Spellcheck won’t catch ‘em, your ear won’t catch ‘em, but your editor sure will. I’m referring to homophones, words that sound alike or similar but have different meanings. The subject arose yesterday when a friend of mine referred to our chapter’s profits from the bizarre. Fatigue clouded her brain. Of course, she knew better and meant bazaar, but it’s an easy mistake to make.Thank God we don’t edit each other’s e-mails because I’m guilty of homophones myself, such as reign when I mean rein or peek when I mean pique. I may call myself Grammar Guru but without proofreading, I’m Grammar Goofy.
Here are the most common ones. Can you differentiate these words that sound alike?
too, to, two
seam, seem
hem, him
hear, here
your, you’re
forth, fourth
for, four, fore
led, lead
need, knead
their, they’re, there
its, it’s
bridle, bridal
peek, peak, pique
tents, tense
cents, sense, since
sheik, chic
stationery, stationary
capital, capitol
rain, rein, reign
affect, effect
accept, except
sheer, shear
die, dye
lie, lye
peal, peel
aloud, allowed
banned, band
passed, past
doe, dough
deer, dear
rapt, wrappedAre there others not on this list that have confused you in your writing? Come on, share with Cher!
My favorite is pair/pear/pare.
How about ‘could’ve’ vs ‘could of’? I have found ‘could of’ and ‘should of’ used in a few books and have to wonder how they got missed. Those drive me NUTS!
Punctuation Man announces endorsement of Serial Comma!
http://www.nationalpunctuationday.com/serialcomma.html
Bravo, Punctuation Man!
bear/bare
bogie/bogey
main/mane
hair/hare
pare/pair
fare/fair
maid/made
mettle/metal
aid/aide
sight/cite
mite/might
caught/cot
find/fiend
brake/break
hold/holed
laws/loss
claws/clause
pause/pass/paws
sent/scent/cent
ice/eyes
not/naught
sects/sex
Principal/principle
discreet/discrete
[...] Those Pesky Homophones. This post provides a list of commonly confused homophones that will certainly slip past the spellcheck. [...]
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