Homophones are words that sound the same but mean different things, or are spelled differently, like “bare” and “bear“. More commonly confused examples are pairs like effect and affect; weather and whether, or they’re, their and there. Homophones are kinds of homonyms, which are words that can be spelled the same or differently, and sound the same or differently, but have different meanings.
Homonyms consist of homophones (words that sound the same and have different meanings, but may or may not be spelled the same), and homographs (words that are spelled the same but have different meanings and may not sound the same). An example would be “spelt” the past tense or participle of the verb spell, and “spelt” as a noun, which is a hulled and ancient grain.
To allot is to allocate resources amongst a group or people. A lot is mostly an adverb meaning “to a great deal or extent”, and ‘alot’ is a common mispelling.
Lose is a verb that means “to be deprived of something, to not win, or to misplace something.” Loose is an adjective meaning “not tight or firmly held in place, not closely fitted.”
Accept is a verb: to receive,something that is offered or presented. Except is a preposition that means ‘but’ or ‘excluding’.
To allude means to hint at something, or to indirectly refer to something. To elude is to avoid or escape, often in a skillful or cunning way.
‘Imminent’ describes something that’s impending, ’eminent’ describes something as respectable or notable, and ‘immanent’ refers to a quality that’s inherent or innate.
What’s the difference between invoke vs evoke? Though they both derive from the same root word, vox, (Latin for voice,) their definitions and contexts in which they should be used vary.
“There” means that place, “their” is possessive pronoun, and “they’re” is a contraction that combines they and are.
Who’s is a contraction that combines who and is. Whose is the possessive form of who.
Affect vs. effect: what’s the difference? How do you use affect and effect? Here’s a pro (Grammarflex) tip to aide your memory—it’s as easy
Is any time one or two words? Do you have any time to read this article to figure it out?