Homophones are words which sound similar when spoken, but differ in spelling and meaning. The words ‘whole’ and ‘hole’, for example, are pronounced identically, but you can only fall down the latter.
Understandably, it’s easy to get homophones confused and these words account for a large proportion of the spelling errors our proofreaders see. So to help out, we’ve identified a few common homophone errors to look out for.
1. Affect/Effect
These words baffle even consummate language users, as they’re often related to one another as well as sounding similar: when we affect something, it produces an effect.
The key is to remember that ‘affect’ is usually a verb meaning ‘influence’, while ‘effect’ is a noun meaning ‘the result of a change’.
2. Know/No
Despite these words looking very different on paper, some people still get them confused. Here, ‘know’ means ‘understand’ or ‘be aware of’, while ‘no’ is a negation (i.e. the opposite of ‘yes’).
3. Than/Then
One little vowel can make a big difference. The word ‘than’ is a conjunction used for comparisons (‘I’d rather sleep than go to class’). The term ‘then’, meanwhile, is an adverb indicating time or the sequence of events:
I’ll sleep first and then go to class.
4. Their/There/They’re
These words are easily confused if you’re not careful, but they’re also importantly distinct. The word ‘their’ usually indicates possession:
It’s their tree house, not yours.
‘There’ is used when referring to a particular place:
I want to go there.
The word ‘they’re’, meanwhile, is a contraction of ‘they are’. As such, it can only be used in place of these words (generally, contractions of this kind should be avoided in formal writing).
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5. To/Too/Two
All sound alike, all very different, ‘to’ and ‘too’ are particularly easy to confuse, but ‘two’ can cause trouble as well.
The word ‘to’ is a preposition when used in front of a noun (‘I’m going to the shops’) and indicates an infinitive when used before a verb (‘You need to shave before going out’).
Similarly doubled is ‘too’, which can be used either to mean ‘as well’ (‘I’m going, too’) or to suggest that something is excessive (‘We spend too much time together’).
Finally, ‘two’ is the number represented with the numeral ‘2’.
6. Accept/Except
To ‘accept’ something means ‘hold something as true’ or ‘receive willingly’.
The word ‘except’, on the other hand, can be a preposition meaning ‘excluding’:
I hate everything except shopping.
Or it can be a conjunction meaning ‘but’ or ‘if not for the fact that’:
I would go shopping with you, except I don’t want to.
7. Your/You’re
Another classic error is mixing up ‘your’ and ‘you’re’. This is easy to avoid as long as you remember that ‘you’re’ is a contraction of ‘you are’ (‘You’re weird’), while ‘your’ indicates possession (‘Your hair looks weird’).