Oft-confused words

I am constantly amazed at how intelligent people confuse familiar words, such as 'their', 'they're' and 'there'. But then I remind myself that I can never work out whether 'bimonthly' means twice a month or every two months and I am never sure whether a note accompanying a document should be a 'compliment' slip or a 'complement' slip?

So here's a few commonly confused words.

compliment = to praise, a formal expression of civility or respect (e.g. compliments of the season) complement = to complete, go with (e.g. pepper and salt complement each other)

Both 'compliment/s' and 'complement/s' slips exist in Google, but I think, using the second meaning of 'compliment', I'll choose 'compliments' slip in future.

there = in that place
they're = short for 'they are'their = belonging to them

flammable = able to be set aflame
inflammable = able to be set aflame, easily excited or disturbed

According to the Macquarie Dictionary traditionally 'inflammable' meant likely to burn easily, but to avoid a false analogy with other words such as 'inactive' in which the 'in' means 'not', 'flammable' was adopted as the standard warning in labelling goods. The opposite is 'nonflammable'.

affect = influence (verb)
effect = result (noun); occasionally used as a verb meaning 'to bring about a result'.

dependent = relying on
dependant = someone who is reliant on financial or other support (e.g. a child)

bimonthly = occurring every two months or occurring twice a month. How confusing! I suggest you use clearer terms, such as 'fortnightly', 'every two months' or 'twice a month'.

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