Grammar Tips and Tricks

HOMONYMS

A lot of people struggle with this, and I hope it's mostly people who are younger. I don't understand how any college or higher form of education would allow someone to continue to be confused about these words. Homonyms, also known and homophones, are words that sound the same but have different meanings and spellings. You all know where I'm going with this, so let's get on with it.

There- Location. My shoes are over there.
They're- They are. They're on their way.
Their- Possessive pertaining to more than one person. (See example above)

Where- Location/question of Location. Where are they? This is the place where my husband and I met.
Wear- to have something on your body. I'm going to wear that shirt.
Were- past tense of doing something. We were going to go to the park, but it rained.
We're- contraction of we are. We're heading to the mall soon.

Okay now work with me here, I sometimes get these mixed up on occasion and I know a lot of others do too, since it's going against the original rules (welcome to the English language).
Its- Possessive. The dog ate from its bowl. This can be tricky since possessives normally have the apostrophe. NOPE.
It's- contraction of It is. It's going to rain today.

Whether- I don't know how to explain this one. But it's used like "He didn't know wether or not he was going to go to the party."
Weather- what it's like outside. I'm going to check the weather for the party.
(I think that's all the weather/whethers there are)

Our- possessive plural. That's our ball.
Are- Those are mine. (There's an actual name for this part of speech, but like I said, I suck at grammar. I can explain what it is, but I can't give you a legitimate definition. Nobody got time for that.)

Your- possessive. Say hello to your brother for me.
You're- contraction of you are. You're beautiful.

Of- cream of mushroom.
Off- turn off the lights.

Quite- not completely. It was not quite noon yet.
Quiet- silent. The night was quiet.

Knew/know- being aware of something.
New/no- something fresh. And I think we all know what no means.

I can't think of any more off the top of my head at the moment. If I remember more or if someone reads this and brings up more, I'll add to the list.

RECAP: WHEN YOU SPELL IT WRONG ITS WRONG. Please learn these.

Thanks for reading!
-DM