Words in C:
Cache / Cachet
Capital / Capitol
Capital means city; wealth.
Capitol means building.
Carat / Caret / Carrot / Karat
Carrots are those crunchy orange vegetables, but this spelling gets misused for the less familiar words which are pronounced the same but have very different meanings.
Cache / Cachet
Cache comes from the French word "cacher", meaning "to hide" and in English, is pronounced exactly like the word "cash".
But speaking of a cache (hidden hoard of weapons, drugs etc.)
Often mispronounced to sound like cachet is a word with a very different meaning; it was originally a seal affixed to a document but now refers to the quality attributed to anything with authority or prestige.
Callous / Callused
Calling someone callous is a way of metaphorically suggesting a lack of feeling similar to that caused by calluses on the skin; but if you are speaking literally of the tough build-up on a person's hand or feet, the word you need is callused.
Can / May
Can refers to one's ability.
May concerns whether one has permission.
Canon / Cannon
Canon is used for principles or rules and Cannon refers to a large piece of artillery.
Canvas / Canvass
Canvas refers to fabric. Canvass means examine, campaign fro election.
Capital / Capitol
Capital means city; wealth.
Capitol means building.
Carat / Caret / Carrot / Karat
Carrots are those crunchy orange vegetables, but this spelling gets misused for the less familiar words which are pronounced the same but have very different meanings.
Precious stones like Diamonds are weighed in Carats. The same word is used to express the proportion of pure gold in an alloy, though in this usage, it is sometimes spelled Karats. Hence the abbreviation is 22K Gold.
A caret is a proofreader's mark showing where something needs to be inserted, shaped like a tiny pitched roof. It looks rather like a French circumflex, but is usually distinct from it on modern computer keyboards.
Carets are extensively used in Computer Programming - ^
Career / Careen
Careening down the road is swerving from side to side, whereas career relates to your future, job etc.
Censor / Censure / Sensor
Censor refers to prohibit.
Censure is harsh criticism.
Sensor is the measuring device.
Cereal / Serial
Cereal is something you might eat for breakfast, such as porridge.
Serial is something in a series; something that continues after one another.
Choose / Chose
Choose is to select.
Chose is the past tense of choose.
Chunk / Chuck
Chunk is a big piece.
Chuck means to throw.
Cite / Site / Sight
Cite means to indicate.
A site is a place.
Sight is vision.
Click / Clique
To click is to push a button, or switch; to emit or make a slight, sharp sound or a series of such sounds.
Clique is a small exclusive group of friends or associates.
Coarse / Course
Coarse is rough.
Course is way, path.
Collaborate / Corroborate
Collaborate means to work with someone.
Corroborate means to establish the truth of something.
Collage / College
You can paste together bits of paper to make a collage.
The institution of higher education is a college.
Come over / Overcome
Come over is a phrasal verb, that can mean several things. It can mean to move from one place to another or move towards someone.
Overcome is a verb which means to defeat or succeed in controlling or dealing with something.
Compare / Contrast
You compare things like objects for both similarities and differences.
You contrast any two things like or alike by identifying dissimilarities.
Complement / Compliment
Complement means to make complete, to supplement.
Compliment means to praise.
Concentrate / Concentrated
When you concentrate (verb) you direct all your efforts towards a particular activity, subject or problem.
If something is concentrated, it means it has had some liquid removed.
The simple past of concentrate is concentrated and this is where the confusion may arise.
Connote / Denote
The literal meaning of the word is its denotation, the broader associations we have with the word are its connotations.
Conscience / Conscious / Consciousness
Conscience is Moral Sense. Our Conscience makes us feel guilty when we do bad things.
Conscious is aware. If we are awake, we are conscious.
Consciousness is our awareness.
Consul / Council / Councilor / Counsel / Counselor
Consul is a diplomat to a foreign country.
Council refers to a group to discuss and take action on official matters.
A councilor is a member of such group.
Counsel is advice or to advise.
A counselor is an advisor.
Continual / Continuous
Continual means something that happens frequently with breaks between the occurrences.
Continuous means something that happens without stopping.
Convince / Persuade
We persuade people to act.
We convince when using proof to accept a belief. Hence, we usually are convinced something is true, but other try to persuade us to do something.
Cooperation / Corporation
Cooperation or Co-Operation means working together.
Corporation is a business organization.
Copyright / Copywrite
Copyright is the legal ownership of a book, film, play, piece of musical composition etc., or the right to print , publish, film, record or platform them.
Copywrite is something you do if you are creating advertising ir publicity material.
Core / Corps / Corpse
Apples have cores.
A corps is an organization like the Peace Corps.
A corpse is a dead body, a carcass.
Correspondence / Correspondents
Correspondence is written communication.
Correspondents are those who write it.
