324 THE FACTS ON FILE GUIDE TO GOOD WRITING sped/speeded These two words are both valid past forms of the verb speed but are applied slightly differently. Sped is the past tense and past participle of the verb and is interpreted as meaning “go quickly” (sped downhill), whereas speeded means “go too quickly” (fined after he speeded on the highway) or is employed as the past form of the phrasal verb speed up: The runner speeded up as she approached the finish line. stair/stare These two words are pronounced identically but have different meanings. Stair is a noun meaning “one of a series of steps” (trip on the stair), while stare is a noun and verb meaning “look hard” (stare in amazement; give a distant stare). stank/stunk These two words are both legitimate past tenses of the verb stink but are not always interchangeable. Stank and stunk may be replaced by each other as past tenses of the verb: The water stank. The house stunk of gas. Stunk, however, cannot be replaced by stank as the past participle of stink: The drains have stunk since the pipe was installed. stare/stair
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STAIR/STARE.
stationary/stationery The words stationary and stationery are similar in appearance but unrelated in meaning. Stationary is an adjective meaning “motionless” or “standing” (a stationary vehicle), whereas stationery is a noun referring to “writing materials” (a note written on monogrammed stationery). stationery/stationary
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STATIONARY/STATIONERY.
steal/steel These two words share the same pronunciation but mean different things. Steal is a verb meaning “take illegally” or “move unobtrusively” (steal money from your employer; steal through the undergrowth), whereas steel is a noun meaning “iron alloy” (a girder made of steel). steel/steal steppe/step
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STEAL/STEEL.
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STEP/STEPPE.
step/steppe These two nouns mean different things. Step has a number of meanings, including “footstep,” “tread,” “stride,” or “stage in an undertaking” (hear a step outside, a flight of steps, a halting step, the next step in the project). Steppe is a more specialized noun referring to a “vast treeless plain,” typical of those of southeastern Europe and Asia (the snow-covered steppe).