Key Differences

In English Grammar, the words may and might are the modal auxiliary verbs, which are used in sentences with other verbs to express tenses, voice, mood etc. As they both reflect the possibility of any event, there are instances when people use them interchangeably. It happens due to lack of proper understanding regarding how, when and where to use them. May can be used when there is a strong possibility of happening of an event. On the contrary, we use might when there are very fewer chances … [Read more...]

In English, 'than' and 'then' are the most commonly confused terms, due to their same pronunciation, however, they have different meanings. Both than and then are action words, wherein than is used for comparing two elements or representing contrast or exception. As against then is mainly used in relation to time, to show when something has happened, or the sequence in which events took place. The example given below will explain how these two differ: Then there comes a day when it is … [Read more...]

In English, the words accept and except sound a bit similar in pronunciation, but they are spelt differently. While accept in basic terms means 'to agree with' or 'to hold certain proposition as true'. But when you talk about except, it means 'not including' or 'other than'. With the example given below, you might be able to understand the difference between accept and except clearly: The company accepted all the conditions of the workers, except the third one. Here, all the … [Read more...]

Most of us do not understand where to use less and fewer. These are the two comparative adjectives, which are used in a sentence, where comparison of two entities is to be made. As both the two quantifiers mean a smaller amount of something, people get confused between the two easily. However, there is a difference between them, as in, you can use less when you are mentioning something which is uncountable or that does not have a plural. Nevertheless, there are certain exceptions to the above … [Read more...]

Affect and Effect are homonyms, in which there is just one difference in their spellings, i.e. in their first letter, but when you go through their meanings, you will find that the difference between them is not slight. The term 'affect' is most commonly used as a verb which means "to influence" or "to change". On the other hand, the word 'effect' is primarily used as a noun and means "consequence", "aftermath", "result of an action" or "reaction". Nevertheless, both can be used as a noun and … [Read more...]

You might have noticed the lowercase letter acronyms i.e. and e.g. while reading newpapers, novels, journals or any other material. While i.e. expands to 'id est', which means 'in other words', e.g. is a short term for 'exempli gratia' which means 'for example'. Let's understand these two with an example: There are two types of games, i.e. indoor games and outdoor games, wherein Indoor games are played inside the home, e.g. chess, carrom etc. These two commonly used abbreviations in … [Read more...]