This blog series equips you to navigate choices with confidence and express yourself in English with ease and eloquence.

All together vs. Altogether

Both all together and altogether are correct but have different meanings. An easy way to distinguish between the two is to remember that all together typically applies to multiple people or things, and all together usually applies to one entity or action that is examined as a whole.

Lier vs. Liar

We call a person who buys a buyer, but why do we call a person who lies (tells a false statement) a liar, not a lier? We simply add an “er” to “buy,” but why does the same not apply to “lie”?

Complement vs. Compliment

Complement means to complete or enhance something else, while compliment means to express praise and admiration.

Noone vs. No One: Which is Correct?

No one is correct. Noone and no-one are both incorrect spellings. The words any, every, some, and no can be merged with the word body to form one word.

Bare with me vs. Bear with me

Bear with me is the correct phrase. Although bear and bare are homophones that sound and are pronounced the same, they are words with different meanings.

Apart vs. A Part

"Apart" means separated or distant, while "a part" refers to being a portion or component of something. Although apart and a part share the same letters only to be differentiated with one space, they have different uses.

Concave vs. Convex

Although the two words concave and convex look similar, they have opposite meanings. An object that is concave has a surface that curves inward. Meanwhile, an object that is convex has a surface that protrudes outward.

Breathe vs. Breath

The key difference between the words breathe and breath is that breathe is a verb, while breath is a noun.

Every Day vs. Everyday

Everyday (without the space) is actually an adjective that describes the noun that follows. For example, "You could have an everyday routine and face everyday problems." Everyday is describing the nouns routine and problems here.