Posts Tagged ‘compliment’

To complement a compliment…

Monday, June 2nd, 2008

Did you know that compliment is not the same as complement? They actually have quite different meanings so using the wrong word can make a reasonable sentence into nonsense!

compliment – expression of praise, greeting, positive comments
She complimented the floral arrangement on the table.

complement – to complete or make a whole
The new couch complements the room nicely.

Can you see how complete complementary things are as a reminder for which spelling to use?