... because some of us need to be schooled!
I'm a teacher and a Grammar Nazi, and it drives me nuts to see grown women mutilate the English language in their fanfics, so I'm going to start posting a grammar tip a day in this thread. If you care at all about the grammar side of good writing, read, learn, and apply them!
Unit 1: Homophones
Homophones are groups of words that sound the same, but are spelled differently. The misuse of homophones is my absolute biggest grammar pet peeve, so I thought I'd start there. I'll post a pair of commonly misused homophones per day. If you are guilty of mixing them up, go back and see if you can correct them in your stories!
Today's words...
Your/You're:
Your shows ownership. I love your new shoes! The new shoes belong to YOU, so they're YOUR shoes.
You're is a contraction that means "you are." You're wearing new shoes! YOU ARE wearing new shoes, so the contraction YOU'RE fits here.
If you get confused on which one to use, just ask yourself, "Would it make sense to say 'you are' here instead of 'your/you're'?" If the answer is YES, you use the contraction you're. If the answer is NO, you use your.
Lose/Loose:
Not true homophones because they don't sound the same, but they're mixed up so often, I thought I'd throw them on this list too.
Lose is a verb. You can lose your keys; you can lose the game; you can lose a loved one. Lose only has ONE O. Yes, just one. No, it doesn't follow the rules of English; it's just one of those exceptions. Get used to it!
Loose is an adjective. If you lose weight, your clothes will be loose. (See how I used them both in the same sentence? See the difference?)
If you get confused on how to spell lose, simply get out your Millennium or Never Gone CD and look at the back. The Backstreet Boys have recorded two lovely songs with lose in the title: "Don't Wanna Lose You Now" and "Lose It All." THERE IS NO EXCUSE FOR A BSB FAN TO MISSPELL LOSE!!!
