clipped from: www.askoxford.com 
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These are some of the pairs of words that are most often confused with each other.
adoptive with adopted: children are adopted, but parents are adoptive.
adverse, 'unfavourable, bad', with averse, which means 'strongly disliking or opposed to', as in I am not averse to helping out.
affect and effect: affect means 'make a difference to', whereas effect means 'a result' or 'bring about (a result)'.
ambiguous with ambivalent: ambiguous primarily means 'having more than one meaning, open to different interpretations', while ambivalent means 'having mixed feelings'.
amoral with immoral: amoral means 'not concerned with morality', while immoral means 'not conforming to accepted standards of morality'.
appraise with apprise: appraise means 'assess', while apprise means 'inform'.
augur, 'be a sign of (a likely outcome)', with auger (a tool used for boring).
censure with censor: censure means 'express strong disapproval of', whereas censor means 'suppress unacceptable parts of (a book, film, etc.)'.
climactic, 'forming a climax', with climatic, which means 'relating to climate'.
complacent, 'smug and self-satisfied', with complaisant, which means 'willing to please'.
complement, 'a thing that enhances something by contributing extra features', with compliment, which means 'an expression of praise' or 'politely congratulate'.
continuous and continual: continuous primarily means 'without interruption', and can refer to space as well as time, as in the cliffs form a continuous line along the coast; continual, on the other hand, typically means 'happening frequently, with intervals between', as in the bus service has been disrupted by continual breakdowns.
council, an administrative or advisory body, with counsel, advice or guidance.