Creak / Creek
Creak is both a noun and a verb and means squeak or groan. For instance, rusty hinges and loose floorboards creak.
Creek is a noun and means a waterway or stream.
Credible / Creditable / Credulous
Credible means believable or trustworthy.
Creditable means praiseworthy or deserving credit.
Credulous is a rarer word meaning gullible - easily persuaded to believe something.
Crevice / Crevasse
Crevices are by definition tiny, like that little. Crevice between your teeth were the popcorn hulls always get caught.
A huge crack in a glacier is given the French spelling, crevasse.
Criteria / Criterion
Criterion is singular; Criteria is plural.
Criterion is in the case of single specification.
Criteria is in the case of more than one specification.
Cue / Queue
Cue has a variety of meanings like a clue or a play instrument as in a game of billiard, but all uses of queue relate to the original French meaning of tail which becomes a metaphor for a line.
Curb / Kerb
Curb means to control as in curb your temper.
Kerb is the edge of a footpath or sidewalk.
Currant / Current
Currant is a fruit, usually dried.
Current is an adjective which means contemporary or fashionable; as a noun it means stream or flow.
Cursor / Curser
Cursor is the computer marker.
Curser is the swearer.
To click is to push a button, or switch; to emit or make a slight, sharp sound or a series of such sounds.
Clique is a small exclusive group of friends or associates.
Coarse / Course
Coarse is rough.
Course is way, path.
Collaborate / Corroborate
Collaborate means to work with someone.
Corroborate means to establish the truth of something.
Collage / College
You can paste together bits of paper to make a collage.
The institution of higher education is a college.
Come over / Overcome
Come over is a phrasal verb, that can mean several things. It can mean to move from one place to another or move towards someone.
Overcome is a verb which means to defeat or succeed in controlling or dealing with something.
Compare / Contrast
You compare things like objects for both similarities and differences.
You contrast any two things like or alike by identifying dissimilarities.
Complement / Compliment
Complement means to make complete, to supplement.
Compliment means to praise.
Concentrate / Concentrated
When you concentrate (verb) you direct all your efforts towards a particular activity, subject or problem.
If something is concentrated, it means it has had some liquid removed.
The simple past of concentrate is concentrated and this is where the confusion may arise.
Connote / Denote
The literal meaning of the word is its denotation, the broader associations we have with the word are its connotations.
Conscience / Conscious / Consciousness
Conscience is Moral Sense. Our Conscience makes us feel guilty when we do bad things.
Conscious is aware. If we are awake, we are conscious.
Consciousness is our awareness.
Consul / Council / Councilor / Counsel / Counselor
Consul is a diplomat to a foreign country.
Council refers to a group to discuss and take action on official matters.
A councilor is a member of such group.
Counsel is advice or to advise.
A counselor is an advisor.
Continual / Continuous
Continual means something that happens frequently with breaks between the occurrences.
Continuous means something that happens without stopping.
Convince / Persuade
We persuade people to act.
We convince when using proof to accept a belief. Hence, we usually are convinced something is true, but other try to persuade us to do something.
Cooperation / Corporation
Cooperation or Co-Operation means working together.
Corporation is a business organization.
Copyright / Copywrite
Copyright is the legal ownership of a book, film, play, piece of musical composition etc., or the right to print , publish, film, record or platform them.
Copywrite is something you do if you are creating advertising ir publicity material.
Core / Corps / Corpse
Apples have cores.
A corps is an organization like the Peace Corps.
A corpse is a dead body, a carcass.
Correspondence / Correspondents
Correspondence is written communication.
Correspondents are those who write it.
Creak / Creek
Creak is both a noun and a verb and means squeak or groan. For instance, rusty hinges and loose floorboards creak.
Creek is a noun and means a waterway or stream.
Credible / Creditable / Credulous
Credible means believable or trustworthy.
Creditable means praiseworthy or deserving credit.
Credulous is a rarer word meaning gullible - easily persuaded to believe something.
Crevice / Crevasse
Crevices are by definition tiny, like that little. Crevice between your teeth were the popcorn hulls always get caught.
A huge crack in a glacier is given the French spelling, crevasse.
Criteria / Criterion
Criterion is singular; Criteria is plural.
Criterion is in the case of single specification.
Criteria is in the case of more than one specification.
Cue / Queue
Cue has a variety of meanings like a clue or a play instrument as in a game of billiard, but all uses of queue relate to the original French meaning of tail which becomes a metaphor for a line.
Curb / Kerb
Curb means to control as in curb your temper.
Kerb is the edge of a footpath or sidewalk.
Currant / Current
Currant is a fruit, usually dried.
Current is an adjective which means contemporary or fashionable; as a noun it means stream or flow.
Cursor / Curser
Cursor is the computer marker.
Curser is the swearer.
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