These two nouns are pronounced the same but have very different meanings. An aisle is an indoors path that is part of a larger space, such as the paths between shelves in a supermarket, between the seats in a cinema, or lanes between ropes, such as in the customs area of an airport: During the […]

Cord and Chord have different meanings, though both come from a root word meaning “string.” Cords are string-like objects but thicker and heavier than strings, such as power cords—the cords that connect machines to sources of electricity. A second meaning of cord, also not used every day, is “a pile of wood, 128 feet square in […]

Aid and Aide both refer to help; however, only aide refers specifically to a professional helper. Let’s look more closely at each word. AidAid, as a noun, can refer to any kind of help. It can also be used as a verb: We could use your aid on this project. (Noun)Your contribution aided the completion of […]

Phonics and Phonetics are both nouns based on the root phon- which means “sound.”Phonics is a system for teaching people how to read languages that use alphabets, focusing on the sounds associated with each group of letters. Phonetics is the science of describing linguistic sounds accurately, using special symbols and terminology. For example, in phonetics, […]

To avoid confusing these words, remember this starting point:  dialectic is a kind of rhetoric.RhetoricRhetoric, generally, means “ways of making an argument, presenting ideas, or persuading people”. The following sentences exemplify this meaning:Your rhetoric does not make sense to me, so I do not agree.The rhetoric of politicians often seems dishonest.Attacking your opponent is bad […]