Homonyms

Confusion over homonyms drives me nuts. (I know - it’s a short trip.)

People certainly don’t need to be grammar scholars to post a message here, but correct word usage can make a post more convincing.

they’re vs. there vs. their.

If you see an apostrophe in a word, it’s a conjunction (a word that joins words or groups of words). “They’re” is short for “they are.” “Their”, on the other hand, is a possessive. Whatever follows the word “their” belongs to “them.” And the word “there” is used when referring to a place, whether concrete (”over there by the building”) or more abstract (”it must be difficult to live there”).

Example: They’re overlooking their governing documents that are right there for them to read.

its vs. it’s

Again, the apostrophe indicates a conjunction. “It’s” is short for “it is.” On the other hand “its” is a possessive just like “his” or “hers”, and needs no apostrophe. Whatever follows the word “its” belongs to “it.”

Example: It’s true that its meaning is not clear.

Some day automatic grammar checkers will catch all this, but until then, it's a manual process for everyone to check their homonym usage.

Site and cite. A particular problem on internet discussions. I have had the occasion to warn you all about this before. Beware.

(All (mostly) in fun. And don't get me started about apostrophes. If you need a reminder check out

http://www.angryflower.com/aposter.html)

You're means you are as in, "You're going to need to read the documents."

Your is the possessive as in, "Your documents will give you that information."

Is there any way we could get a spellchecker on this forum? I think my replies would be better if we had one.
Jeanne

As you point out, Larry, incorrect punctuation, spelling, etc., can interrupt the flow for the reader--it can be a distraction. This means that the reader can miss the writer's possibly very important points or arguments.

It's a mistake for anyone to "judge" a writer's education by these kinds of errors. We all learned these rules in high school and elementary school. Highly educated folks can be terrible writers. Less well-educated people, e.g., both of my parents, can be very good writers.

Education is distinct from intelligence. I'm sure that we all know very intelligent people who have low levels of education. And highly educated people who aren't very bright!

Jeanne,

Here are 2 things that you can do on your own computer to spell check your posts.

1) Install the Google Toolbar on Internet Explorer. There is a spell check button that you can enable under the "Tools" section in the toolbar options. It works very well.

2) Switch to the Chrome browser. It does spell checking as you type, providing a squiggly red underline for misspelled words.

But as Larry points out, spell checking won't catch grammar mistakes.

Aaahhh, so right.

I once worked with a person who routinely used the non-standard word "irregardless." He was a high-level manager and a college graduate and should have known better.

Unfortunately, use of such non-standard English does undermine one's otherwise persuasive writing ability.

Bruce

My wife took grammar courses for fun

She drilled into me the we and I. She said you will be right over 90% of the time when I is we and me is us.

Bruce and I are going to lunch. Would you care to join Bruce and me.

We are going to lunch. Would you care to join us.

Someeone asks who are partners? Bruce, Harry, and I are is the reply.

Now not all rules fit. Like i before e except after c. Recieve....but receipt is an exception..LOL

The issue on chats is an informal discussion about issues. Grammar takes a back seat. Also some of us never learned to type as we hpeople to do that for us.....LOL

Carol

The Herndons have had a leak, and the Smith's house presently has one.

The apostrophe shows ownership according to my grammar is fun wife.

I would have screwed the pooch on that one....LOL

Carol

LOL

I know what you were trying to show and as I admitted.. I moight have screwed the pooch on it myself.

I will check with the grammar expert here. I could have typed it or explained it wrong to her...but I will check.

Totally irrelevant but amusing.

In most of the English-speaking world, the words "to" (toward), "too" (also), and "two" (one plus one) are all pronounced the same. My relatives in Wisconsin, however, have a slightly different pronunciation of the word "two." It comes out sort of like "T-U." They, TOO, may go TO the store but they buy T-U dozen eggs.

Is Rte. 17...Root 17...or Rout 17????