commonly misused and misspelled words

Before submitting your personal statement or resume, use this list to double-check for commonly confused words. Spellcheck won’t always catch these errors.

affect / effect

allied / ailed

cite / site

compliment / complement

conscious / conscience

council / counsel

disciplines / disciples

discrete / discreet

elicit / illicit

inpatient / impatient

lumbar / lumber

patients / patience / patents

principal / principle

proceed / precede

prostate / prostrate

pubic / public

stationary / stationery

unit / unite / untie

ward / word