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'Sight' is the sense of vision or something seen; 'site' is a specific location or place (including a website).
Side-by-side comparison
"Sight" is the ability to see or something worth seeing. "What a sight!" = what a spectacle! "Catch sight of" = to spot or notice something. "Out of sight" = not visible.
The sight of the mountains at dawn took everyone's breath away after the long drive up.
She lost sight of him in the crowd and spent twenty minutes searching the entire venue.
The old cathedral was a magnificent sight, even in its partially ruined state.
"Site" is a specific place or location where something happens or exists. "Construction site" = a building in progress. "Heritage site" = a protected historical location. "Website" = a location on the internet.
The construction site was fenced off to protect pedestrians from falling debris.
Archaeologists discovered a Roman burial site beneath the car park during the renovation works.
The company relaunched its website after the old site failed to load properly on mobile devices.
Common mistake
- •The trio: "cite" (reference a source), "sight" (vision/something seen), "site" (location).
- •Common errors: "The building sight" (correct: site), "A beautiful site to behold" (correct: sight), "She sited the bird through binoculars" (correct: sighted).
Trick to remember it
- •"Sight" has silent GH like "light" and "night". Old English words related to seeing.
- •"Site" is lean, no extra letters, a clean location marker.
- •"Cite" starts with C like "Citation", always about referencing a source.
Quick rule
Is it vision or something seen? "Sight." Is it a location or website? "Site." Is it to reference a source? "Cite."
Did you know?
The three homophones SIGHT/SITE/CITE have completely different origins. SIGHT comes from Old English "siht" (vision, act of seeing). The use of SITE for "website" dates from around 1994 and became one of the fastest-spreading new meanings in the history of English.
Practise what you learned
Exercise 1 · Pick the right one
The workers cleared the building _____ before construction could begin.
Exercise 2 · Pick the right one
The Eiffel Tower is one of the most popular tourist _____ s in the world.
Exercise 3 · Form the word
Related word pairs
'Cite' means to quote or reference a source; 'site' is a physical location or a website.
One means to receive or agree to something, the other means to exclude or not include.
'Advice' is the guidance you receive (noun); 'advise' is the act of giving that guidance (verb).
'Affect' is the verb meaning to influence something; 'effect' is the noun meaning result or consequence.
Bryan López
Founder of SpeakUP Academy