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stormsinmidsummer — Tips on Avoiding Word Confusion
Published: 2013-03-19 21:11:18 +0000 UTC; Views: 1338; Favourites: 29; Downloads: 0
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Word confusion. You’re and your. To, two, and too. Their, they’re, and there. Effect and affect. Its and it’s. Then and than. Who’s and whose. Get the point? Good. Now learn the difference between these words.You’re and your.
You’re is a contraction, meaning that humans, being lazy like we are, decided to make two words into one. You’re and you are mean the same thing. Your is possessive, meaning it shows ownership. Replace you’re with you are, then read the sentence again. If it doesn’t make sense, you’re probably looking for your. (Hey, look, a proper use of you’re.) If you’re owning something like your ego or your grammar, use your. (Look! My tips double as examples.)
To, two, and too.
Two is a number. Are you talking in terms of numbers? Did she have two slices of cake? Did he pick up two hookers? In other words, you can replace two with 2 (only, not really, because you’re suppose to type out all numbers below ten, at least).
Too means also or excessively. “We’re going, too” means the same as “we’re going also.” He ate too much, and he ate excessively. The extra “O” is how I remember this. There were extra people going. He ate extra food.
If two or too doesn’t work, use to. I don’t have any tips, but here, have some example sentences: He was talking to me. She’s going to the library. I was close to laughing at your grammar. The fund jumped from $1,000 to $3,000.
They’re, their, and there.
They’re is like you’re. It’s the lazy way to write they are. The same tip applies, replace they’re with they are and see if it makes any sense. If it doesn’t, look at there and their.
Their is like your. It’s possessive. It shows ownership. It was their truck that crashed.
There could be a place: We’re going over there. It could be a specific point: She stopped there when she was reading. There has a lot of uses, a lot like to. If their and they’re don’t work, there is probably the right word. If it makes you feel better, Google the definition. It will list them all out for you.
Effect and affect.
Effect is usually a noun. Affect is usually a verb. Simple, right? I didn’t understand this for years because grammar books over explained it. Want some examples? Listening to “Stupid Hoe” affected my IQ. Listening to “Stupid Hoe” had an effect on my IQ.
It’s and its.
It’s is another contraction. It is another contraction (see what I did there?). Its is possessive. It shows ownership. It’s a good book. The book isn’t owning good, so you wouldn’t use its. Its characters are both realistic and interesting. The characters are, however, the book’s, so you wouldn’t say it is characters.
Then and than.
I think about then in a timeline. It comes after something. Madison took Josie to dinner, then to a movie. He took Josie to a movie after he took her to dinner. If you’re getting Fs, then study more. You’re studying more after you got that F. (Of course, I suggest you study before you get that F.)
Than is a comparison, usually one is better or worse than the other. (Oh, look, my tips are trying to be examples again.) Addison is better in school than Madison. Madison is worse in school than Addison. Although I find both flavors of chips disgusting, I find barbeque more so than salt and vinegar. Right now, you probably want to read someone else’s rant on grammar more than you want to read mine.
Who’s and whose.
Who’s. Are you getting ready for my spew on how it shows ownership? If you just answered yes, well, this is why I’m here. Who’s is a contraction, another example of laziness. Who’s that girl on his arm? You can replace who’s with who is.
Whose is possessive. It shows ownership. Whose phone is this? Translation: Who does this phone belong to?
Alot and a lot.
Here’s an easy one. Alot is not a word. It does not exist. If you have a bunch of something, you do not have alot of it. You have a lot of it. If it’s a great deal like something, it isn’t alot like something. It’s a lot like something.
Alright and all right.
Alright is like alot, it doesn’t really exist; however, it is getting more widely accepted as meaning the same thing as all right. Alright is another example of laziness, this time to save you some typing by removing an extra letter and a space. My tip is to know who you're writing for. If you’re writing a formal essay for a nit picking teacher, you should avoid alright. If you’re writing a formal letter to someone who cares about grammar (someone like me), you should avoid alright. If you’re writing for NaNoWriMo and want to cheat your word count, avoid alright. If you’re writing for yourself or for people who don’t care, alright is all right.
Already and all ready.
If you’re all ready, you're completely prepared. If you’re all ready to move out, you have remembered to pack the toilet paper. Already is something that has happened prior to a specific time. If you’re all ready to move out, you already remembered to pack the toilet paper. You packed it before it was time to leave.
A question to ask is if you can separate all from ready. I like to do that by asking questions. If they make sense, use all ready, if not, use already. Is all the toilet paper ready to go? The toilet paper is all ready. Did you all pack the toilet paper ready? That doesn’t make any sense. You already packed the toilet paper.
