Hello, and welcome back to part two of our often confused words help! Let's dive right in.
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Lay vs Lie
"Lay" is when something is being put down by another.
Example: I lay down my pencil.
"Lie" is when you yourself recline.
Example: I lie in my bed and think.
WARNING: This word is very confusing because the past tense of lay is laid but the past tense of lie is lay. So watch out.
Lead vs Led
"Lead" when rhyming with red is the mineral used in old pencils, or the metal.
Example: Pencils now have graphite rather than lead.
"Led" is the past tense of lead (meaning to have follow. Rhymes with mead).
Example: We led them to the store.
Let's vs Lets
"Let's" is the contraction of "let" and "us." You know to use it if you can replace what you're writing with "let us."
Example: "Let's go to the ball game."
"Lets" is the usage of let in regards to he/she/they in present tense.
Example: He lets us go.
Loose vs Lose
"Loose" is when something is not tight enough.
Example: The rope was just loose enough I could wiggle around.
"Lose" is when you don't win something or something is unable to be found. Note - lost is the past tense, not loose. It does not work like chose and choose.
Example: I didn't want to lose to my older brother. (Not winning)
If I lose my phone, I will die! (Unable to find)
Organize vs Organise
"Organize" is the right way to write it because Americans are the best.
Example: Cross just wanted a way to get to twenty words and therefore organized a way to tick most people off.
"Organise" is the letter, stupider way that the British people do.
Example: Cross will organise a will while hoping people can take a joke.
But no, guys, on a serious note, there are a lot of words that are just British differences. They aren't incorrect. Watch that you aren't correcting someone just based on their type of English. That's language-ist.
Passed vs Past
"Passed" is used when in reference to movement, or the past particle of "to pass."
Example: I passed the building many times.
"Past" is more in reference to time, though in various ways. It could be the literal sense of the time where something happened in the past or to mean the same as beyond in position/further than.
Examples: He is a past president. (Literal sense of time)
My house is two past the red house. (Beyond in position)
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