Welcome to another Edit This® grammar lesson. In today's blog post, we will discuss Compliment vs. Complement and the differences between the two. I wrote a blog post about this five years ago but am revisiting the topic since I've seen a lot of confusion lately.
Compliment and Complement are examples of homophones – words that sound the same but have different meanings and spellings – and they trip more people up than you think.
So, let's dive right in, shall we?
Compliment with an "i" means a polite expression of praise, admiration, or respect.
* Thank you for the compliment.
* I complimented the waitress for her customer service.
* I'll take that as a compliment.
Complement with an "e" means to complete, add to something in a way that enhances or improves it, or to complete something lacking.
* Those two colors complement each other.
* That scarf complements her outfit.
* Our full complement of staff can serve all your needs.
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STEVE GAMEL is the President & Owner of Edit This, a writing and editing services company located in Denton, TX, and the author of Write Like You Mean It: Mastering Your Passion For The Written Word. Steve handles anything involving the written word. Give him a call today to help give your business a clear voice.