The English language is filled with words that sound the same but are completely different. Worse yet, many of them aren’t picked up by a computer’s grammar or spell checker. The result can be devastating.
For example, I tried to submit a piece for a professional to review, and he refused, citing (among other things) the fact that I mistook the word “devise” for “device” in every instance in my story. It made me look amateurish and stupid.
So, in an attempt to prevent this from happening to others, here are a list of common words that sound the same and/or are confused several times. God willing, I will be adding more as I think of them.
Disclaimer: This list is neither exhaustive nor in alphabetical order. The definitions of the words are also not exhaustive. I just added the most common, in my opinion, definitions for the words. I tried to keep the definitions and sample sentences original to me, but in some cases I had help from the MS Word Encarta dictionary.
Your- n. A possessive noun that indicates something belongs to “you”
Your ball is over there; this is mine.
You’re-a contraction; You are
You’re not allowed to be here.
There- n. a place that is not here
The building you are looking for is over there.
Their- n. A possessive noun that indicates something belongs to “them”
Their house is pink and white.
They’re- a contraction; They are
They’re coming down the street now.
Site- n. a place where something is; a special or important place
Rocks and debris covered the building site.
The accident occurred on this site.
Cite- v. to quote
He cited Plato in his thesis.
Advise- v. to give advice
He advised me to go to Hawaii on vacation.
Advice- n. someone’s opinion on an action
He gave me some advice on where to go on vacation.
Devise- v. to scheme; to make up something
He devised a plan to break his brother out of jail.
Device- n. a machine
That device can turn gold into sand.
Peak- n. the top of something, such as a mountain
He climbed to the mountain’s peak.
Peek- v. to look secretly or quickly
He peeked into his parents’ bedroom as they argued.
n. “a quick or secret look” –MS Word dictionary
He took a peek at his presents before his parents could wrap them.
Pique- v. to incite interest
The strange device piqued Charles’ interest.
Toward/towards- mean the same thing. Toward is used in American English; towards is used in British English; same with afterward/afterwards
Past- prep. belonging to a former time or further than a place
Scrooge saw the ghost of Christmas past.
The building you want is past Main Street.
Passed- v. past tense of pass
That driver passed me and cut me off.
Lay- v. to put or place
Tenses: lay, laid, laid
He walked in to lay the child down.
He laid the blanket on the floor.
Lie- v. to recline or rest
Tenses: lie, lay, lain
“Lie down and be still,” his mother said.
He lay down and rested.
That thing has lain there for ages.
Lie- n. the opposite of the truth; also the v. to tell the opposite of the truth
He lied under oath.
A little, white lie is still a lie.
Regimen- n. a program, often to lose weight
She went on a weight loss regimen.
Regiment- n. a group of soldiers or people.
The entire regiment of troops was deployed.
Conscious- v. to be aware
He was hit hard but is still conscious.
Antonym- unconscious
Conscience- n. the part inside of a person that helps him to distinguish right from wrong
His conscience bothered him so much that he had to tell the truth.
Capital- n. the city where the government sits
The capital of the United States is Washington DC.
Capitol- n. the building where the government sits
The US Congress meets in the Capitol building.
Than- conj. A word that is used to compare something to something else
He is bigger than Jack.
Then- adv. Belonging to a specific time or indicating the order of something
I was younger and wilder back then, but I am prettier now.
In order to cook soup, first boil the water then put in the meat and vegetables.
Two- n. a number denoting more than one but less than three
There are two boys in the yard.
Too- adv. In addition to
I want to go too.
To- prep. Indicates several things, including direction, purpose, range, as well as creating an indicative
I want to go to school.
He covered everything from math to quantum physics in his speech.
I am going to learn something.
Backward and backwards mean the same. Backward is only to be used as an adjective. Both backward or backward can be used as an adverb.
Presence- n. to be somewhere
Your presence is requested at the wedding of John and Mary.
Presents- n. plural of present, meaning a gift
He received more than twenty presents for Christmas.
Its- n. a possessive pronoun indicating that something belongs to “it”
The dog was so cute, and its collar was red and shiny.
It’s- contraction. It is
It’s not that difficult to change a tire.
If you have any suggestions on more words, feel free to add them in.