Homophones

Homophones are words with similar pronunciation, but which different spellings and meanings.

Here are some homophones that often get confused. For each set of words, definitions and example sentences are provided to help choose the correct one.

All and whole

(Similar but not identical in pronunciation.)

The Oxford dictionary gives the definition of all as “the whole quantity or extent of a particular group or thing” and the definition of whole as “all of”. It’s understandable why they are often confused.

To help explain the difference between the two words, imagine you bake two cakes and have a slice of one:



 .  
Later you find that there is no cake left. In this case, all the cake has been eaten.



Or you find that the cake you had a slice of is left, but the other one has been eaten.


 .

In this case, a whole cake has been eaten.



The definite article (the) and the indefinite article (a) can often be put before whole, but can not be put before all, except when All is used as a noun.

The All Blacks (New Zealand rugby team).

A whole different ball-game.

The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

Compliment and complement

Compliment: Praise given to someone, perhaps because of their appearance or for something they do.

Complement: Something that goes well with something else (noun) or to add something to something else to make it complete (verb).

My compliments to the chef. The sauce complements the fish perfectly.

Make sure you use the correct word, compliments or complements. Saying, "That skirt compliments you implies that the skirt is giving compliments. What he should have said is, "That skirt complements you."

There, their and they’re

There: Has to do with the existence of something, place or position.

There is a band playing in the park this afternoon.

The park is over there.

Their: Belonging to them. Their is a possessive pronoun:

The van bringing their instruments is stuck in traffic.

They're: Short for they are.

They’re going to be starting soon.

They’re playing beautifully.

Words that are shortened, like they’re, I’m, o’clock (short for on the clock) and can’t are called contractions. Leaving out or omitting sounds in this way is called elision. The verb form is to elide. Some words that have been shortened from the original longer word or expression do not include apostrophes in place of the omitted letters. For example, bus was originally omnibus, and goodbye is short for God be with you.



You cannot end a sentence with a contraction of a personal pronoun followed by the relevant form of the verb to be. Here are two examples to make this more clear:


I is a personal pronoun. The correct form of to be in this case is am.

I am.

The contraction of I am is I’m. You cannot end a sentence with I’m.

Do you know who I’m?✖

Do you know who I am? ✔

They is a personal pronoun. The correct form of to be in this case is are.

They are.

The contraction of they are is they’re. You cannot end a sentence with they’re.

I don’t know where they’re. ✖

I don’t know where they are. ✔

                                                               There, their or they're: make sure you use the correct one

Discreet and discrete

Discreet: Cautious. Wary. Not willing to take risks. Unobtrusive.

The newspaper was more discreet about what it published after the article caused offense.

Discrete: Separate (noun)

You can say that you are separating things but you can't say you are discreting them. However, you can say that things have been put into separate or discrete parts.

Analogue waves are continuous, but digital signals are relayed as a series of discrete values.

Where, we’re and were

(Wear is another homophone, but it doesn’t usually get confused with these three.)


Where: In which place or situation.

Where are my keys?

Where is this leading us?

We’re: Short for we are.

We’re late.

Were: Past tense of the verb to be for first person plural (we were), second personal singular or plural (you were) and third person plural (they were).

They were here a minute ago.

Were is used with a singular pronoun (I, he, she, it) when talking about imaginary situations or about a possible situation that is currently not true. This is known as the subjunctive mood.

I wouldn’t if I were you.

I live each day as if it were my last.

Principal and principle

Principal: Most important. The head of a school in the US, or the main actor, dancer, etc in a performance.

The drama company’s principal goal  was to gain more recognition.

It hired a leading actor for the principal of its latest stage play.

Principle: A basic truth or law. A basic rule or belief that affects how someone behaves.

He is a man of high principles.

Council and counsel

Council: A group of people that meet together to give advice, and to make decisions and laws. The meeting that is held.

The town council agreed that something needed to be done to ease traffic congestion.

The union held an emergency council.

Counsel: Advice or guidance.

The alcoholic was being given counsel to help him quit.

A member of a council is a councilor. Someone who counsels is a counselor.

Determiners

Determiners are words that modify or give more information about nouns. They determine or establish exactly what is being referred to. Whereas adjectives (another type of modifier) describe nouns, determiners identify them. For example, in the phrase “my red ball,” my is the determiner and red is the adjective. The noun, ball, is called the referent. It is what my and red refer to.

