Tuesday, November 3, 2009

You're not using "your" right; write it again

Katie asked if I’d gone to the mall lately. I told her I was there yesterday.

Incorrect:

I gave them there coffee.

Correct:

I gave them their coffee.

Incorrect:

I’m meeting Katie and George at the show. Their coming from class.

Correct:

I’m meeting Katie and George at the show. They’re coming from class.

Your and You’re

You’re is the contraction for you are.

Your is the possessive form for you.

Some examples:

Incorrect:

Mark, you’re textspeak is starting to drive me bonkers!

Correct:

Mark, your textspeak is starting to drive my bonkers!

Incorrect:

Your really bad about sending unnecessary messages, like “K.”

Correct:

You’re really bad about sending unnecessary messages, like “K.”

To, Two, and Too

To is a preposition. It shows the relationship between two things. It also signals the definitive, or unconjugated, form of a verb.

Two is the number 2 in word form.

Too is an adverb.

Incorrect:

I had way to much to drink last night!

Correct:

I had way too much to drink last night!

Incorrect:

I have to tickets to paradise.

Correct:

I have two tickets to paradise.

Incorrect:

I, two, went to the Homecoming game.

Correct:

I, too, went to the Homecoming game.

These three sets of homophones are the ones that bother me, and a lot of other people, the most. However, there are a lot of others that can really trip you up. To end, here are few more examples of homophones:

Allowed (something is permitted)/Aloud (audible)

Ant (picnic-oriented insect)/Aunt (mom or dad’s sister)

Aye (yes, sometimes associated with pirates!)/eye (the seeing organ)/I (first person singular pronoun)

Beat (what a drummer typically keeps)/Beet (the vegetable)

Board (a piece of wood, or a board game)/Bored (not excited)

Brake (what makes the car stop, or the verb to press the brakes)/Break (the verb, to break something)

Ducked (past tense of the verb)/Duct (like a heating duct, or duct tape)

Where (the location question)/Wear (the action, to wear something)

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