More Confusing Words: OH and Pea

It seems as if it has been forever since the last confusing-words post! But here we begin again with confusing word pairs that begin with O and P:

On/Onto 

On: To be suspended from or supported by – Put your books on the table.

Onto – To  a place or position – Climb onto the sofa.

Only

Only should be placed as close as possible to the word it belongs to, or modifies. Its position can really change the meaning of a sentence.

Only she likes pizza with pineapple. (No one else does.)

She only likes pizza with pineapple. (Technically, she likes it but she doesn’t love it, but often positioned this way to mean something else.)

She likes only pizza with pineapple. (She doesn’t like anything else with pineapple.)

She likes pizza only with pineapple. (She doesn’t like it with any other topping.)  She likes pizza with only pineapple and with pineapple only mean the same thing.

Overdo/Overdue

Books and babies are overdue. If you work too hard, you overdo.

My library books are two weeks overdue. I am so sore I can’t overdo it again today.

Past/Passed

Past is a preposition – We walked past her house.

Passed is a past tense verb. We passed her house.

Peace/Piece

Peace is the opposite of war.  Let there be world peace.

Piece is a part of something. I would like a piece of cake.

Peak/Peek/Pique

Peak – The top. Let’s climb to the mountain peak.

Peek  – To take a look. Don’t peak inside the box.

Pique – To irritate or excite. The noisy birds piqued my attention.

Pedal/Peddle

Pedal – The things that make the car and bicycles go.  Pedal faster, please.

Peddle – So sell your wares, usually from place to place. He peddles his paintings at all the fairs.

Peer/Pier

Peer is a person of equal status. It can also be a verb, meaning to look out at.  I peered at the students, who were my peers, also there for the exam. 

Pier – Structure built for boats. My new house has its own pier for my boat.

Perspective/Prospective

Perspective is the way someone sees things. He and I have different perspectives on life.

Prospective is in the future. He introduced his prospective wife to the family.

Pray/Prey

Pray is a spiritual verb. We pray every morning in the chapel.

Prey is something that is hunted by something or someone else. Some people are gullible and easy prey for scammers.

Precede/ Proceed

Precede is to come before. Breakfast precedes lunch.

Proceed is to continue along. The parade proceeded down the avenue. 

Watch the spelling on those two.

Premise/Premises

An odd word pair. One is generally not the plural of the other, but has an entirely different meaning.

Premise is reasoning upon which some idea is based. I began with the premise that the house would have French architecture.

Premises usually indicates a place, for example a building and its land. Please stay off the premises after 5 p.m.

Presents/Presence 

They sound the same, but they aren’t. One is a plural.

Presents is the plural of presents, or gifts. Do you want to open your presents now?

Presence is the state of being there. We missed your presence at the meeting.

Principle/Principal

Principal is the head of a school, or money (principal and interest, for example)  or the main  one – The school hired a new principal. The principal on the loan is $3500. She has the principal role in the play.  

Principle is a rule or ethic. It is against my principles to kill animals.

Prostate/Prostrate

Prostate is a male gland. He had surgery on his prostate.

Prostrate means lying flat on the ground. The body was prostrate on the ground in a pool of blood.

 

Next Week – The quiz

Stay safe.