ESEN
Which one to use?Intermediateverb / nounnoun
KnitvsNit
'Knit' means to make fabric with needles or to join closely; 'nit' is a louse egg, or the act of pointing out minor faults.
Side-by-side comparison
Knit
verb / noun"Knit" is to make fabric or garments by interlocking yarn with needles. Also "knit your brows" = furrow your brow. Bones "knit" as they heal after a fracture.
She knitted a pair of warm socks for her daughter to wear during the winter.
The community was tightly knit, everyone knew their neighbours by name.
He knitted his brows as he studied the contradictory figures in the report.
Nit
noun"Nit" is the egg of a louse, attached to a hair shaft. That is where "nit-picking" comes from: finding and pointing out very minor faults excessively.
The school nurse checked every child for nits at the start of each term.
Stop nitpicking every sentence, focus on the overall quality of the argument.
A nit comb is used to remove lice eggs from the hair shaft after treatment.
Common mistake
"She knit-picked the document" when meaning fault-finding is wrong (correct: nit-picked). And "she nits her brows" when meaning furrows is wrong (correct: knits). The silent K in "knit" causes the confusion.
Trick to remember it
- •"Knit" has a silent K like "know", "knock", "kneel": always the weaving verb.
- •"Nit" has no K: small and simple, like the louse egg or a minor fault.
Quick rule
- •Is it the weaving or joining verb? "Knit" (silent K).
- •Is it the louse egg or the fault-finding word? "Nit".
Did you know?
The pattern of initial silent K in English (knit, knock, know, knee, knife, knight, kneel, knot, knave) comes from Old English, where the K was pronounced: "cnittan" (to knit), "cnawan" (to know), "cneo" (knee). The K stopped being pronounced in the transition to Early Modern English (16th-17th centuries), but the spelling stayed, a "phonetic fossil" that confuses all learners today. In German, a cousin language of English, these words still have the K pronounced: "Knie" (knee, pronounced K-nee), "Knoten" (knot, K-noten). Same Germanic root, but German kept the pronunciation that English lost.
Practise what you learned
Exercise 1 · Pick the right one
She loves to _____ in the evenings. She has made three jumpers this winter.
Exercise 2 · Pick the right one
The school nurse sent a letter home warning parents about head _____s.
Exercise 3 · Form the word
Related word pairs
AcceptvsExcept
One means to receive or agree to something, the other means to exclude or not include.
AdvicevsAdvise
'Advice' is the guidance you receive (noun); 'advise' is the act of giving that guidance (verb).
AffectvsEffect
'Affect' is the verb meaning to influence something; 'effect' is the noun meaning result or consequence.
AislevsIsle
'Aisle' is the walkway between rows of seats or shelves; 'isle' is a small island.
Bryan López
Founder of SpeakUP Academy