Theverbhas an ‘s’ before the ‘e’. Thenounhas a ‘c’
before the ‘e’.Avoiding confusion
Other words that are often confused are ‘council’ and
‘counsel’, ‘compliment’ and ‘complement‘, ‘principle’ and
‘principal’ and ‘stationery’ and ‘stationary’.
Council/counsel
- Acouncil(noun) is an administrative group which has
power to make decisions.
Acouncillor(noun) sits on acouncil(noun). - Tocounsel(verb) someone is to help them by listening to
them and giving them advice.
Acounsellor(noun)counsels(verb) clients.
Compliment/complement
- Acompliment(noun) is an expression of praise.
‘He paid me acomplimenttoday.’ - Tocomplement(verb) means to complete the whole.
‘Your scarfcomplementsthat dress beautifully.’
Principal/principle
- Aprincipal(noun) is the head of a college.
‘ThePrincipalwas very pleased with the students’ work.’ - Principalcan also be anadjectivemeaning main or chief.
‘The principal (adjective) boy in the pantomime was
played by Joan.’ - Aprinciple(noun) is a standard you maintain.
‘In spite of difficulties, she always kept to herprinciples
(noun).’
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