Mistaken grammar and spelling is alright and even accepted in some contexts like instant messenger or notes to friends, but don’t let it seep into your vocabulary for academic related instances.  

The writing portion of the SATs includes a 25 minute essay in which you critically respond to a text or passage. In order to come off as a clever and intellectual individual, one must first be aware of the commonly mistaken grammatical errors. By being aware of these common mistakes, you can be sure to use the right (not write) tenses, spellings and punctuations in your essay. 

Interestingly, we use many of these words on a regular basis and may not even realize we are spelling them incorrectly. Be aware especially to the context in which you are using the word in order to come to a conclusion into how it should properly be used.

The following five examples gives you an introductory look on commonly misspelled and sometimes misinterpreted words and their usages from the “As”. Hopefully, with the information provided, you will be able to learn a thing or too and incorporate these new skills into your vocab. If you already have these tricky words figured out, great!

1. A lot

    A lot >> correct (meaning a large portion of something)

    Alot > Incorrect
    Allot  > Used as a verb to assign, give or provide possession to something or someone

* Key to Remembering: When referring to much of something using “a lot”, think of the “a” in being important to describing the large amount. Therefore, it would not be connected to the next word. If you’re a kinesetic learner, you can think of taking a deep breath before heaving the large amount. Making it “A *breath* lot.

2.  A Versus An

    A very simple concept, however it is easily confused and mistakenly used. A or an refer to something, depending on the first letter of the word following it. 

    A >> Used when following a word starting with a consonant (B,C,D,F,G….etc)
    An >> Used when following a word starting with a vowel (A,E,I,O,U and sometimes Y)

3. Accept Versus Except 

Accept >> Meaning to receive
Except >> Meaning to leave out, similar to “but”

Examples: I accept your apology.
                I want everything on my pizza except pepperoni.

                You should have excepted your offer >> could mean you should NOT have taken the offer
                                                                

Affect >> Having an influence on (a-FECT)

Effect >> As a noun, meaning to create (Trying to effect change by conserving energy).
              Showing a result (When I turned off the lights, I effected my energy consumption).
              Other expressions of this include being effective, personal effects

This is a bit confusing yes, but if you think of the word “effect” as a resulting word, you can put it into context easier.

These words are commonly confused, and the rules given to tell them apart are often wrong. Affect means “to influence” or “to produce an effect in.” Effect means “consequence” or “that which is produced by an agent or cause.”

Many try to differentiate between the two by saying that affect is a verb, while effect is a noun. Unfortunately, it’s not so simple. The word affect can also serve as a noun, meaning “observed or expressed emotional response,” and the word effect can also serve as a verb, meaning “to become operative” or “to carry out,” as in, “to effect changes.”
5. Accommodate

Remember the double “c” and the double “m” and you’ll be on your way to great spelling and grammar!