Transcript Commonly Confused Words

Commonly Confused Words
Introduction
In the English language there are some words that
are spelled differently but sound exactly the same,
and there are some words that are spelled the
same but are pronounced differently. Then, there
are those words that do not share the same
spelling or pronunciation but are often confused.
These are your commonly confused words.
Introduction
• Homonyms
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Its / It’s
Your / You’re
To / Two / Too
Whose/Who’s
There / Their / They’re
• Confusables
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Where / Were/Wear
This / These
Everyday / Every day
Then / Than
Except/Accept
Its and It’s
• This is one of the most troublesome pairs
because the possessive pronoun ITS does not
carry an apostrophe as in: The cat’s claws.
▫ Since this is a possessive pronoun, it may help to
think of the S in ITS as already belonging to the
word.
• The apostrophe is used in the contraction IT’S
(short for it is).
It’s common for the cat to lick its claws.
Your and You’re
Again, this is a case of a possessive pronoun and
a contraction.
• YOUR shows that something belongs to you.
• YOU’RE is short for You are.
You’re wasting your time with this project.
To, Too, and Two
• TO
▫ preposition
 Walk to the car (toward)
▫ infinitive indicator
 To skate
• TOO can mean also or indicate degree
• TWO is the number following one
The two girls wanted to go to the skating rink
too, but it was too late.
Who’s and Whose
• WHO’S
▫ always means “who is” or “who has”
 Who’s your date for the dance?
 Who’s got my car keys?
• WHOSE
▫ Possessive pronoun: something that belongs to
“who”
 Whose dirty socks are on the floor?
Their , They’re, and There
• THEIR: (possessive pronoun) belonging to
them
• THEY’RE: (contraction) They are
• THERE: (adverb) At or in that place
(primary def.)
They’re leaving their tired dog over there.
Where, Were, and Wear
Similarity in spelling and improper
pronunciation often cause these to be used
incorrectly.
• WHERE : (pronounced w+air or hw+air)
at or in what place.
• WERE : (pronounced wur) past tense of
are
• WEAR: (pronounced w+air)
Where were you hiding?
A Little Trick
HERE
T HERE
W HERE
Think here
If you confuse There / Their, Where / Were and
Here/Hear – Remember that the words that have to do
with place have the word HERE in them.
Then and Than
• Than is a conjunction used in comparisons
• Then is an adverb denoting time.
Bob noticed that some
mice were much bigger
than others. Then, he
realized they weren’t mice
at all!
Except and Accept
▫ Except: is a preposition meaning “but” or “leaving
out.” It can also be a verb to mean “to leave out”
▫ Accept: means “to receive”
An easy way to remember the difference is that the
“x” eliminates.
Review: Remember the Difference?
• Homonyms
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Its / It’s
Your / You’re
To / Two / Too
Whose/Who’s
There / Their / They’re
• Confusables
▫
▫
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Where / Were/Wear
This / These
Then / Than
Except/Accept