Commonly Confused Words in English Part I by Himmet Caner Kara

1. allude/elude

The Galatica by Eratosthenes were probably written after 156 B.C., because they allude to a war between Attalus II and Prusias.

 The rebels were captured. Three of them were hung. The fourth managed to elude his pursuers by escaping into a bog where no horse could follow.

Allude means to refer to something while elude means to be able to escape.

2. amoral/immoral

 By contrast with the press, the stock market is, as always, utterly amoral. Its business is not to right wrongs, but to make Money.

 Her simple carrying out of the deed is immoral and dishonest. She takes away everything that means anything to him.

If someone is amoral, it means they are neither moral or immoral, thus they don’t have ethics.

To be immoral is the opposite of being moral.

3. adverse/averse

We must accept that a freedom to act in the face of at least some adverse social outcomes is entailed.

I was particularly averse to the idea of marrying my mother. 

Adverse means unfavourable while averse is to be unwilling to.

4. all together/altogether

Do you remember what we did last week? We did it all together.

His arm was hanging limply and I feared he might have lost it altogether. 

 All together means doing something with a group in which every member is included while altogether means completely.

5. born/borne

Their love grew stronger by the day and then Maisie was born, a healthy, bonny baby. 

That I think is something that perhaps also needs to be borne in mind.

When our mothers give birth to us, we are born.

Borne is the past participle of to bear which means to keep something in mind.

 6.burglary/robbery

If you are the victim of a burglary, the value of the property that has been stolen might be large or small.

He was held not guilty of robbery because the threats were not made in order to take the money. 

 According to the Free Dictionary, burglary means breaking and entering a building with intent to steal while robbery is taking the property of a person in their presence by violation or intimidation.

7.childish/childlike

Let's play our childish games since we are children

The Marshal always used to think he looked childlike, being so small, but now he was a little old man.

We use childish to define someone or thing which is immature or suitable for a child. It has a negative connotation. 

Childlike, the word itself gives its meaning, is someone whose appearance or character is like a child. It does not have a negative connotation like childish.

 8.classic/classical

It also regularly featured in the classic TV series.

We've got 2 classical music concerts, for instance, the Johannis Piano Trio.

Classic is used to define something standard while classical is a music genre.

9.complimentary/complementary

It should be mainly composed of vegetables or greens dressed with a complimentary sauce.

We don't need to compete like that. The styles and roles can be complementary.

Something given at no charge is called complimentary.

We use complementary define at least two things completing each other.

 10.egoism/egotism

 A consistent egoism quite unsullied by altruism is a philosophical abstraction. 

 I forget which, there were always so many -- made a reference to the malign effect on man of too much solitude, he called it a false counsellor who nurses at her breasts the twin infants of Egotism and Vanity.

Egoism is the opposite of altruism.

According to the Free Dictionary, egotism means an inflated sense of self-importance.

Note: Example sentences were taken from British National Corpus.