I think I was a grammar teacher in another life and all of the red marks I placed on the homework of Students of Flunkies Past have come back to haunt me in my current life. lol. No, seriously, I am going to drag this topic through the mud so that we can see what people think about or even know about the English language.
One thing that tickles me is to open up a note where a guy has written the wrong version of pen ( pin) and has no clue that “an” should not be used as a conjunction. These are the things that raise red flags to me. And when you point them out to help the guy from looking foolish in front of someone else, he curses you out and calls you superficial and stuck-up. I fight back the urge to yell.. “WELL, NEGRO, I CAN SPELL!!!” But it still bothers me that there are grown men who do not know the difference between these homophones.
hom-o-phone n : a word pronounced the same as another but differing in meaning, whether spelled the same way or not, as heir and air
The most popular homophones are affect/effect, capital/capitol, to/too/two, pen/pin, then/than, you’re/your, principle/principal, and my all time favorites they’re/their/there. These are the top words in the American English language that get misused on a daily basis. Somewhere along the way a person learned one and not the other, or they learned them both but not the difference between the two. Often times, the misuse of these words can be as huge of a mistake as that twix commercial where he called his boss Dumb-Ass instead of Due-Mass simply because it was spelled Dumass.
Each word has its own meaning, although they sound alike, and English speakers must respect that at all times in order to be properly understood. For example. If I said, “I’m going to the capitol” in an email to my cheating boyfriend, he may think that he had a few days to cheat because the “capital” of our country is hundreds of miles away, rather than the “capitol” building downtown which is only a few minutes away. When I was younger I learned that “capital” with an A was for places, cities and letters because place has an A in it and A is a letter and a city is a place so it just all runs together that way. Also, capitol with an O is for the building because capitol buildings have the round dome on top. Or how the principal was never your PAL because he always called my parents about my behavior & how my parents believed in the principle of respect. Other examples are:
Affect & Effect:
Then & Than:
To, Too, & Two:
- I drove my children to school in the minivan.
- There are too many people in the room.
- The two boys were always in trouble.
You’re & Your:
- You’re a shining example of a good business person.
- Your writing needs to be the best it can possibly be before you submit it to an editor.
So, 200 of my amazing men were asked:
Many do NOT know the difference between Their, There, and They’re. Can you use ALL 3 words in a sentence? If so, please write a sentence using them correctly.
And by the time my deadline to post this blog came around….. they responded as such:
- Boots: I spoke to Mike and Erica and they’re going to the show tomorrow./Give housing a call, we need to find out if that vacant building is their responsibility or ours./Hey, lets go see why all those police cars are over there.
- “Duke” Banner: hello how are you is ms .story in she over there while you going that way go threw their and get check in .where is the report they’re over here
- Code Name Bigsexy: some 1 is over there.they’re going to the movies and their in my favorite movie
- Live And Love or LAL: Why don’t you do it and stop asking these stupid questions [2deep: Did I mention that I don’t like this asshole?]
- Mr.Swaggtastikal: A lot of ppl dont knw their place in life. …….why u feel as though I cant come over there? …….They’re are to many ppl in my hose right now.
- DJ Urban Cowboy: THEY”RE often over THERE in THEIR house, across the street.
- Lateef25: I want to know their location There they go get them They’re always running out of soda at the store
- Chris C: She was protecting their business. I left the money over there. They’re all guilty. Did I pass?
- Cut From A Different Cloth: LOL smdh at the fact you are giving people a grammar test on [website] but here you go. Why are you over THERE on THEIR computer giving people on [website] a grammar test ??? Im sure THEY’RE plenty of other productive things you can be doing with your life. [2Deep: I’m sure THERE ARE…but this is much more entertaining to my soul.lmao]
- Don L: lol! english class! I wish I was there with you right now. I promise you their neighbors know my name. They’re going to love my cooking.
- Allen O: So, there they were, showing off thier assets–if you know what i mean–and God knows if they realize the kind of naughty crowd they’re attracting … they certainly got my attention.
My Favorite response came from :
- H.O. R: TO BE HONEST I DON’T REMEMBER WHICH IS WHICH BUT I NEVER STOP LEARNING
This is my favorite response because he was honest enough to tell a complete stranger that he did not know the answer, but was humble enough to mention that he will never stop learning. SO I sent him a note with the following examples in it:
There, Their, & They’re:
Their house was devastated by the hurricane.
There are twelve eggs in the basket.
They’re happy about their new home.
Their: shows ownership. As in “THEY” own this so it is Their house
There: is a place or location real or imaginary . As in she lives there, right there is your answer
They’re: a combining of the words They Are. SO instead of saying “They Are here”… you would say “They’re here.”
But my most eye-opening and inspirational response came from:
- Mr. Mayor**DARKSTARZ INC PREZ**: There will always be people who believe their way is best, but if they’re incorrect they could lose people they love and care about.
It helped me to see that I shouldnt judge people just because they don’t know what I know, and I even took the scores off of the guys who responded. I could be wrong… and I don’t want to lose these amazing guys who chose to respond. I applaud them for doing so and I appreciate them even more. They are helping me teach the world… and they deserve a round of applause for that! * Gives them a literal standing ovation in my office* My fidora is off to you fellas. I bet you never knew that by answering a question in your free time could help another man, another boy, another woman or girl to understand the difference in a few words. So, thank you for answering. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
My original intention in writing this blog was to see how simple words are misused daily and to possibly educate those who misuse the words. It really is a soft spot in my heart for guys and their education. I feel that we spend more time on our girls and not enough on our guys. If I have to do it alone, I will let our guys know just how important it is for them to appear just as intelligent as they truly are. I want them to value education and learning at any age. And I dont say that just because I think that an educated man is a sexy man,but because everyone deserves the benefits that come with being intelligent and appearing intelligent. I dont want opportunities closed to them because they misspell a few words. I know this first hand.When I was a teenager, my cousin’s ex-husband wanted to get a promotion but he misspelled every word he came in contact with so he hired me to re-write his notes and help with his paper. I was more than happy to do so because he is an intelligent man. VERY INTELLIGENT and I am proud of him. And as a person who saw it first hand, just the way he spelled things could have kept him from getting a job that he earned. Sucks, but it happens. Now he has been in that job for years. SO I just want to help, and I hope that no one takes offense to this post. It really is to help. I love everyone… even the ones who dont deserve it…lol. I’m not even going to spell check my own writing in this one….just to make it fair.
Sincerely,
~*My Mother’s Daughter*~
~*2Deep*~ Uncensored! 