30 words you’re probably getting wrong

One of the the things about social media is that it has brought to light how poor some people’s grammar is. Perhaps even more of an issue is how acceptable poor grammar seems to be.

As a result, I thought I’d pull from the archives some old posts showing some of the words that people most commonly confuse. Here are 30 words you’re probably getting wrong:

  1. A while vs. awhile
  2. Further vs. farther
  3. Stationery vs. stationary
  4. Historical vs. historic
  5. Whatever vs. whichever
  6. Biannual vs. biennial
  7. Sitting vs. seating
  8. Who’s vs. whose
  9. Nauseous vs. nauseated
  10. Than vs. then
  11. Who vs. whom
  12. That vs. which
  13. Its vs it’s
  14. Insure vs. ensure
  15. Lie vs. Lay

By Kim Siever

I am a copywriter and copyeditor. I blog on writing and social media tips mostly, but I sometimes throw in my thoughts about running a small business. Follow me on Twitter at @hotpepper.