Homophones are two or more words with the same pronunciation but different meanings. Mixing up homophones is one of the most common mistakes students make in their writing. We work on many of these homophones in Grammar I, but you might be surprised how many of these your child confuses. Below are the most frequent errors that I see in student work:
10. Tale: a story
Tail: the hind part of an animal
9. Site: a place or location
Sight: what you see
8. Threw: having thrown something
Through: passing or complete
7. New: not having been used before
Knew: understand (past tense)
6. Weather: the state of the atmosphere (rain, sunshine)
Whether: if, depending
5. Effect: noun—a change or consequence of an action
Affect: verb—to make a difference
4. Your: belonging to you
You’re: you are
3. To: referring to direction or place
Too: also, in addition, an extreme amount
2. Their: belonging to them
There: a place, where something is
1. Its: belonging to it
It’s: it is