It does not matter who is talking about the ball, it does not change color. It stays red. However, someone addressing the owner of the ball would refer to “your ball”. Similarly, this and that are called demonstrative determiners. They show how near an object is to the speaker. “This ball” shows that the speaker is holding the ball or that it is close by. “That ball” shows that it is not. This helps us to understand that adjectives don’t change, but determiners can.

My is called a possessive determiner, as it indicates that the referent, the ball, is possessed or owned. Possessive determiners are not pronouns. Pronouns replace nouns. Possessive determiners don’t replace nouns but modify them. You must always have the noun in the sentence with the determiner.

For more on pronouns, go to this link: 

https://englishlanguagesimplyexplained.blogspot.com/2016/09/pronouns.html

Other possessive determiners are our, your, his, her, their and its. Whose is used before the noun to ask who something belongs to: “Whose ball is this?”

Whose, what and which are interrogative determiners. See “What or Which” below for the difference between these two words.

Be careful to use it’s only as a shorter way to write it is or it has. It’s does not mean belonging to it. Similarly, hers, not her’s, means belonging to her.

It’s getting late. Put the dog in its kennel.

You can also indicate possession by ending a noun with an apostrophe or with an apostrophe + s (‘s).

The rules are:

If the noun is singular, add an apostrophe + s (‘s) to show possession.

Jane’s computer.

The queen’s consort. 

Today’s date.

If the noun is plural and ends with an “s”, add an apostrophe to show possession.

The boys’ changing room.  (More than one boy)

The lions’ cage. (More than one lion)

If the noun is plural but does not end with an “s”, add an apostrophe + s (‘s) to show possession.

The men’s department. 

Children’s books. 

If a name ends with an “s”, usually an apostrophe + s (‘s) is added to show possession, but sometimes just an apostrophe is added.

Bridget Jones’s Diary. 

St James’ Park.  (Home ground for Newcastle United Football Club)

St James’s Park. (Royal park in London, England)

(Note the difference above between James' and James's)

Definite and Indefinite Article

Two of the most common determiners are the and a. The is called the definite article, because it refers to a clearly defined or specific thing, and a is called the indefinite article, as it refers to something general, not specified or identified.

The is used when something has been previously identified, when more then one thing is being referred to or when something is unique:

“A dog is behind you.” (The dog is new to the speaker and the listener.)
“The dog is behind you.” (The dog was previously identified and mentioned.)

A star.

The stars.

A sun.

The sun. (The sun is unique, there is only one)

A or An?

An is used instead of a before words that begin with a vowel sound. Some people think that the rule is: an is used before words that begin with a vowel, but that is not strictly true. There are some words that begin with a vowel but don’t begin with a vowel sound, and there are some words that begin with a consonant but do begin with a vowel sound.

A one-way street. 

A united front. 

An hour.

To understand the rule, try saying “a apple” out loud. Notice how you have to pause slightly between each word. It’s much easier to say “an apple”. Now say “a one” or “a united” and notice how you don’t need to pause between each word. The mouth goes naturally from a to the “w” sound of one, or to the “y” sound of united.

In the case of initialisms (an abbreviation where each letter is pronounced separately, e.g. BBC, CD, HTML), consider whether or not the first letter is pronounced with a vowel sound. For example, the letter h is pronounced “aitch”.

An HTML programmer.

A UFO.

An MP’s position. 

(As mentioned earlier, the apostrophe + s (‘s) is used to indicate possession. The position belongs to the MP. If you want to indicate more than one MP, add an s without the apostrophe.)

“Several MPs were removed from office for misconduct.”

                                                                                                     A or An?

What or Which?

Note the change from what to which in the following conversation:

“What can I get you?”
“I’d like a coffee, please.”
“We have cappuccino, espresso and filter coffee. Which one would you like?”

We learn from the above that which is used when there is a limited choice presented. In this example, what and which are interrogative pronouns. Determiners always precede the noun.

Which coffee would you like?

Pronouns

Pronouns are words that replace nouns, so that you don't have to keep repeating the noun. For example, instead of saying: "My dog was ill, so I took my dog to the vet and the vet gave my dog an injection", you would say "My dog was ill, so I took her to the vet and he gave her an injection." The pronouns in this example are her (referring to the dog) and he (referring to the vet).When you are speaking in the third person (speaking about someone or something), you must mention the noun that the pronoun is replacing at least once, or others won't know who or what you are referring to.

Antecedents and Postcedents

If the noun is used before the pronoun, the noun is called the antecedent. It is what the pronoun refers back to. In the sentence: "My dog was ill, so I took her to the vet", my dog is the antecedent of her, because my dog is the noun phrase that the pronoun her refers back to.
If the pronoun comes before the noun, the noun is called the postcedent. It identifies the previously used pronoun. In the sentence: "Because she was ill, I took my dog to the vet", my dog is the postcedent of she, because my dog identifies the previously mentioned she.

