HOMONYMS, HOMOPHONES & HOMOGRAPHS They can sound the same.
They can look the same.
Some of the easily confused pairs are homonyms.
These are words that either sound exactly the same or look exactly the same.
Homonyms that sound the same (e.g., bare/bear)
are called homophones, and homonyms that look the same
(e.g., lead of a pencil/lead a team)
are called homographs. In writing, homophones are the ones that cause problems.
Most of the easily confused pairs of words are near homonyms.
In other words, they are pairs that nearly sound or look the same.
SPELLING ERRORS UNDERMINE YOUR WORK A spellchecker cannot save you from everything.
Choosing the wrong one in a pair of easily confused words is usually classified
as a spelling error rather than a grammatical error, but you cannot rely on your
spellchecker – or your grammar checker for that matter – to spot your error because
there's a fair chance the error will be a feasibly sound piece of English text.
He had bare hands. ✓ no gloves
He had bear hands. ✓ hands like a bear
He went forth. ✓ forward
He went fourth. ✓ one after third
Any errors in your work – especially common ones –
will undermine your credibility, and this can prevent your readers from accepting your message.
Put another way, your readers are likely to concentrate on your mistakes rather than what you're saying.
