Writing Intelligently - Lesson One (Common Homophones) - - KRISTA - -

After reading through countless numbers of posts and comments on USM, I've managed to pick out the biggest and most frequent mistakes I've seen and, from the goodness in my heart, decided to give you a series of lessons on these blunders.

Okay, let's admit it: most of us make a lot of mistakes, especially in grammar. Today, I plan on fixing these common mistakes. What I've compiled is a list of grammatical errors that I see a lot. Let's do this.

First of all, let's talk about "your" and "you're". "Your" shows possession. For example: Your dog is barking.

"You're" is a contraction for "you are". For example: You're a great friend.

DO NOT - I repeat, DO NOT - use "your" in place of "you're". When I see this happening, I want to scream. DON'T DO IT.

If you're ever curious about which one is correct, see if "you are" would fit. If it does not, then it is "your". If it does, using "you're" is appropriate.

Now, let's look at "there", "their", and "they're". "There" indicates a place. For example: Go over there.

"Their" shows possession (to be specific, the possession of "they"). For example: Their friendship was everlasting.

"They're" is, clearly, a contraction for "they are". For example: They're going to the movies tonight.

If you're ever confused, check if it is indicating to somewhere first. If it is, use "there". If not, check if "they are" is appropriate when you use it in place. If so, use "they're". Otherwise, your only option left is "their".

Here's one that confuses a heck of a lot of people: "it's" and "its". "It's" is a CONTRACTION for "it is". It NEVER shows ownership. Example: It's very cold out.

"Its" shows ownership for "it". It does NOT serve as a contraction. For example: Its color was a pale blue.

Another big issue is "two", "to", and "too". I'll get this one over with as quickly and painlessly as possible. "Two" is a number - you know, the one that looks like "2". I'm not going to give you an example for it because I'll trust you know the meaning.

"To" is a preposition. I'm not sure how to describe it, so I'll give you a huge bunch of examples: Go to the store. They counted to sixty-three. They went to the movies. I wanted to eat an apple.

"Too" is DIFFERENT from "to". "Too" means "also" or "as well" and is usually stuck on to the end of a sentence after a comma. For example: I went to the store, too.

If you get confused (God forbid you don't know where the word "two" is appropriate), check if "as well" fits in place of the "to" or "too." If so, I can guarantee it will be "too". If not, it will be "to" (provided the word isn't "two", and I'm sure all of the USMers are past THIS adolescent mistake).

This one isn't used as often, but is frustrating nonetheless: "right" and "write." Let's look back at fourth grade: "right" is either a navigational term or denotes correctness. For example: Go right on Cherry Street./Your answer to the question was right.

"Write" is the verb meaning to form (letters, words, etc.) on a surface. For example: She was told to write the spelling word on the board.

I believe it's also important to know that it's seldom correct to use "wright" unless you're speaking in terms of "one who makes or constructs".

I'm not sure this would be a homophone, but I absolutely HAVE to fix this. I mentally CRINGE every time I see "could of". I am going to make quite a point of this:

COULD OF, WOULD OF, AND SHOULD OF ARE NOT VALID PHRASES. THOUGH WHEN YOU ARE SPEAKING, IT SOUNDS LIKE "COULD OF", THE CORRECT TERMS ARE "COULD'VE", "WOULD'VE", AND "SHOULD'VE". STOP DOING IT OR I WILL HIT YOU.

Now, please stop making that mistake. Quite a few of you are guilty of it and I want it to stop.

That's all for this lesson.

- USM's Grammar Officer, Krista

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