates that the pronoun you has ownership of something. Don’t eat that cookie. That one is mine. I left you another one. The smaller
What’s the Difference Between Infer and Imply? Infer and imply both are related to indirect information. However, they approach this meaning from two different angles, just like the word pairs give/take and borrow/lend. Infer is a verb that means to find an answer based on reasoning rather than being told directly. Her son wouldn’t tell her where he had been.
What is the Difference Between Alumnus, Alumna, Alumnae and Alumni? Alumnus, alumna, alumnae, and alumni all refer to graduates of a school. However, they each differ according to whether the graduate is in the singular or plural form and the gender of the graduate. Alumnus means a male graduate. Adam Sandler is an alumnus of New York University. He received
What’s the Difference Between Follow-Up and Follow Up? Follow-up and follow up have the same meaning, but they don’t share the same part of speech. Follow-up can be either a noun or an adjective that refers to a second meeting or other action that follows the first. Your first interview went great. We’d like to schedule you for a follow-up
What’s the Difference Between Patients and Patience? Patients and patience can sound the same, depending on how strongly the speaker pronounces the final t in patients. However, these two words have no overlap in meaning. Patients is the plural form of the noun patient that means person under the care of a doctor. This hospital has more patients than the
What’s the Difference Between Hanged and Hung? Hanged and hung are both the simple past and past participle forms of the same verb. However, they have slightly different meanings. Hanged is the past tense form of the verb hang. It refers to when a person dies by hanging from his or her neck. In the past, many men were hanged
What’s the Difference Between Thru and Through? Thru and through look like alternate spellings of the same word. However, only through is appropriate in standard American English. Through is usually a preposition, but it can also be an adverb or an adjective. It refers to movement in one end and out the other. It took an hour for the car
What’s the Difference Between Council and Counsel? Council and counsel are homophones, which means that the share the same pronunciation but have different meanings and spellings. Their meanings are similar because both words deal with giving advice. However, there are important differences that make it impossible to interchange the two words. Council is a noun that means a group of
What’s the Difference Between Whiskey and Whisky? Whiskey and whisky look like alternate spellings of the same word, and that’s almost true. However, there is one important distinction between each spelling. Whiskey is a noun that refers to a specific type of liquor made in Ireland or America. This bar serves only the finest Irish whiskey. Whisky is almost the
What is the Difference Between Canceled and Cancelled? Canceled and cancelled are alternate spellings of the same word. Canceled is the simple past form of the verb cancel. Its primary meaning is to decide a scheduled event will not occur. The spelling with a single l is more common in American English. The coach canceled soccer practice because of