the english language has a large group of words that sound alike or look alike. words like decent and descent look and sound similar, but they have very different meanings. decent means suitable or proper while descent means going down, falling, or sinking. if you use the wrong word in a sentence you create an unintended meaning for your sentence that will confuse and often amuse your reader. the confusion and amusement will take away from the effectiveness of your writing. it is important to learn which word in a sound alike/look alike pair is the one you need.