Post by Fenris on Aug 7, 2007 12:47:23 GMT -5
I know a lot of you are guilty of this, but allow me to explain the grammatical jargon.
Homonym - a word of the same sound or spelling as another, but with a different meaning. E.G. watch (see), watch (clock)
Homophone - a word of the same sound as another, but with a different meaning. E.G. pair, pear.
accept/except [/color] - i would accept your excuse, except the part about losing the pen.
access/excess - The number of students who wanted access to the computer labs was in excess of two hundred.
affect/effect - What effect does this have on you? How does it affect you?
ascent/assent - When they got the assent of the weather bureau, they allowed the enormous balloon to begin its ascent.
bare/bear - The evil twin's plan had been laid bare, he had tricked them into going straight into the bear's cave.
bored/board - I was so bored at the Board of Trustees meeting that I fell asleep.
break/brake - He will break the car brake if he keeps pushing on it like that.
breath/breathe - Every breath counts, so breathe deeply now.
bridal/bridle - the entire bridal party took a long and pleasant walk along the bridle path.
choose/chose - I chose the red balloon. Now you choose a balloon of another colour.
cite/site/sight - She chose this site because of its view. The sight of the old house brought tears to her eyes. She would cite the passage from Genesis.
Note: It's Web site. In doing a research paper you might have to cite a Web site
clothes/cloths - His clothes were made of cloths of many different colours.
course/coarse - We used a coarse sandpaper, of course.
coarse is a texture, course is 'of course' or a course/route/direction to take.
conscious/conscience - she didn't seem conscious of the fact that her husband has no conscience.
compliment/complement - She complimented her sister on the way her scarf complemented her blouse.
diary/dairy - I kept a weekly diary during those years that I worked on the dairy farm.
dissent/descent/decent - Since no one offered any dissent, we waited a decent interval and then began our descent to the lower floors.
desert/dessert - any cool dessert would taste great out here in the sandy desert.
die/dye - She thought her dog would die after it drank that bowl of blue dye.
farther/further - I can run farther than you, but let's discuss that further after the race.
faze/phase - Nothing seemed to faze her as she went through the adolescent phase of her life.
formally/formerly - Formerly, we met formally to discuss these matters.
formerly is, at a time before. Formally is the opposite of informal/casual
forth/fourth - The soldiers of the fourth regiment bravely went forth.
hardy/hearty - they were certainly hardy lads and they worked up a hearty appetite on their twenty-mile hike
hoard/horde - The trouble with the economy is that hordes of people are starting to hoard their money.
hour/our/are - In less than an hour, the voters in our town are going to vote for us.
As for our and are, our is possessive, belonging to someone or a group of people.
its/it's - What is its color? It's green. It's been a long, long time.
Remember, it's means it is or it has! Use its to show possession.
later/latter - Both professors graded the latter part of the exam, but Dr. Pepin did it later.
lead/led - As he led his soldiers into battle, his feet seemed made of lead.
loath/loathe - I am loath to associate with people who loathe me.
lose/loose - My shoes are so loose that I'm going to lose them.
knew/new - I knew that your haircut was new.
know/now/no - Now that you know that no one is at home, walk right in.
past/passed - Whatever has passed us by is now in the past.
patience/patients - You must have patience in dealing with the patients in this clinic.
peace/piece - The period of peace between the two wars is an interesting piece of history.
peak/peek/pique - They climbed to the mountain peak to take a peek at the sunrise. They left in a pique because other climbers were already there.
pear/pair - The pair of children ate the pears in the park.
pheasant/peasant - The peasant was surprised when the king served him pheasant for dinner.
pore/pour - He was poring over his books when he accidently poured coffee all over his papers.
pray/prey - The hyenas seem to pray over their prey before devouring it.
principal/principle - The high school principal said today that the principal problem with today's youth is their lack of moral principles
quiet/quit/quite - We'll have to be quite quiet. Quit making noise!
reign/rein/rain - During the reign of Charles I, it was against the law to use a leather rein during the rain.
red/read - Yesterday she read from the red book instead of the blue one.
recent/resent - He knew that he would grow to resent the public's interest in his recent escapades.
right/rite/write - He had no right to write a new rite for the church.
role/roll - In his role as an absent-minded professor, Janina Delbartico called the roll of the wrong class.
seen/scene - We have seen the last scene of this play before.
sense/since - He doesn't seem to have much sense , since he fell on his head.
taunt/taught/taut - The critic would taunt his taut-lipped brother whenever he thought he had taught him a lesson.
their/there/they're - They're driving their new car over there this afternoon
Their is possessive, showing that something belongs to someone.
There shows location, that an object is over there, or there was a meeting.
They're is they are. such as they're going tomorrow.
through/thorough/threw - He threw a ball right through the neighbour's front window. The neighbour made a thorough report to the police.
to/too/two - In two hours, it's going to be too hot to go to town.
waist/waste - His waist continued to grow and grow, but no food was allowed to waste in his house!
weather/whether - I don't know whether we'll go or not. I think it depends on the weather.
were/we're/where - Where were you? We're over here.
Where shows location, position. Where is the food?
Were is like - we were going there anyway
We're means we are.
whole/hole - he ate the whole donut, hole and all.
whose/who's - Whose book is that? Who's there?
wrack/wreath/rack - visiting the reeking wrack and ruin of an old shipyard, we racked our brains trying to remember the author of "The Wreck of the Hesperus," which tells how an iceberg wreaked havoc on a ship.
your/you're - You're doing your own homework, I hope.