Altogether and all together.
Altogether is with all things considered. Altogether, I’m more talented than you. That statement took all our achievements and considered them. So altogether, you have less talent than I do.
All together is collective. They had us in one place; they had us all together.
For the tip, refer back to already and all ready. Can you separate all and together? Did they have all of us together? Am I all more talented together?
Right, write, wright, and rite.
I honestly don’t see confusion of these words that often, but it won’t hurt you to be reminded of the definitions.
Right could be a direction. He went right. It could be a side. The pain was more intense on his right side. It could be correct (relating to either facts or morals). He was right when he said the sky was blue. Jayden told Martha the truth because it was the right thing to do.
When you write, you’re composing something out of words. I am writing this long rant that no one will want to read. Writing could also be the act of putting words or numbers onto paper (or anything, really, on a whiteboard, in the dirt, on your hand, etc.). He was told to write down the math notes.
A wright is a skilled worker or creator. A playwright creates plays. A shipwright creates ships. Shakespeare may be the best known playwright.
A rite is a ceremony, usually associated with change. A marriage is a rite. A baptism is a rite. Making the football team was a rite of passage for the boys of the small, southern town.
Desert and dessert.
Desert means 'arid land' or 'to abandon.’ A desert is a land that supports little or no vegetation. Despite popular belief, a desert doesn’t have to be hot and covered in sand (the Sahara), but can be frigid and covered in ice (Antarctica).
To desert is to abandon or leave something. He deserted the army; he was an army deserter. The mother abandoned her child during the famine; she deserted her children.
Few people like deserters, but I don’t know many people who dislike dessert. Dessert is a sweet treat that usually comes after meals. A good trick is to remember you want more dessert (thus, more Ss) than you want deserters (thus, less Ss).
Who and whom.
I have a whole page in my notebook dedicated to who and whom because they’re confusing. If anyone has a meltdown because you used who instead of whom, well, I say they are just arrogant fools. Who and whom are hard. But I’m here to try to make things easier.
Who is a subject. Whom is an object. Honestly, that doesn’t make it easier at all.
Who would be he or she. Who got the job? He got the job. Who cheated on him? She cheated on him.
Whom would be him or her. They gave the job to whom? They gave the job to her. Who cheated on whom? She cheated on him.
Principal and principle.
Principal can be an adjective meaning “most important.” The principal part of going to school is to learn. The principal ingredient in her cookies is love.
It can also be a noun for someone who has authority. By definition, it can be over any organization, but I have never heard it used for anything other than someone who heads a school. I had a principal for both elementary and middle school. (Remember, the title for the head of a school will vary by school. The high school I attended has a dean, but Hogwarts has a headmaster.)
Principle is a fundamental truth. The principle of gravity, for instance. It can also be a basic belief. The principles of Christianity may be debated, but they still form the basic framework for the religion. It can also be morals. By principle, Pastor Merryweather didn’t drink. In rebellion to his principles, his daughter, Pauline-Angelina, went and got herself wasted and laid.
By principle, I would never attack a religion.
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Comments: 15
Thankyou so much for this! It annoys the furry daylights out of me when I see people make these sort of mistakes.
But I guess I have to forgive them; I, too, make some silly mistakes like these, and we're only human.
But I'd also like to suggest for you to maybe add practice and practise? I used to find them hard to differ, but then I delved deeper into the separate meaning of each 
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Furry daylights... Makes me think of the sun in a fur coat. x)
Sometimes these mistakes come from the fact they are just not taught it. I was never taught the difference between then and than until I noticed my friend misspelling then with an a and had to look up why.
I didn't even know there was a difference. Or that practise was a word. And google is telling me that it is spelled wrong. I'll look into it.
...
And the reason why is because in the US there is no distinction. Practice acts as both noun and verb. Ah. American English.
I'll add it anyways, for non-American readers.
Thank you for pointing this out. It is always interesting to learn new things.
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Haha x)
And it's all good!~ I'm sorry if it made you a bit confused at first
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I wish I could teach all this to my husband to remember when he is texting me! At least I got him to use "too" instead of "2" like most people these days. It's a start, right?
Anyway, this is an excellent way to get this info out!
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I'll add them when I include who and whom.
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>.> "If their are any words you think I should add..."
Was that intentional?
Also...
"If it makes you feel better, Google there definition."
Are you saying to Google "there definition" or did you mean Google their definitions?...
Just curious.
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Typos, and great examples on why we should take more than a minute or two to proof read.
Thank you for pointing those out.
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You're welcome. ^.^
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Oh, yeah--and this made me giggle. So much. Very helpful--I think there are a lot of people out there who should read this ASAP.
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