English Second Language·Vocabulary & word choice · NSSCO 2.2
Homonyms, homophones & commonly confused words
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Some of the trickiest words in English sound the same but are spelt differently (their, there, they're), look the same but mean two things (a river bank and a money bank), or are just close enough to swap by accident (stationary and stationery). In this lesson Miss Veronica sorts them out one gentle pair at a time, hands you simple memory tricks — if you can say 'it is', write it's — and fixes the mistakes almost everyone makes, so you always choose the right word.
What you'll learn in this lesson
By the end you should be able to (NSSCO English Second Language 2.2):
- Explain what a homophone is and give examples of common homophones
- Choose correctly between their/there/they're, your/you're, its/it's and to/too/two
- Explain what a homonym is and give an example of one word with two meanings
- Distinguish commonly confused word pairs such as stationary/stationery, accept/except, affect/effect and lend/borrow
- Use simple memory tricks to pick the right word every time
- Correct sentences that use the wrong word from a confusing pair
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Miss Veronica and Mike talk through the whole topic — with the figure and working drawn live.