Your is possessive, showing ownership.
You're means you are.
Homonym - a word of the same sound or spelling as another, but with a different meaning. E.G. watch (see), watch (clock)
Homophone - a word of the same sound as another, but with a different meaning. E.G. pair, pear.
accept/except [/color] - i would accept your excuse, except the part about losing the pen.
access/excess - The number of students who wanted access to the computer labs was in excess of two hundred.
affect/effect - What effect does this have on you? How does it affect you?
ascent/assent - When they got the assent of the weather bureau, they allowed the enormous balloon to begin its ascent.
bare/bear - The evil twin's plan had been laid bare, he had tricked them into going straight into the bear's cave.
bored/board - I was so bored at the Board of Trustees meeting that I fell asleep.
break/brake - He will break the car brake if he keeps pushing on it like that.
breath/breathe - Every breath counts, so breathe deeply now.
bridal/bridle - the entire bridal party took a long and pleasant walk along the bridle path.
choose/chose - I chose the red balloon. Now you choose a balloon of another colour.
cite/site/sight - She chose this site because of its view. The sight of the old house brought tears to her eyes. She would cite the passage from Genesis.
Note: It's Web site. In doing a research paper you might have to cite a Web site
clothes/cloths - His clothes were made of cloths of many different colours.
course/coarse - We used a coarse sandpaper, of course.
coarse is a texture, course is 'of course' or a course/route/direction to take.
conscious/conscience - she didn't seem conscious of the fact that her husband has no conscience.
compliment/complement - She complimented her sister on the way her scarf complemented her blouse.
diary/dairy - I kept a weekly diary during those years that I worked on the dairy farm.
dissent/descent/decent - Since no one offered any dissent, we waited a decent interval and then began our descent to the lower floors.
desert/dessert - any cool dessert would taste great out here in the sandy desert.
die/dye - She thought her dog would die after it drank that bowl of blue dye.
farther/further - I can run farther than you, but let's discuss that further after the race.
faze/phase - Nothing seemed to faze her as she went through the adolescent phase of her life.
formally/formerly - Formerly, we met formally to discuss these matters.
formerly is, at a time before. Formally is the opposite of informal/casual
forth/fourth - The soldiers of the fourth regiment bravely went forth.
hardy/hearty - they were certainly hardy lads and they worked up a hearty appetite on their twenty-mile hike
hoard/horde - The trouble with the economy is that hordes of people are starting to hoard their money.
hour/our/are - In less than an hour, the voters in our town are going to vote for us.
As for our and are, our is possessive, belonging to someone or a group of people.
its/it's - What is its color? It's green. It's been a long, long time.
Remember, it's means it is or it has! Use its to show possession.
later/latter - Both professors graded the latter part of the exam, but Dr. Pepin did it later.
lead/led - As he led his soldiers into battle, his feet seemed made of lead.
loath/loathe - I am loath to associate with people who loathe me.
lose/loose - My shoes are so loose that I'm going to lose them.
knew/new - I knew that your haircut was new.
know/now/no - Now that you know that no one is at home, walk right in.
past/passed - Whatever has passed us by is now in the past.
patience/patients - You must have patience in dealing with the patients in this clinic.
peace/piece - The period of peace between the two wars is an interesting piece of history.
peak/peek/pique - They climbed to the mountain peak to take a peek at the sunrise. They left in a pique because other climbers were already there.
pear/pair - The pair of children ate the pears in the park.
pheasant/peasant - The peasant was surprised when the king served him pheasant for dinner.
pore/pour - He was poring over his books when he accidently poured coffee all over his papers.
pray/prey - The hyenas seem to pray over their prey before devouring it.
principal/principle - The high school principal said today that the principal problem with today's youth is their lack of moral principles
quiet/quit/quite - We'll have to be quite quiet. Quit making noise!
reign/rein/rain - During the reign of Charles I, it was against the law to use a leather rein during the rain.
red/read - Yesterday she read from the red book instead of the blue one.
recent/resent - He knew that he would grow to resent the public's interest in his recent escapades.
right/rite/write - He had no right to write a new rite for the church.
role/roll - In his role as an absent-minded professor, Janina Delbartico called the roll of the wrong class.
seen/scene - We have seen the last scene of this play before.
sense/since - He doesn't seem to have much sense , since he fell on his head.
taunt/taught/taut - The critic would taunt his taut-lipped brother whenever he thought he had taught him a lesson.
their/there/they're - They're driving their new car over there this afternoon
Their is possessive, showing that something belongs to someone.
There shows location, that an object is over there, or there was a meeting.
They're is they are. such as they're going tomorrow.
through/thorough/threw - He threw a ball right through the neighbour's front window. The neighbour made a thorough report to the police.
to/too/two - In two hours, it's going to be too hot to go to town.
waist/waste - His waist continued to grow and grow, but no food was allowed to waste in his house!
weather/whether - I don't know whether we'll go or not. I think it depends on the weather.
were/we're/where - Where were you? We're over here.
Where shows location, position. Where is the food?
Were is like - we were going there anyway
We're means we are.
whole/hole - he ate the whole donut, hole and all.
whose/who's - Whose book is that? Who's there?
wrack/wreath/rack - visiting the reeking wrack and ruin of an old shipyard, we racked our brains trying to remember the author of "The Wreck of the Hesperus," which tells how an iceberg wreaked havoc on a ship.
your/you're - You're doing your own homework, I hope.
Your is possessive, showing ownership.
You're means you are.
