Ok, we know you’ve got a problem; a writing problem. Consider this an official intervention, All of your family and friends are here to support you, to help you overcome this semantic plague. We know you can kick this insidious infliction of mixing up your homophones.
Homophones are those pesky words that sound exactly like each other but with differing spellings. In this second instalment of the Title Case Content writing series, we’ll deep dive into the 3 most commonly confused homophones. I’m talking to YOU there and their!. Let’s begin. 1. They’re in there with their big grins By far the most erroneously used homophones in the English language are there, their and they’re. Why linguists had to create three words sounding exactly the same but all with separate meanings is the greatest neological conundrum of all time. So here’s the breakdown. They’re. The obvious thing to note in this form of the homophone is the apostrophe. An apostrophe is always used to turn two words into one word by omitting one letter and replacing it with the apostrophe. It’s called a contraction. In the word they’re the apostrophe is replacing the letter ‘a’ which would make up the two words they are. So, if you are about to write, ‘I’m envious of they’re car’, test your use of the word by lengthening into its longer form, and re-read your sentence. ‘I’m envious of they are car’ makes no sense at all, does it? There. Used in a couple of ways, this form of the homophone determines location, as in the opposite of here, but is also used as a pronoun to introduce a word or phrase, as in ‘There are so many ways to screw up the English language’. Confusion is most commonly caused between ‘there’ and ‘their’, especially when an ‘s’ is added to them, as in the examples below: a: Incorrect: Theirs a unique way of looking at things. b: Incorrect: The unique perspective is all there’s. a: Correct: There’s (there is) a unique way of looking at things. b: Correct: The unique perspective is all theirs. Their(s). As the examples above reveal, ‘their’ is used to indicate possession of something to a third-person party, as in ‘Their perspective is unique.’ It never takes an apostrophe like its cousin ‘there’, so if you’re ever tempted to use one, don’t! 2. Knowing your shit, not you’re shit ‘Your’ and ‘you’re’ are the second most misused homophones and are usually used due to laziness. In order to extrapolate the difference between ‘your’ and ‘you’re’ we only need to refer back to our old friends the apostrophe and possession. You’re. Again, when expanding this abbreviation into its full form, we’re left with the words, ‘you are’ which is the second-person form of the verb ‘to be’. Considering this fact, ‘you’re’ should always precede descriptive words or phrases about the person to whom you are referring. For example: ‘You’re a brilliant writer.’ ‘You’re able to create masterpieces.’ Not: ‘Your a brilliant writer.’ ‘Your able to create masterpieces.’ Spreading out an apostrophised word into its two parts will always show you the way to successful word choice. Your. This second-person possessive word refers to ownership of something that you—not I, not he or she—has. If you were to incorrectly use ‘you’re’ in this context, it would sound very confusing when you apply the separation test. See below: Correct: Your taste for fine cuisine is impeccable Incorrect: You’re (you are) taste for fine food is impeccable. See the glaring difference? 3. Tsk, tsk, It's, Its Two more conspirators in the great homophone hitch are the tiny but oft confused words, it’s and its. These dastardly micro-idioms can defy the most exhaustive editors, so don’t beat yourself up for confusing them, just read on. It’s. By now you know that the presence of an apostrophe can mean only one thing—it’s a contraction that can be separated into two words and tested for validity. I dare say that most people know this but let laziness or autocorrect tell them otherwise. Don’t do it! This erroneous habit paints you as a vernacular pedestrian with no regard for humanity! Correct: It’s (it is) about time you write that book. Incorrect: Its about time you write that book Its. When the apostrophe is removed from ‘It’s’ you’re left with what’s called a determiner. A determiner is a word that attributes possession or belonging to something mentioned earlier in a paragraph or sentence. Example: Correct: Mary had a little lamb, its fleece was white as snow. In this example, the word ‘its’ attributes the white fleece to the aforementioned little lamb. Here’s how it would look if you incorrectly used ‘it’s’: Incorrect: Mary had a little lamb, it is (it’s) fleece was white as snow. Simple as that! At best, homophones can streamline our prose, tighten superfluous verbiage and depict us as competent scribes. At worst, the misuse of these tenacious little shits can portray us as illiterate slackers with no regard for our mother tongue. With a few simple tests anyone can master them and write like a champ.
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