Commonly Confused Words.
There's a slight thrill that I experience every time I correct a typo/error, remove an unnecessary word from a sentence, or notice a discrepancy whilst editing, authenticity reading, or fact-checking. The most satisfying thrill, however, comes from correcting phrases or words that have been mistakenly used because they have been confused with other words that have the same pronunciation but a completely different spelling and meaning - words that are pronounced the same but which have different spellings and meanings are homophones.
If homophones sometimes confuse you, here is a brief list of the most commonly confused words that I frequently come across when editing and reading material. This is not an exhaustive list!
your (adjective): describes something that belongs to or is related to you. Is that your car over there? I love your cakes - they are delicious!
you’re (contraction): short for "you are." You’re so fast at running! You shuffle about lots when you're sleeping.
If these confuse you, try substituting "you are" when writing one of them to see if it makes sense, e.g. “Is that you are book?” doesn’t make sense, so you know you need "your".
who’s (contraction): "who is". Who’s your favourite teacher?
whose (adjective): describes something that is related to or belongs to someone. I always think of my teacher Miss Honey, whose writing skills were exceptional.
peek (verb): to glance quickly or to look from a hidden location. I took a peek into the oven to check if the bread was rising.
pique (verb): to excite or arouse one’s interest. The book blurb should pique a reader's interests enough for them to consider buying it.
peak (noun): a sharp point or the highest point of something. The mountain peak was shrouded in thick cloud and snow.
its (adjective): of or relating to something, usually a possessor. The robin perched its feet on the fence before flying away.
it’s (contraction): "it is." It’s so cold outside today.
a while (noun): a short length of time. It’s been a while since I read a book.
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awhile (adverb): for a while. Let’s rest awhile to have a coffee and cake before continuing our walk.
Substituting a while/awhile with "for a while" is a good way to check if it makes sense and that you are using the right one in your sentence. For example, in “let’s swim a while", you can test it by seeing if it makes sense to say, “Let’s swim for a while.” That works, so you need to use the adverb form (awhile) and change it to "let's swim awhile".
In this next example, “It’s been a while since we went swimming”, you can test it by checking if it makes sense to say, “It’s been for a while since we went swimming.” That doesn’t make sense, so the noun (a while) works better.
than (conjunction): used to compare elements in a sentence. He would rather walk to work every morning than drive a car and get stuck in traffic.
then (adverb): at that time, soon after, in addition to, as a consequence. I’m going to school first, then I will be going to eat at a restaurant for my birthday.
their (adjective): describes something that is related to or belongs to them. The group of girls were late for their flight to New York.
there (noun): that place or point. When you go there, you will love the weather.
they’re (contraction): "they are." They’re searching for a diamond ring.
to (preposition): used as a function to indicate movement, direction, position, relation (and much more). She loves to play her electric guitar.
too (adverb): also or excessively. Can I come shopping too?/You can never have too many shoes!
Being aware and recognising which homophones are commonly confused with each other helps us learn the differences between them all and strengthens our writing and communication skills. We're only human, however, and the best of us can occasionally mix these words up!
Can you think of any other homophones that you commonly see that are used out of context?
Copy editor and proofreader with the compassion and knowledge of a Language Arts teacher. Helping you present your best writing to the world.
9 个月I’ve never thought about “peek/peak/pique” before!