Comments on: Homophones: Which witch?

By: Melissa Donovan

Melissa Donovan — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 19:29:40 +0000

@Sherri, That’s a good way to remember “a lot” versus “allot.” Nice!

By: Sherri

Sherri — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 13:31:03 +0000

A lot is like a little (a reminder that a lot is tow words!)

By: Melissa Donovan

Melissa Donovan — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 20:46:50 +0000

@Edinburgh Lover, I think sit/set works like lay/lie. When the subject is taking the action, it’s sit (lie). (I sit, he sat, she sits, etc.) but when the subject is performing the action on an object, it’s set (I set the timer, he set the book on the table, etc.). We could probably go a lot deeper into sit/set, but that’s the off-the-top-of-my-head version

By: Edinburgh Lover

Edinburgh Lover — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 19:17:35 +0000

Thanks for clarifying that. Now if someone could help me with the sentence contexts of using the words sit/set, I’d be all set!

By: Melissa Donovan

Melissa Donovan — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 19:58:26 +0000

GeekMom, those are good ones! I’ve heard the principal phrase, but not the one for separate (which is a tricky one!). Thanks for sharing these!

By: GeekMom

GeekMom — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 19:25:38 +0000

Here are a couple more. There’s “a rat” in “separate” (not seperate). The principal is our pal (not principle).

By: Melissa Donovan

Melissa Donovan — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 20:35:13 +0000

@Jaden, Thank you! This one was fun to write as well. Good job on winning the $2 back in college!

By: Jaden

Jaden — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 05:39:30 +0000

That was the funnest grammar lesson ever! Witches spell well. Thanks.

I like the Scotland woman’s comment. The difference in dialects is interesting.

I was the only person in my college screenwriting class to win the $2 from the professor for the challenge of never erring on the its/it’s, there/their/they’re, and your/you’re!

By: Katherine Huether

Katherine Huether — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 01:53:37 +0000

I think we all have our little writing quirks. At least, I do. For the longest time, I was spelling recommended with two c’s and one m. And, it took me several years (pretty much all of high school) to finally internalize when to use “to” and “too”. This was an informative post, thanks!

By: Melissa Donovan

Melissa Donovan — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 19:49:05 +0000

Kat, I think its/it’s is one of the trickier ones, because of course, we expect to use the possessive apostrophe when “it” belongs to someone. I too find that keeping the contraction of “it is” in mind is the best way to remember, and I also have ingrained my own brain to keep in mind that “its” is a glaring exception to the rules of English spelling.

Whose/whose is definitely similar. Can’t say I know what Cyberchase is (I’m guessing an educational TV show?) but I definitely remember Schoolhouse Rock

By: Melissa Donovan

Melissa Donovan — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 19:44:34 +0000

Joanna, you are lucky! With all the homophones in American English, many people struggle with spellings, and errors are rampant. A different pronunciation would help immensely, not that we can just go an implement one now! I wonder what other English speaking countries have variations on words that are homophones in America. Maybe we’ll hear from some of our Aussie and British friends on this one…

By: KatFrench

KatFrench — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 17:01:25 +0000

The one that usually trips me up is “its” and “it’s”–I have to go over most of my writing, looking for that apostrophe, and asking myself “Can I replace the word with ‘it is’?”

Whose/who’s is similiar. I always fall back on my parts of speech for both. Thank God for School House Rock or my grammar would be awful.

Heck, if Cyberchase had been on when I was a kid, I might not have stunk so badly at math…