Spelling: Words Frequently Confused

Need a brief review of parts of speech? It might help with some of the terms below.

How come bear and bare sound alike but are spelled differently? How come English has pair and pare and pear? A pair is two of anything; to pare is to peel something; a pear is a yellow fruit with big hips. Welcome to a historical language! One reason why English can sometimes make spelling difficult is that we have a lot of homonyms. Homonyms are words that sound alike but are spelled differently.

Not all frequently misspelled words are homonyms. But they usually sound similar. For example, witch and which are frequently confused. But they are not homonyms, because the "wh" sound is English is technically "aspirated"; that is, you blow air through your lips. So which is pronounced "h . . . wich." Nevertheless, these two words are often confused, and sometimes you just have to memorize the differences.

Affect and Effect

     Affect is a verb and means to have an influence on something. "The hero's death affected me deeply."
     Effect is a noun and is the influence something has. "The major effect of this disease is to impair an entire ecosystem."
These are not generally homonyms.

Are and Our

These are not homonyms. Are is pronounced: R. Our is a homonym of hour.
     Are is a verb. It's the first-person plural (we) form of the verb "to be." "We are going on vacation in May."
     Our is possessive. "We want our lunch now."

Have and Of

Have you ever said: "If I had studied harder, I would've passed the test"? How do you pronounce 've? A lot of people think that little syllable is of, but it's not. It's the contraction for have, the auxiliary verb for the past tense. That's why we have this entry for have and of, which don't normally sound similar.
     Have is a verb. "I have three cats."
     Of is a preposition. "The handle of that pitcher is broken." (The verb here is is.)
     Of is never an auxiliary verb; have often is. "I would have gone to the store if you hadn't gone already."
Have and of are not homonyms.

It's and Its

These are homonyms.
     It's is ALWAYS a contraction for it is. Its is the possessive form for the pronoun "it." (Its' is NEVER correct.)
     The possessive form for personal pronouns in English never takes an apostrophe, so we have hers, his, its, theirs, yours, ours, whose, NOT her's, it's, their's, your's, our's, who's.

Know and No

     Know is a verb. It means to understand something (or not). "I don't know how to do this calculus problem."
     No is a negation, as in "There is no way I'll take Calculus at 8 a.m." It can also be an interjection or exclamation. If someone asks you if you want anchovies on your sundae, you say "No!"
These are homonyms.

Lead and Led

These are sometimes homonyms and sometimes not.
     Lead can be a verb; it means to go before something else and show the way. "Could you lead me to the registrar's office?"
But it rhymes with led when it's a noun, which it is when it refers to the metal. "Hey! Get the lead out!" or "The lead in my pencil just broke."
     Led is the past participle of the verb to lead. "She led me to the registrar's office, where I registered for my classes."

Lose and Loose

These are not homonyms. Lose rhymes with choose; loose rhymes with goose.
     Lose is a verb; it means to misplace something. "You'd lose your head if it weren't attached."
     Loose is an adjective. It means that something is not fastened tightly. "That bolt is loose and will soon fall out."

Quiet and Quite and Quit

     Quit is a verb; it means to give up or stop. "Don't quit now! You're just starting to get good."
     Quiet is an adjective; it means "not loud." "You guys are so quiet, you must be up to no good."
     Quite is an adverb; it means rather. "You've been practicing so steadily that you're getting quite good."
These are not homonyms.

Than and Then

These are NOT homonyms.
     Than is a comparative: bigger than, smaller than, faster than, slower than . . .
     Then refers to time. "Back then children regularly did chores."
     Then also shows up in logical if/then statements: "If you clean your room, then you can have dessert."

They're and Their and There

     They're is a contraction for they are. "They're going to catch it when they get home."
     Their is the possessive form for they. "They came and found their dog at the pound."
     There is an adverb of location, as is here. "Set your suitcase either here or there."
Their and there are homonyms.

To and Two and Too

These are all homonyms.
     To is a preposition, and it's in all English infinitives. "I have to go to the store to get milk."
     Two is a number. "There are two tests in this chapter." You can hear the "w" in forms like "twice" and "twain," which also refer to 2.
     Too is an adverb; it is a synonym for also. "I want to come too." It can also mean "excessively." "You kids are playing that music too loud."

Weather and Whether

     Weather is what's happening up in the sky. "What's the weather going to be tomorrow?"
     Whether is aspirated and is a conditional: "Whether it rains or not tomorrow is completely dependent on the air pressure and cloud patterns."

Were and Where and Wear

These are NOT homonyms.
     Were is the past tense of the verb to be. "My favorite bracelet disappeared while you were here."
     Where is an adverb of location. "Where is the nearest bank?"
     Wear is a verb and refers to clothing. "What will you wear to the party?"
It can also be abstract, as in "Do you see the expression she's wearing on her face?"

Who's and Whose

These are homonyms.
     Who's is a contraction of who is. "Who's that girl over there? She just spilled beer all over the keyboard."
     Whose is the possessive form of who. "Whose keyboard is it, anyway?"

Woman and Women

These are NOT homonyms.
Woman refers to one female adult; women refers to two or more female adults.

Your and You're

Your is pronounced "yore." You're is pronounced "yoor." These are not homonyms.
     Your is possessive. "I have your recommendation right here."
     You're is a contraction for you are. "You're going to be a great skater."