- Key Types of Writing 4:47
- Preparation 8:08
- Structure and Formatting 5:36
- Writing Types, Preparation, and Structure 10 questions
- Common Grammatical Errors 10:56
- Common Grammatical Errors 8 questions
- Commonly Confused Words 7:57
- Commonly Confused Words 10 questions
- Writing Review and Strategy 6:18
- Final Grammar Review 10 questions
Preview
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Commonly Confused Words
7:57In some cases, people use words incorrectly because they sound the same, don't know the difference, or haven't been corrected before. Let's go through some commonly misused words that often get confused for each other.
Now, in some cases, people use words
incorrectly because they sound the same.
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And they don't know the difference.
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Or perhaps, they haven't been corrected
before.
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Here's an opportunity for us to go through
a lot of commonly misused words.
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And I've got ten good ones.
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There are ten, you know, pairs or groups,
you could say.
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Many of the words that we cover here have
alternate meanings or definitions.
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So we're gonna focus on the ones that
cause
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confusion so we don't make these common
mistakes again.
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Now, first up, you're and your.
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You're, Y-O-U-'-R-E, is a contraction that
means you are.
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Or as they say in Boston, you are.
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For example, you're going to love the new
Godzilla movie.
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And I'm sure that we will.
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Definitely gonna see it.
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But your, Y-O-U-R, is a possessive, which
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means something belonging or referring to
you.
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Is this your first time going to this
theater?
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That's how we deal with that.
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They're, their, and there.
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Oh this is another one.
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They apostrophe R-E is a contraction that
means they are.
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For example, they're going to the movies
to see Godzilla.
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Now their, T-H-E-I-R, is a possessive
which means that
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something belongs to a group of people, or
to they.
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This is their third time seeing the movie.
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It's because they love it, right.
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But there, T-H-E-R-E, refers to a location
and the opposite of here.
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The entrance to the theater is over there.
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So they're, their and there.
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That should help.
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It's and its.
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It's with a, an apostrophe.
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It apostrophe s is a contraction that
means it is.
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This is one a lot of people confuse.
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It's a terrible day because I broke my
phone.
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So terrible.
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But its, I-T-S with no apostrophe that is
the possessive right there.
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And that definitely trips up a lot of
people.
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Its you know, refers to a thing, something
belonging to a thing.
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For example my phone landed right on its
screen.
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And it broke.
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And I was sad.
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That is a tricky one, but try to get that
one correct if you can.
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To, too, and two, you know, this, this
seems like a very simple one.
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But I see the mi, this mistake a lot,
especially
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when people use T-O-O in places where it
shouldn't be.
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Now to, T-O, can be used in a number of
different ways.
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It can be used for directions like, I
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need directions to the phone store cuz
mine broke.
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It can be used with verbs like, I need to
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make a call, but I have no phone cuz it
broke.
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or, sometimes when you don't need to
repeat a verb in a sentence you
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can say, I asked him to silence his phone,
but he didn't want to.
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Things like that.
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Lots of uses for that.
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But too, T-O-O is an adjective that can
mean overly or excessive.
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Like your phone is too noisy, please turn
it down.
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Whereas as T-W-O, two, is a number, you
know one plus one.
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Like your phone rang two more times, so I
shut it off, or I threw it on the ground.
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You know, really upset.
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Generally if you understand T-O-O and
T-W-O you'll know when to use those.
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You know, you know when to use too.
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Forget it [SOUND].
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There's a lot of toos there.
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Alright, effect and affect.
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Effect with an e is a noun.
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Refers to the result of something
happening.
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The color change on our call to action had
a positive effect.
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But affect with an a, is a verb and it
refers to producing a change of some kind.
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I hope we can affect many more numbers
positively by making other changes.
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That's a tricky one and I know it, it
sometimes takes some remembering,
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but if you can remember that effect with
an e is the result
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of an event, which also starts with an e,
that's one way to
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kind of give yourself a mental trick to
try to remember that one.
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Alright, oh man, lose and loose.
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They don't even sound the same.
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But I see this so much, lose and loose.
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Alright lose, lose is a verb.
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Means the opposite of winning.
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But it also means to misplace something.
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This is where a lot of confusion happens.
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I hope I don't lose my keys again.
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I'd be mad cuz I broke my phone.
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But loose, loose is an adjective.
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It means, you know, unrestrained, it means
not tight.
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These pants are so loose, I think my keys
fell out.
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So loose with two o's is the adjective.
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Let's try to remember that one.
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Peek, peak, and pique.
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Now this is a, one I'm including really
because of that last one there.
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And generally a lot of people get these
first ones right.
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Peek is a verb, P-E-E-K, two e's.
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That's a verb.
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It means to look.
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I'm hungry.
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Let's peek in the fridge, find something
good.
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But peak, P-E-A-K, is a noun, it means the
top.
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There's a cherry on the peak of that pie.
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Just trying to make a food example there.
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It's tough.
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Anyway, pique, P-I-Q-U-E.
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Pique is a verb, means to excite, and
generally you hear this
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a lot when people try to use that phrase,
pique your interest.
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You've piqued my interest with that
delectable dessert.
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Well, that's not P-E-E-K, and it's not
P-E-A-K.
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It is that special P-I-Q-U-E word.
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So if you can remember that, you'll
generally won't confuse the others.
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But as a side note, any time you plan on
using a common figure
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of speech and you're not exactly sure how
to spell it, make sure you check.
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Either and neither.
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Or either and neither, depending on how
you pronounce that.
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Either and neither are both adjectives.
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They're occasionally used as pronouns.
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You know, you can, you can enter the
stadium at either
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end or neither team showed up at the rainy
field today.
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But, confusion happens when they're used
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as conjunctions, listing various related
choices.
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So, when you use either, I mean the word
either, not talking about both.
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When you use either you'll be listing two
options.
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One of which is the acceptable option, and
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you'll always separate them with the word
or.
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So for example, our team will either win
or lose today.
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But if you wanna discuss two options and
both of
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them will not happen you want to use
neither and nor.
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Neither the rain, nor the traffic will
keep us away from today's game.
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Either with or, neither with nor.
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Those pairs should always go together.
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And lastly, e.g and i.e.
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Well these are, these are tricky ones.
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Both e.g and i.e are Latin abbreviations.
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They both usually mean that you're about
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to list some examples, or clarify some
information.
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E.g stands for exempli gratia.
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It means for example.
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Nick likes desserts.
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E.g ice cream, pies, cookies.
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Well, the ice cream, pies and cookies?
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They're examples, general examples in
nature.
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They don't usually, you know, they don't
refer to an actual fact or event.
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They're examples of desserts.
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But i.e, i.e is Latin for id est.
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That translates to that is.
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Like i.e is a really good way to clarify
an event or fact that you're talking
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about, so Jason made lunch, i.e two
sandwiches,
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a fruit salad, and a lovely apple pie.
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When you use i.e you're actually saying
that is actually literally what he made.
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When he made lunch.
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So that is the difference there between
those two.
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