Below is the concluding part of this write-up.
6. loose / lose
Loose can function as a verb meaning “to free” or “to release,” but its most common use is as an adjective to mean, “not tight.” Lose is a verb that has various connotations of loss. For example, a person may lose his way in the woods. The past tense of lose is lost.

7. latter / ladder
As a noun, latter means “the person or thing mentioned second of two.” A ladder is an appliance of wood or other material, consisting of a series of bars/rungs/steps/ fixed between two supports.

Speakers who do not distinguish clearly between the sounds of t and d may misspell latter as ladder, as in these examples:

INCORRECT: There are two modes to constructed play: Casual, and Ranked. Some people choose the former, some people choose the ladder.—Gaming site.
CORRECT : There are two modes to constructed play: Casual, and Ranked. Some people choose the former, some people choose the latter.

INCORRECT: Many police officers know that much of their job is to collect revenue. It’s now apparent, that when given the option to conduct extortion or not, they will choose the ladder.—A talk radio website.
CORRECT : Many police officers know that much of their job is to collect revenue. It’s now apparent, that when given the option to conduct extortion or not, they will choose the latter.

8. lightening / lightning
The word lightening comes from the verb to lighten, “to make lighter.” An artist can lighten a color. A kindly neighbour can lighten someone’s loneliness. A driver can lighten a load. Dark hair may be lightened by the sun. Lightning is “the visible discharge of electricity between one group of clouds and another, or between the clouds and the ground.”

9. libel / slander
Libel functions as a noun and as a verb. The noun is usually used to mean “a published statement damaging to the reputation of a person.” The verb means, “to defame or discredit by the circulation of libellous statements.”

As a noun, slander denotes “the utterance or dissemination of false statements or reports concerning a person in order to defame or injure that person.” As a verb, slander is “to spread slanderous reports about.” The legal difference between the two is that libel is written and slander is spoken or conveyed in some other non-written manner.

Another error with libel is that the noun (libel) is sometimes used incorrectly in place of the adjective liable, as in this example from a Canadian government site:

INCORRECT: The landlord testifies that the tenant became libel for the rent from December 01, 2008 and that he allowed her to move in on November 19, 2008 until December 01 without payment of rent.
CORRECT : The landlord testifies that the tenant became liable for the rent from December 01, 2008 and that he allowed her to move in on November 19, 2008 until December 01 without payment of rent.

Liable is an adjective that means, “bound or obliged by law or in accordance with a rule or convention.”


10. lay / lie
Some would argue that insisting on the distinction between the verbs lay (to put or to place) and lie (to recline) is beating a dead horse. I continue to insist on the difference because I believe that speakers who are bright enough to want to master a standard form of English are bright enough to learn the difference between these two verbs. Tell your children to lay their homework on the table. Tell your dog he may lie under it. Lay is transitive (has an object). Lie is intransitive (has no object).

Credit: DWT

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