Access and Excess

Access means ‘entry’ or ‘approach’. Access can also be used as a verb.

Thieves gained access to the store via a side door.
The program can be accessed using the correct password.

Excess means ‘more than what is needed’.

He has money in excess.

Accept and Except

Accept means ‘take willingly’. Except means ‘not including’.

He accepted my offer.
Everybody except Alice was present. (Alice was not present.)

Admit and confess

Admit means ‘acknowledge truth’. Confess has a slightly different meaning. When you confess something you admit having done something wrong.

He admitted that he had made a mistake.
She confessed to having stolen the money.

All together and altogether

Altogether means ‘with everything included’, ‘on the whole’ and similar ideas.

Altogether, it has been a good day.
Altogether, your bill comes to $75.99.

All together means ‘all at the same time”.

The clothes lay all together in a heap.

All ready and already

All ready means ‘quite prepared’. Already means ‘before now’.

We are all ready to leave now.
She had already left when I arrived.

Bare and bear

Bare means ‘uncovered’, ‘naked’ and similar ideas.

He sported a bare torso.
He was flogged on his bare skin.

The verb bear means tolerate.

I can’t bear this pain.

The noun bear means a ‘wild animal’.

A bear has thick fur.

Berth and birth

Berth means a built-in bed on a ship or a train. Birth means the event of being born.

I have reserved two berths.
The father was present at the birth.

Born and Borne

Born means ‘brought into life’. Borne means ‘endured’.

He was born in Birmingham.
She has borne many hardships. (=She has endured many hardships.)

Deadly and deathly

Deadly means ‘fatal’. Deathly means ‘like pale’.

He received a deadly blow.
She looked deathly pale.

Deceased and diseased

The deceased means ‘the dead’. The diseased means ‘the sick’.

The deceased man left behind him a widow and three children.
He is always by the bed of his diseased mother.

Descent, decent and dissent

Descent means ‘ancestral background’. It can also mean ‘a downward slope’.

He claims descent from a royal family.

Decent means ‘respectable’, ‘good’ and similar ideas.

He earns a decent salary.
He is a decent person.

Dissent means disagree.

Two jury members dissented.

Descry and decry

Descry means ‘see’. Decry means ‘criticize somebody or something’.

I descried a goat on a hill in the distance.
Critics decried lowered standards in education.

Desirable and desirous

Desirable means ‘worthy of desire’. Desirous means ‘wanting something’.

He is desirous of fame.
Honesty is a desirable quality.

Device and devise

Device means tool or machine.

An alarm clock is a useful device.

Devise means ‘think something up’, ‘plan’.

Could you devise a way out?