Number and Gender Agreement

The pronoun must agree with the noun in number and gender if known or applicable. 

If you don't eat the fruit it will go bad.

In this example, fruit is singular, so the singular pronoun it is used. There may be several items of fruit but it is viewed as one entity.

If you don't eat those bananas they will go bad.

In this example, bananas is plural, so the plural pronouns those and they are used.

If a group of individuals are viewed as a single unit, a singular pronoun is used. If the individuals in that group are acting independently, a plural pronoun is used.

After the committee made its decision, they agreed that it had been difficult to come to an agreement.

In this example, the committee is singular. It is several members making up one unit, so the singular pronoun its is used. However, each member of the committee had been free to express an opinion, so they agreed that it had been difficult to come to an agreement.

Singular They

It is natural and acceptable to use they instead of he or she or their instead of his or her:

Each school child is expected to hand in their homework on time.

No one should have to put up with that sort of treatment, should they?

In the first example, each school child is a singular noun phrase, but their is used instead of his or her.
In the second example, no one is a singular pronoun, but they is used instead of he or she. (No one is an indefinite pronoun. See the table at the bottom of the page.)

Interrogative Pronouns

What, which, who, whom and whose are known as interrogative pronouns. They are used in questions to replace the person, people, thing or things that the questioner is seeking to identify.

Note the interrogative pronouns in the following conversation:

"Why are you late for work?"
"My train was delayed."
"Which one was that?"
"The 7.15."
"How will you catch up?"
"I'll get help."
"Whom will you ask?"
"I'll ask Jane."
"When do you think you'll be finished?"
"I'll have everything done by today."

Which identified the 7.15, and whom identified Jane, both of which are nouns. (The 7.15 in this conversation refers to a train and not to time.) Why, how and when are not interrogative pronouns, because they seek a reason, an explanation and a time period (an adverb) respectively.

Why, how, when and where are never interrogative pronouns.
Who, whom and whose always are interrogative pronouns, as they seek the identity of a person or people.
What and which sometimes are interrogative pronouns, but not always.

If in conversation you can't remember whether to use who or whom, use who. Even if you get it wrong, no one will mind or notice. If you use whom when you should have used who, not only will you be wrong, but you'll also sound pretentious. That means that others will think that you are trying to hard to impress.

Indefinite Pronouns

Indefinite pronouns refer to one, some, or all the people or things in a group. They don't refer to any person or thing in particular. 

Nouns are countable or uncountable. We use many to describe a countable noun and much or a lot of to describe an uncountable noun. For example, a group of people can be counted. If you were in a crowd of people, you would say that there were many people. Water can not be counted. If there is a flood, you would say that there is a lot of water. If you were running out of sugar, you would say that you don't have much sugar left.

Things which are not made of atoms (concrete nouns) are said to be abstract. They can include ideas, qualities and concepts. Abstract nouns are uncountable. 

A list of indefinite pronouns can be found in the table at the bottom of the page.

Generic You

Sometimes you is used to mean any person, or people in general. 

You only live once.

You don't see that every day.

The two statements above may be said directly to another person, but you in each case does not refer only to the listener, but to anyone. Another word that is used to mean people in general is one, but you is more informal and is used in everyday conversation.

One only lives once.

One does not see that every day.

               

                                         

Name of Pronoun		First Person		Second Person		Third Person
		Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
	Subjective	I	We	You	You	He / She / It / One /	They
	Objective	Me	Us	You	You	Him / Her / It / One	Them
Possessive		Mine	Ours	Yours	Yours	His / Hers / Its / Ones	Theirs
Reflexive or Intensive		Myself	Ourselves	Yourself	Yourself	Himself / Herself / Itself / Oneself	Themselves

Name of Pronoun		Examples
Reciprocal		Each other / One another
Relative		That / Which / Who / Whom / Whoever / Whomever / Whose
Interrogative		What / Which / Who / Whom / Whose / Whoever / Whomever
	Singular	This / That
	Plural	These / Those
	Singular	Anyone / Anybody / Anything / Everyone / Everybody / Everything / Someone / Somebody / Something / No-one / Nobody / Nothing / Each / Every / One / Either / Neither / Any / All / Some / None / More / Most
	Plural	Both / Few / Several / Many / Much / Plenty / Any / All / Some / None / More / Most