What Is a Homophone? (Examples and Usage)

Having trouble viewing this message? [Click here to view it online.]( To unsubscribe or change contact details, scroll to the bottom and follow the link. [GrammarBook.com]( Your #1 Source for Grammar and Punctuation What Is a Homophone? (Examples and Usage) There's a chance that at some point in your communication in English, you've read or written a word that sounds like the right one when spoken but is misspelled in print. One such example is the use of "you're" when the context means "your" (or vice versa). This common tendency is the result of what are known as homophones, which can make English vocabulary confusing at times. Homophones: Definition A homophone is each of two or more words that sound the same but have different meanings and often different spellings. English includes thousands of homophones. Because they are both similar and different, homophones can sneak past native speakers, so we can understand how they might especially puzzle those who are new to the language. The word homophone comes from the Greek homóphōnos, meaning "of the same sound" (hómo- "similar, alike"; -phōnos "sounding"). As we are refining our English precision and eloquence, we want to be aware of misused homophones, which can sabotage otherwise good writing by distracting from it. Spell-checkers will often not catch them because the words are correctly spelled although incorrectly applied. Misplaced homophones are frequently obvious, so they can cause readers to question our attention to the details and form of our content. We want to be alert to homophones when proofing and editing our writing because they can evade the careful eye by pronouncing themselves correctly to the inner ear. Examples of Homophones Some sources suggest that English includes more than six thousand homophones. In addition to you're and your, just a few common homophones we might write and read daily include: affect, effect complement, compliment sea, see air, heir for, fore, four son, sun blew, blue hear, here than, then brake, break it's, its their, there, they're cell, sell knew, new to, too, two Homophone Usage Examples I too would like to have two of those pastries. Do you know if their parents will be there? James said he will sell that cell phone for a discount. If we read each sentence aloud, all of the underlined words sound the same, but in writing their spellings all differ. What Is the Difference Between Homophones and Homographs? Where homophones involve words that sound the same but have different meanings and spellings, other words have the same spelling but mean separate things and often have different pronunciations as well. These are known as homographs. Some common homographs include: bass live refuse bow minute right desert novel ring lead present wind Homograph Usage Examples I would never desert you if we were stuck in the desert. Mom and Dad will present the present to LaChandra tomorrow. Who knew we would wind up having so much wind during the game? If we read each of these sentences aloud, the underlined words sound different, but when we write them, each word pair's spellings are the same. Homophones and Homonyms What if we have two words that have the same pronunciation and spelling but mean different things—i.e., they are both a homophone and a homograph? We would refer to these words as homonyms. Some examples of homonyms are band, bark, bear, die, sign, and tie. Homonym Usage Examples When you have a chance, would you please help me tie my tie? Yngwie believes he lost his wedding band when he was playing in his last band. Even though the zoo employee said the bear was trained, I could not bear watching people pet it. When we read these sentences aloud, the underlined words all sound the same, and each word pair's spellings match. However, the words in each pair have different meanings. For good measure, let's recap the distinctions among homophones, homographs, and homonyms: Type Characteristics Example homophone same sound, different meaning and spelling blue, blew homograph same spelling, different meaning and sound live (adj.), live (v.) homonym same sound and spelling, different meaning tree bark; dog bark Another way to keep the distinctions is to recall the words by their roots. Each word's prefix is homo-, meaning "same." From there, we have -phōnos for "sounding" (homophone = "same-sounding"), the Greek origin graphein for "to write" (homograph = "same writing"), and the Greek origin onyma for "name" (homonym = "same name"). Related Topics [Gist or Jist: Which Version Is Correct?]( [Patients or Patience: Which Word Do You Need?]( [Confusing Words and Homonyms in English]( [View and comment on this article on our website.]( [Click here to watch our video on Quotation Marks]( Pop Quiz Identify the homophones in each sentence. Also determine if they are correct or incorrect in their applications. If any are incorrect, provide the correct homophone. 1. Are you saying than that we should rent a boat bigger then that one? 2. Farah's son is playing out in the sun. 3. Here are the four tacos you ordered fore your group. 4. The Blumenthals said their bringing they're projector and outdoor screen. 5. Give me a break! The front-left brake is squealing again. The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation by Lester Kaufman and Jane Straus The Authority on English Grammar! Twelfth Edition Now Available An indispensable tool for busy professionals, teachers, students, homeschool families, editors, writers, and proofreaders. 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Both are incorrect Correct: Are you saying then that we should rent a boat bigger than that one? 2. Farah's son is playing out in the sun. Both are correct 3. Here are the four tacos you ordered fore your group. One is incorrect (fore) Correct: Here are the four tacos you ordered for your group. 4. The Blumenthals said their bringing they're projector and outdoor screen. Both are incorrect Correct: The Blumenthals said they're bringing their projector and outdoor screen. 5. Give me a break! The front-left brake is squealing again. Both are correct English In A Snap: 68 One-Minute English Usage Videos FREE Learn all about who and whom, affect and effect, subjects and verbs, adjectives and adverbs, commas, semicolons, quotation marks, and much more by just sitting back and enjoying these easy-to-follow lessons. Share them with your colleagues (and boss), children, teachers, and friends as well! [Click here to watch](. Forward this e-newsletter to your friends and colleagues. 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