Grammar Potpourri: Homophones

When I first discussed grammar and punctuation back in mid-September (was it that long ago?), many of you commented about things I hadn’t included. Today, I’m going to address some of those. If there are others I don’t discuss today, rest assured they will be covered Some Day Soon^.TM

Before I list some of the more commonly confused homophone pairs (and triplets), I want to be sure we all understand the differences among homophones, homonyms, and homographs. An excellent article at the Copyediting blog goes into more detail, but since we have a lot to cover today, let’s keep this discussion relatively short.

• Homophones are words that sound alike (or identical) but are spelled differently; e.g., their, there, and they’re.
• Homonyms are words that are spelled the same, sound the same, but have different meanings; e.g., the right side of the road, and the right to peacefully assemble. Often, as in the preceding example, the words are different parts of speech (adjective and noun, respectively, in this case); but they can be the same part of speech. For instance, bank of a river and savings bank are both nouns.
• Homographs are words with the same spelling, but may not sound the same: The verb refuse is accented on the second syllable, while the noun refuse is accented on the first.

So what are some commonly misused homophones? Obviously the example I gave above of their, there, and they’re is a classic one. Compounding the error, how often have you see something like these abominations:

• “They had to return the money because it wasn’t there’s.” Ouch! Not only the wrong form of their, but now the writer has tried to make a possessive with the apostrophe and “s.” (If you can give me a proper example of their’s, I’ll…well, you can’t, so never mind.)
• Believe it or not, I actually saw “they’re’s” the other day. I wish I’d thought to copy the entire sentence. Yes, really: two apostrophes in the same word! (The intended word was “there’s,” the contracted form of “there is.”)

Here are some more homophones that are frequently misused (or abused).¹

• The word to is a preposition; too is an adverb meaning “also.” And two is a number (generally, an adjective, in case you’re wondering) which, while rarely substituted for either to or too, is too often replaced with one of the other forms.
• Wear is a verb, ware is a noun, and where isn’t really pronounced like the other two (and it can be an adverb, conjunction, or noun).² Unfortunately, this particular situation gets even more muddled when careless writers misspell “wear” or “where” as were. Or vice versa. “But I spell-checked it!”
•  Carat, caret, and carrot.Very rarely is the third form substituted for either of the other two, but when it happens, the result is usually hilarious. A carat is a measure of fineness of gold or weight of gems³, while a caret is a typographical mark (^) indicating an insertion point.
• Alter means “change,” while altar is where marital problems begin.⁴
• If you’re waiting with baited breath, just stop: It smells like worms. Instead, try bated breath, which means restrained or reduced.
• Dual means two or twin; duel is a formal combat between two persons.⁵
• Once more, for good measure: Its is a possessive pronoun, like his, hers, and ours. It’s is a contraction of “it is.” There is a very simple way to avoid confusing the two: always try to write out “it is.” If it doesn’t work, use its. If it does work, leave it alone. “I wanted to put the picture in it is place.” In other words, eschew the apostrophe. Or risk having your editor chew on you.
• On the other hand, lets is a verb meaning “allows” or “leases.” Let’s is a contraction for “let us.”
• Peak, peek, and pique. No, that third form is not pronounced “pee-KAY.” All three can be verbs: “The Cardinals peaked [rose to their highest point] going into the playoffs.” “John peeked [took a quick or surreptitious look] into the nursery to be sure the baby was asleep.” “The descriptions of 3D-TV from the Consumer Electronics Show piqued [raised or aroused] my interest.” The usual confusion with these words is to use peaked in place of piqued.

Bridal has to do with getting married; bridle has to do with controlling a horse. DO NOT make the obvious joke

• Bridal has to do with getting married; bridle has to do with controlling a horse. Guys, don’t even think of making the obvious joke.
• Speaking of horses, reins are attached to a bridle; rains are what fall in Spain (mainly in the plain); reigns are what monarchs are known for.
• Following the current stream of consciousness, a plain is a (generally) flat, fallow area of land, while a plane is a conveyance, woodworking tool, cooking gadget, or geometrical construct. “Plain Jane” is rather homely, but “plane Jane” is probably a pilot.

I could go on, and on, and on, and on. But I think my time is up for this round. Let me summarize by reminding you that your spell-checker won’t save you from homophonic crimes against grammar, but a good dictionary will. I know there are literally hundreds of homophones I could present here, but what are some I didn’t address, which you find particularly egregious?