Using Homophones Properly

I cannot tell you how many articles I have read where the writer was simply unaware of basic, elementary school grammar rules.  I have also lost count of how many bad articles I have had to fix; mostly due to confusion over a bunch of words that are spelled differently but sound exactly the same.

So, in interest of getting this writing tips section underway, as well as protecting my own sanity to a slight degree, I am going to review Junior High English.

There, Their, They’re

These three words sound alike but their usage is completely different.  I remember this being drilled into my head repeatedly yet I see them mixed up all the time:

There — This usage is for direction.  If I asked where something was, you would say “Over there”

Their — This usage is for group possession.  His car, her car, their cars…

They’re — This is the contraction version; They’re = They are.  They are going to the movies = They’re going to the movies.

Your, You’re

Of any misused synonym, this is the one that gets me the most.  Part of the reason for my OCD tendencies going crazy at the misuse is that it is SO commonly misused. In fact, it has been abused to the point where misuse has become acceptable in many types of writing. To clarify though, the PROPER usage is:

Your — Similar to their, it is used in a possessive manner.  “Your car is a POS.” for instance.

You’re — Again, a contraction and the source of all that is wrong in the world at the moment  You’re = You are.  You are going to buy me dinner, right?  = You’re (not your!!!) going to buy me dinner, right?

Whole and Hole

Thankfully, this one is not often mixed up and when it is, it gravitates towards whole and not hole.  The hilarity of wrong usage, however, makes this mixup a bit more fun than the others.

Whole –  The entire of something.  “I can’t believe I ate that whole cake!”

Hole — A physically missing portion of something.  “I can’t believe there is a hole in that cake”

Its, It’s

This is one that always gets confused as well.  Why?  I think because we are taught this really early on in our writing and then its dropped.  The fact that it actually breaks a rule of grammar in the process doesn’t help either.  To review:

It’s — Its is the contraction of It is.   It is important to remember = It’s important to remember

Its — It’s is the possessive version of it.  Yes, I know that possessives are supposed to have apostrophes in them.  That is why its so confusing!  The dog ate his food = the dog at its food.

To, Too, Two

I see confusion about To and Too all too often.  Thankfully two gets left out of the confusion for the most part.

Two — The number 2, written out.  Two is more than one.

Too — Describing more an excess.  That guy’s article had too many errors.

To — used as either a preposition or as an infinitive prior to a verb.  In other words, if you are describing an excess, use too, if you are writing out a number, use two.  Otherwise use the word to and you will be safe.