Similar-sounding words often have very different meanings!   Think of the likes of   two/to/too         accept/except          there/their/they’re

Some commonly-confused homonyms are:

complement  (the flavour of the basil complements the tomato)  *See below for more info about the use of complementary.

compliments (I get all the compliments) – think about it as ‘I’ get all the compliments

dependant  someone who depends on somebody for support (noun)   

dependent (you are dependent on me to pick you up from school even though you are a very independent child)

it’s (only ever used for it is or it has) It’s a lovely day

its (plural or ownership – the badger wagged its tail – never has a possessive apostrophe)

licence  formal permission from an authority to do something

license  to give permission or licence to do (a club is licensed to serve alcohol)

practice (ice is a noun – a doctor’s practice)

practise (practise your spelling)

principal (the school principal is my pal  – a handy way to remember this)

principle

stationery (e in envelopes) stationary – the car was stationary

Similar sounding words

Pour and pore You pore over words in a book. You pour yourself a glass of wine while poring through magazines.

Lose and Loose. If you lose your passport, you’ll need to advise the Embassy. The passport fell out when the strap came loose.

Quiet and quite. Please be quiet, the baby is asleep.  The baby is quite a good sleeper

 Your and You’re.  Your phone is ringing.  You’re (You are) taking your time to pick up your phone.

Prostate = men can suffer prostate problems (or cancer) from this gland. Example: Being over 50, he had his prostate checked by the doctor.       Prostrate = to lie on the ground facing downwards.  Example: She lay prostrate on the timber floor.

Elicit and illicit. They may sound the same, but you don’t want to be caught with the wrong one. Elicit s to evoke or draw out. Illicit is forbidden.  Examples: The joke elicited chuckles from the audience.  The bag full of illicit drugs was no laughing matter.

Ellipsis and Ellipses

Ellipsis is a punctuation mark of three dots, used to indicate either missing text or that a sentence is incomplete. Example: “I enjoyed the weekend … best time in a while,” said Jo.  Example: This final page reveals whether this story continues…

Ellipse is a regular symmetrical oval shape. Example: The ellipse has a radius of 4cm.

Ellipses is the plural form for both of the above!  Example: Use ellipses sparingly in your writing. Example: She drew repeating ellipses alongside squares and triangles.

Canon and cannon

Cannon: this is a weapon typically defined by a cylindrical bore, explosive charge and some kind of projectile.

Canon: this is a rule by which something is judged, or a collection of sacred books.

Canon: a brand of camera.

Breech, breach, broach, brooch

Breech: when referring to ‘breech’ birth.

Breach: to break through a barrier or the surface of water (whales).

Broach: to raise for discussion.

Brooch: an ornament or piece of jewellery attached with a pin.

What about Affect vs. Effect? 

Affect   To have an influence on or cause a change in: Inflation affects the buying power of the dollar/To act on the emotions of; touch or move/To attack or infect, as a disease: Rheumatic fever can affect the heart.

Effect  Something brought about by a cause or agent; a result/The power to produce an outcome or achieve a result; influence: The drug had an immediate effect on the pain. The government’s action had no effect on the trade imbalance/ A scientific law, hypothesis, or phenomenon: the photovoltaic effect. |Advantage; avail: used her words to great effect in influencing the jury.

Grammar Rules for Affect and Effect

If you are talking about a result, then use the word “effect.”

• Example: What effect did the loss have on the team?

Use the word “effect” if one of these words is used immediately before the word: into, on, take, the, any, an, or and.

• Example: The prescribed medication had an effect on the patient’s symptoms.
• Example: In analyzing a situation, it is important to take the concepts of cause and effect into consideration.

To describe something that was caused or brought about, the right word to use is effect.

• Example: The new manager effected some positive changes in the office. (This means that the new manager caused some positive changes to take place in the office.)

Affect can be used as a noun to describe facial expression.

• Example: The young man with schizophrenia had a flat affect.
• Example: The woman took the news of her husband’s sudden death with little affect.

 Affect can also be used as a verb. Use it when trying to describe influencing someone or something rather than causing it.

• Example: How does the crime rate affect hiring levels by local police forces?
• Example: The weather conditions will affect the number of people who come to the county fair this year.

 Complementary and Complimentary (from the Oxford Dictionary)

Unsurprisingly, the adjectives relating to compliment and complement also cause confusion. Complimentary has two meanings. It can mean ‘expressing admiration or praise’: