Unit 5: Capitalization, Spelling and Commonly Confused Words - Homophones

CAPITALIZATION, SPELLING, and COMMONLY CONFUSED WORDS – HOMOPHONES

   

Capitalization

   

Spelling

   

Homophones

Capitalization

When editing, you will need to read your paragraph carefully to be sure that you have capitalized your words correctly. At this point, there are a few simple rules to remember:

• Always capitalize “I” – Memorize this rule, for English is the only language that capitalizes "I."
• Always capitalize the first word of a sentence – Another rule that will seem obvious to you, but knowing when a sentence begins and ends gets more complicated as you write longer and more complicated sentences.
• Capitalize proper nouns – As you learned in Unit 2, proper nouns like New York, Marilyn Monroe, and Coursera will be capitalized because they refer to a specific place, person, thing, living creature, or concept.

Spelling

Spell-check will not catch many misspelled words, so it’s important that you learn some of the basic rules of spelling and keep a list with you during editing of words that you commonly misspell or confuse. Keeping such a list will help you to become more confident when you are writing with the aid of a computer.

The best way to improve your spelling is to keep a list of words that you commonly misspell. There are many ways you might do this, but here is a suggested format:

Misspelled wordCorrectly spelled wordSpelling rulerecievereceivei before e (except after c)atheleteathlete garanteeguarantee happynesshappinesschange final y to i

As the list grows, you will find yourself memorizing the spellings of words. Keep your list with you when you are writing either at your desk or when you are writing an in-class assignment.

You can already see a couple of rules in the list above. While not every misspelled word will have a rule that may help you remember the spelling, there are a few helpful rules to remember.

• “i before e except after c”: You may have heard this common rule over the years, and it is generally helpful. Friend and deceive fit neatly into this rule as do many other words like receipt, believe, thief, and patience. However, there are words in English where the combination of the vowels ei is pronounced A (ay) as in freight, weight, and neighbor. There are also many exceptions to the rule with words like weird and caffeine. 
   
• Change the final y to i before adding a suffix: When you add a suffix to a word that ends in y like happy, you will change the y to i.
  • happy+ness=happiness
  • merry+ment=merriment
  
  
• Double the last consonant when adding certain suffixes to certain words: As with the previous rule, adding suffixes will change the spelling of certain words. In short words like mop and mad, you will double the last letter when you add certain suffixes.
  • mop+ed=mopped
  • mop+ing=mopping
  • mad+er=madder
  • mad+est=maddest
  
  
• Keeping or dropping the final silent e: With words that have a silent e, like love and hate, you will keep the e if the suffix begins with a consonant but drop it if the suffix begins with a vowel.
  • love+ly=lovely
  • love+ing=loving
  • hate+ful=hateful
  • hate+ing=hating

There are many spelling rules, so seek out the ones that will help you correct your consistently misspelled words. However, there is no substitute for having your own personal list of commonly misspelled words because for every spelling rule in English, you may find many exceptions.

Commonly Confused Words – Homophones

Many words in the English language are confusing because they sound exactly the same, but they are spelled and mean different things. These are words that spell-check will never catch because knowing which one is right depends on the meaning of the word. Here is a brief list of some of the most commonly confused words:

• two – the number two, as in “I have two apples.”
• too – in addition, as in “I, too, would like one.”
•       - excessively, as in "The waster is too hot." 
  
• to – direction, as in “Please give one to me.” 
   
• Example: The two acrobats were too tired to perform.

• your – possessive pronoun, as in “Hand me your coat.”
• you’re – contraction of you+are, as in “You’re tired.” 
   
• Example: You’re flying your kite too near the tree.

• there – direction, as in “You will find it over there.”
• their – 3rd person plural pronoun, as in “Take their coats, please.”
• they’re – contraction for they+are, as in “They’re running away now.” 
   
• Example:They’re riding their bicycles over there.

• passed – to move by, as in “She passed by the newsstand on her way to work.”
• past – of an earlier time, as in “The sword was a relic from the past.” 
   
• Example: In the past, I easily passed my exams.

• accept – to willingly receive something, as in “I accept your proposal.”
• except – to exclude, as in “I like everything except the mauve couch.” 
   
• Example: We can accept everyone except those who are too advanced.

• than – compares two or more things, as in “Your bicycle is newer than mine.”
• then – indicates time or sequence, as in “First, you turn it on, and then you change the input.” 
   
• Example: Back then, you were taller than I was.

• are – plural form of “to be,” as in “They are all happy now.”
• our – pronoun marking possession, as in “Our house is still standing.” 
   
• Example: Are you coming to our house for tea?

• its – indicates possession in neuter case, as in “The sun shone its rays on the ocean.”
• it’s – contraction for “it is,” as in “It’s a nice day.” 
   
• Example: It’s too expensive to get its engine repaired.

Allow yourself ample time to edit your writing because you may have to read your writing several times to notice and correct all of the possible errors.

Following the writing process and modifying it to fit your needs and preferences is essential. Remember that you will likely move back and forth between steps even as you move methodically through the process. However, once you arrive at the editing step and are content with your ideas and structure, you should finish your project through careful editing.

You've now reviewed the parts of speech, subjects and verbs, clauses and phrases, and now composing and editing. You are ready to write a paragraph. As you move through the writing process, remember the tools and information that you’ve learned along the way. Happy writing!