Commonly Confused Words

Waive vs. Wave

1 min read

Waive and wave sound exactly the same, but their meanings couldn’t be more different. One is about giving something up, and the other is about movement or the ocean — easy to mix up if you're not careful!

Waive

Waive means to give up a right, claim, rule, or requirement. You “waive” something when you decide it won't apply.

The bank agreed to waive the fees.
You can waive your right to a lawyer.
They waived the registration requirement this year.

Wave

Wave has two common meanings: moving your hand back and forth, or the large moving water you see at the beach.

She waved at me from across the street.
The waves were huge during the storm.
He gave a quick wave before leaving.

💡 Tip

Wave = hand movement or ocean → imagine a hand “waving like a wave.”
Waive = to give something up → contains “ai” like in “claim,” which you might choose to waive.

Test your knowledge 📝

Question 1 sur 8Score: 0/8

The company agreed to ___ the late payment charge.

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Commonly Confused Words

Waive vs. Wave

1 min read

Waive

Waive means to give up a right, claim, rule, or requirement. You “waive” something when you decide it won't apply.

The bank agreed to waive the fees.
You can waive your right to a lawyer.
They waived the registration requirement this year.

Wave

Wave has two common meanings: moving your hand back and forth, or the large moving water you see at the beach.

She waved at me from across the street.
The waves were huge during the storm.
He gave a quick wave before leaving.

💡 Tip

Wave = hand movement or ocean → imagine a hand “waving like a wave.”
Waive = to give something up → contains “ai” like in “claim,” which you might choose to waive.

Test your knowledge 📝

Question 1 sur 8Score: 0/8

The company agreed to ___ the late payment charge.

Discover the app: Shaky English

Join 100,000 people who are improving their English skills on the Shaky English app

Other similar rules

Common mistakes

Present Perfect vs. Past Simple

Conjugation

What is a Preposition?

A preposition is a small word that shows a relationship between other words in a sentence. It often describes direction, location, time, or introduces an object. Common Functions of Prepositions...

Common confusions

Less vs. Fewer

A bit of theory

Farther vs. Further

Common mistakes

Stop / Remember / Forget / Try + gerund vs. infinitive

Some verbs can be followed by either -ing (gerund) or to + verb (infinitive), but the meaning changes. The most important ones at B2/C1 level are stop, remember, forget, and try. 1. Stop Stop + -...

Conjugation

Much vs. Many

Common mistakes

Since vs. For

A bit of theory