Words Commonly Confused (Similar Sound) – Part II

Allowed and Aloud

Allowed is a verb. To allow is to let something happen.

They allowed me to go.
Children are not allowed to enter the bar.

Aloud means loudly. It is an adverb.

The prisoner cried aloud for mercy.

Sight and site

The noun sight refers to the faculty of seeing. Sight can also refer to the ‘range of seeing’.

A blind man has no sight.
The coastlines were out of sight by now.

Site is the place where something stands.

He has turned the whole block into a vast building site.

Hole and Whole

Hole is a noun. It means cavity or aperture.

There is a hole in my socks.
The hole was filled with water.

Whole is an adjective. It means ‘entire’.

We stayed up the whole night.
The whole city was under water.

Brake and break

The brake is a device that slows or stops a machine. This noun is commonly used in the plural.

He stopped the car by applying the brakes.

Break is a verb. To break something is to separate it into pieces.

Who broke my window?
He broke the stick into pieces.
She fell off the ladder and broke her arm.

Prey and pray

The noun prey refers to an animal hunted by other animals.

The common shrew’s prey consists of earthworms and wood lice.

To pray is to speak to God or to make an earnest request to somebody.

I pray to God everyday.
He prayed to be allowed to go home.

Clothes, cloth and a cloth

Clothes are garments worn on body.

We wear clothes on our bodies.
I need to buy some clothes.

Cloth is a piece of fabric.

Cloth is manufactured out of wool and cotton.

A cloth is a common noun. It refers to a piece of cloth used for a specific purpose.

Current and currant

The adjective current means that which exists now.

This theory is no longer current.
In my current job, I am in charge of 20 people.

The noun current refers to a steady flow of water or air in one direction.

Currants are small dried grapes.

Bore and Boar

Bore is a verb. To bore somebody is to make him/her uninterested.

He bored us with his long winding stories.

Bore is also used as a noun. The noun bore refers to something that bores.

Peeling potatoes is a bore!

Boar is a wild animal.