1. affect vs. effect

樣子長得像，意思略像，但常用詞性不一樣

affect: to do something that produces an effect or change in something or in someone's situation（多用作動詞）

effect: the way in which an event, action, or person changes someone or something（多用作名詞）

例句：This disease affects the central nervous system, but we don’t have any medicine that can have an effect on it.

（這種疾病會影響到中樞神經系統，但是我們并沒有藥品能對它起作用）

2. fellow vs. follow

這兩個單詞貌合神離，關鍵是有一個已經過時不常用了（old-fashioned）

fellow: people that you work with, study with, or who are in the same situation as you（伙伴的意思，但屬于過時單詞）

follow: to go, walk, drive etc behind or after someone else（跟隨的意思，比較常用）

例句：My little fellow is following me.

（我的“小伙伴”正跟著我走）

3. sharp vs. shape

一個有點危險，一個可能不那么危險，但也可以變得危險……

sharp: having a very thin edge or point that can cut things easily（鋒利的意思）

shape: the form that something has, for example round, square, triangular etc（形狀的意思）

例句：Be careful, the broken glass in the shape of triangle is very sharp.

（小心，三角形狀的碎玻璃很鋒利）

4. contract vs. contact

看著多了一個字母，意思差遠了，contact這個詞華生昨天才說過

contract: an official agreement between two or more people, stating what each will do（合同的意思）

contact: communication with a person, organization, country etc, or to write to or telephone someone（聯系的意思）

例句：If you want to agree this contract, just contact me.

（如果你同意簽署這個合同，打電話聯系我就行）

5. contend vs. content

前綴（prefix）一樣都是con，不過意思總歸是不同的

contend: to compete against someone in order to gain something（爭奪，奮斗的意思）

content: the things that are inside a box, bag, room（內容，目錄的意思）

例句：The content of this book is three kingdoms were contending for power.

（這本書的內容就是三個國家爭權奪利）

6. accent vs. ascent

容易看花眼，但是意思也很容易區別

accent: the way someone pronounces the words of a language, showing which country or which part of a country they come from（口音的意思）

ascent: the act of climbing something or moving upwards（攀登，升高的意思，名詞）

例句：A man said “three” with a Chinese accent, however, the elevator didn’t begin its ascent.

（一個人用中國口音說了“3”這個詞，然而電梯并沒有開始上升）

7. principal vs. principle

這兩個詞不僅看起來像，念起來更像，但意思不同要區別清楚

principal: most important, or the most important person in a school, college, business or organization（最主要的，負責人的意思）

principle: a moral rule or belief about what is right and wrong, that influences how you behave（原則的意思）

例句：As a school principal, it's against John’s principles to accept gifts from students’ parents.

（作為一個校長，從學生家長那里收受禮物是違反John的原則的）

8. adapt vs. adopt

他們倆看起來像，讀音略有不同，比較容易讀錯

adapt: to gradually change your behaviour and attitudes in order to be successful in a new situation（改變，適配的意思）

adopt: to take someone else's child into your home and legally become its parent（多用作收養的意思）

例句：Anne is an orphan, fortunately he is adopted by a rich family. But he needs to adapt to the new luxurious life.

（Anne是一個孤兒，幸運的是他被一個富裕的家庭收養了。但是他得適應闊綽的新生活）