Developed by Jeniffer Viscarra

Commonly Confused Words

Brought to you by Your

University Learning Center
AC I 160 / PC 247
FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERISTY
 Introduction
In the English language there are some words that
are spelled differently but sound exactly the same,
and there are some words that are spelled the
same but are pronounced differently. Then, there
are those words that do not share the same
spelling or pronunciation but are often confused.
These are your commonly confused words.
Introduction
Homonyms
Its / Its
Your / Youre
To / Two / Too
Lose / Loose
There / Their / Theyre
Confusables
Belief and Relief
Life / Live
Where / Were
Been / Being
This / These
Everyday / Every day
Then / Than
 Its and Its
This is one of the most troublesome pairs because
the possessive pronoun ITS does not carry an
apostrophe as in: The cats claws.

Since this is a possessive pronoun, it may help to

think of the S in ITS as already belonging to the
word.
The apostrophe is used in the contraction ITS
(short for it is).

Its common for the cat to lick its claws.

 Your and Youre
Again, this is a case of a possessive pronoun and
a contraction.
YOUR shows that something belongs to you.
YOURE is short for You are.

Youre wasting your time with this project.

 To, Too, and Two
TO
preposition
Walk to the car (toward)
infinitive indicator
To skate
TOO can mean also or indicate degree
TWO is the number following one

The two girls wanted to go to the skating rink too, but

it was too late.
 Lose and Loose
With this pair, you have to distinguish between
the verb and the adjective
TO LOSE (v) is to be unable to find
Notice there is only one O in To and Lose
TOO LOOSE (adj) means its not tight or
fastened enough
Notice there are two Os in Too and Loose
To Lose a ring because its too loose is infuriating.
 Their , Theyre, and There
THEIR: (possessive pronoun)
Belonging to them
THEYRE: (contraction) They are
THERE: (adv) At or in that place (primary def.)

Theyre leaving their tired dog over there.

 Belief and Relief
Because they sound a lot alike, writers often switch
BELIEF and BELIEVE and RELIEF and RELIEVE.

Just remember that the words that end in VE are the VErbs. The
others are nouns.

I believe that parents beliefs shape their childrens

use of prescription drugs.

The aspirin did not relieve my headache as the label

promised; I felt relief only after I had a good nap.
 Life and Live
These words can get very complicated.
LIFE (long vowel sound like pie) is a noun, whose
plural is LIVES (long vowel sound)
LIVE is a verb (short vowel sound like in) and the
singular present tense of that verb is LIVES (also
short vowel sound)
LIVE (with the long vowel like pie) is an adjective
that is short for alive.

In his life, the doctor saved many lives.

I live in Miami, but my brother lives in Tampa.
I love to watch Saturday Night Live.
 Where and Were
Actually, these words dont sound alike at all.
But their similarity in spelling and improper
pronunciation often cause these to be used
incorrectly.

WHERE : (pronounced w+air or hw+air)

at or in what place.
WERE : (pronounced wur) past tense of are

Where were you hiding?

 A Little Trick
T HERE
W HERE

HERE
Think here

If you confuse There / Their, Where / Were and

Here/Hear Remember that the words that have to do
with place have the word HERE in them.
 Been and Being
This pair of words is related to the important
verb BE. But they have different uses.

BEING: the quality or state of

having existence (primary definition)
BEEN: is a past participle of BE, which means it
is always preceded by a helping verb (has, have)

Ms. Garcia has been recognized as a great

teacher and extraordinary human being.
 This and These
This and These are both determiners (noun
markers). This is used with singular nouns
while These is used for plural.

This book is heavy.

These books are heavy.
Remember: The one with only one vowel is the singular
determiner, and the one with two vowels is the plural!
 Every Day and Everyday
To determine which one of these is appropriate,
ask yourself whether you want to say each day
or whether you are looking for an adjective that
means common or ordinary.

Every day is special. Dont

weigh yourself down with
everyday concerns.
 Then and Than
Than is a conjunction used in comparisons
Then is an adverb denoting time.
Bob noticed that some
pigeons were much bigger
than others and then he
realized they werent
pigeons at all!
 Review: Remember the Difference?
Homonyms
Its / Its
Your / Youre
To / Two / Too
Lose / Loose
There / Their / Theyre
Confusables
Belief and Relief
Life / Live
Where / Were
Been / Being
This / These
Everyday / Every day
Then / Than
 Thank You for Joining
US!
You can also visit us at

BB: AC I 160 (305) 919-5927

UP: PC 247 (305) 348-2180
w3.fiu.edu/ulc

See You
There! (or is