Commonly Confused Words
Tutorial Services – Mission del Paso Campus
Many words in the English Language are commonly confused. Possibly, the most
confusing are possessives pronouns and contractions. Possessive pronouns do not
contain apostrophes, but contractions do; because, contractions are a combination of
two words. The apostrophe in the contraction, takes the place of the letter that is
deleted when the two words are combined.
Possessive Pronouns
Singular
1st person
2nd person
3rd person
Plural
my, mine
you
his, hers, its
our, ours
Your
their, theirs
Don’t Confuse Contractions with Possessive Case Pronouns
Its
It’s
Possessive. Belonging to it
contraction for, “it is”
Their
Possessive, belonging to them
They’re contraction for, “they are”
There Place, location
Your Possessive, belonging to you
You’re contraction for “you are”
Were past tense of “are”
We’re contraction for ”we are”
Where Place, (often a question)
Homophones
Words that sound alike, but have different meanings.
Be Careful when using the following homophones.
This singular, (This book)
These plural, (These books)
Whether A choice or condition
Weather atmospheric conditions, rain etc.
Too
Two
To
pair
pear
a set, two of a kind
fruit
pare
to cut off, or trim
also, overly
the number 2
preposition
Additional Notes
Incorrect
would of
could of
should of
must of
hisself
Real (I was real sad)
Saved C: Confusing Words
Correct
Would have
Could have
Should have
Must have
himself
Very (I was very sad)