Don't Confuse Your Homonyms!

Words like "there" and "their" are known as homonymns (or homophones) because they're pronounced exactly the same, but have very different meanings. In your writing, it's important to minimize the number of mistakes that exist. Errors with homonyms can be easy to avoid, provided you understand the meaning of each word. Let's look at a few of the most commonly used (and confused) homonyms. (For a more comprehensive list of homonyms, visit this site: http://www.cooper.com/alan/homonym_list.html.)

1.)
ad = short for advertisement
add = short for addition


2.)
affect = to change
effect = result


3.)
hear = to listen
here = at this location


4.)
their = belonging to them
there = a place
they're = contraction of "they are"


5.)
to = toward
too = also; overly
two = a couple; more than one, but less than three


6.)
you're = contraction of "you are"
your = belonging to you


Now it's your turn. Please visit that site (http://www.cooper.com/alan/homonym_list.html) and find a set of homonyms that you think are easy to confuse. Copy the information and paste it here to help create a more complete list!