4 More Commonly Confused Words

Even More Commonly Confused Words

I was reading the BT news the other day. Their journalists ought to read t his blog I think because they keep making errors. The first one here I noticed a couple of days ago.

Peek/Peak 
The article headline said something like 'A sneak peak at...' 
Peak, of course is the top of a mountain, while Peek is a quick glimpse of something. Perhaps there was a mountain hiding behind another, or a very sly one that was hiding, but I doubt it.

To, Too and Two.
This frequently appears in comments by people, and also in, I'm afraid to say, posts by writers.
To indicates movement towards as in 'He gave the parcel to me.'
Too is an excess of something. 'I had eaten too much and so I felt ill.'
I don't often see Two misused. It is, of course the number. 'Two buses passed me before the one I wanted arrived.'

Breath/Breathe
This can be a tricky one.
Breath is a noun and is what you take.
'The doctor told me to take a deep breath.'
Breathe is a verb and is what you do.
'The room seemed airless and I was finding it hard to breathe.'

Baring (bare)/Bearing(bear)
Another one from BT news.
Baring is the act of making bare, or naked. It is also used when revealing truths.
'Baring all, the spy held nothing back in his interrogation.'
'She removed her clothes, baring all.'
Bearing is carrying. (or of course, a large mammal living in the northern regions of the planet.)
'The messenger arrived bearing the news of the king's death.'

Then there is the problem of the past tense of these verbs. The past tense of Bear is Bore.
'She bore the news that she had not got the job with equinamity.'
BUT, the past tense of Bare is Bared.
'During the investigation, the criminal bared all.'