Homophones III

So, its time to analyse advice and advise. This one is pretty simple. All you have to do is remember that one is a verb and one is a noun.

1. Advice is a noun, ‘guidance or recommendations offered with regard to prudent action’ (OED).

For example: I gave my daughter some fatherly advice.

2. Advise is the verb, ‘to offer suggestions about the best course of action to someone’ (OED).

For example: I would like to advise you of the strict guidelines.

The easiest way to remember the difference when writing is to read your sentence aloud. The two words have subtle differences in pronunciation and this should alert you if you have used the wrong spelling!

Advice: /əd'vʌɪs/

Advise: /əd'vʌɪz/

Practice/Practise

Another pair of homophones that is similar to this one is practice and practise. Again, the difference is that practice is a noun and practise is a verb. Unfortunately these cannot be distinguished by pronunciation as both are pronounced the same (/'praktɪs/).

Examples:

I need to practise in order to improve.

It is easy to say, but harder to do in practice.

NB In US English ‘practice’ is the spelling used for both the noun and the verb!

In general, remember that the ‘c’ in practice/advice indicates that it is a noun, and the ‘s’ in advise/practise indicates that it is a verb.

Homophones II

As promised we will now consider the difference between complement and compliment, two words which are often confused.

Complement

Verb: ‘to add to something in a way that enhances or improves’ (OED).

Noun: ‘an addition that improves something’ (OED).

Example: That tie complements your suit very nicely.

Compliment

Verb: ‘to admire or praise someone for something’ (OED).

Noun: ‘an admiring remark’ (OED).

Example: She complimented her friend on her excellent cooking.

The same goes for the adjectives complementary (e.g. choose a complementary colour) and complimentary (e.g. he made a complimentary remark about my dress); but remember that complimentary also means ‘given freely, as a courtesy’ (e.g. she received a complimentary glass of wine with her meal).

Watch out for the next entry on advice and advise!

Homophones I

In the post entitled ‘Ten Tips for Proofreading’ from November 2009, helpful tip number 8 stated:

Watch out for homophones: words that sound the same but have different meanings are commonly confused and may be used incorrectly. Examples of these are discreet/discrete and affect/effect.

In my work as a proofreader and copy-editor I come across examples of these on a daily basis. I believe that some of these homophones merit a more detailed explanation.

One of the worst offenders is the example cited above: affect and effect.

Affect: The important thing to remember here is that affect is a verb.

Definition: ‘have an effect on; make a difference to’ (OED).

Example: Bad weather can affect people’s moods.

Effect: This is used primarily as a noun.

Definition: ‘a change which is a result or consequence of an action or other cause’ (OED).

Example: The effect of the bad weather on Sally’s mood was obvious.

However, just to be confusing, effect can also be a verb: ‘to cause (something) to happen; bring about’ (OED).

Example: The changes to the model have been effected.

One handy tip to remember the difference is that affect means to ‘make a change to’, i.e. the process of producing an effect/change, whereas effect describes the change that has already been (or will be) made or brought about.

For a longer list of commonly confused words and their definitions, see the Oxford English Dictionary’s extremely useful list.

Watch out for the next entry on complement and compliment!