MEPX
Chapter 1 of 10All chapters
  1. 1Sound alike
  2. 2Look alike
  3. 3Meanings people get wrong
  4. 4Who is doing what
  5. 5Grammar-driven pairs
  6. 6Words misused at work
  7. 7Phrases people mangle
  8. 8British and American differences
  9. 9Checking yourself
  10. 10Why it matters

Chapter 1 of 10

Sound alike

Homophones.

The frequent ones

Their, there and they're. Your and you're. Its and it's. To, too and two. Whose and who's. The apostrophe versions are always contractions.

  • Read the sentence with the two words expanded: it is, they are, who is.
  • Possessive pronouns never take an apostrophe: its, hers, ours, theirs.

Less obvious pairs

Principal and principle, stationary and stationery, complement and compliment, discreet and discrete. Each has a memory hook worth learning once: the principal is your pal, stationery has envelopes.