These must be the most abused homonyms in the English language. It is such a turnoff to see them misused. Honestly, no matter what someone's education level is, this mistake will make them appear stupid. Why does the confusion persist?
2006-12-16 19:09:08 · 6 answers · asked by allimarie 3 in Education & Reference ➔ Words & Wordplay
The confusion persists because people just don't care. It's the same with to/too/two.
It used to drive me crazy when my husband would use the wrong words in writing me letters and such, but I've learned to ignore it, at least in him. At least when I was in school, they tried drilling this into our heads, but people still don't get it. It is frustrating.
I also *like* were/we're/where used as the same word.
2006-12-16 21:34:48 · answer #1 · answered by desiderio 5 · 2⤊ 1⤋
It's pretty easy, but can be trouble for people who don't read or are learning English as a Second Language. For the longest time I was always spelling "their" wrong, writing "thier". I actually had a coworker who was working on her Phd in English lieterature who had the same problem.
It seems people are always mixing up "you're" and "your" as well. I blame the Interwebs.
2006-12-17 03:16:31 · answer #2 · answered by brickity hussein brack 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Zen penguin, the asker is not being condescending at all. It is a reasonable expectation that people should know the difference between 'their, they're and there'. They're not difficult. Personally I never get them mixed up - and it's not that I think I'm such a bloody marvel. It's more that I paid attention and decided to learn.
It would be good if people also knew when to use "its" and "it's", when to use "your" and "you're" and to know that "a lot" should be written as two separate words. These seem to be the main offences.
2006-12-17 03:59:41 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 2⤋
dyslexia sometimes for me...to, and too also. that's why i try to proof read everything i write. i catch them most of the time, but when i don't and find it at a later date, i feel like an eejit. you would not believe the professionals, such as teachers and psychologists i've worked with though who have awful spelling, syntax, and grammer usage. that's really embarrassing!!
2006-12-17 03:18:14 · answer #4 · answered by pirate00girl 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Maybe, it's not about stupidity in grammar. . . it is all about carelessness, one can make it right if he/she could care to recheck what he/she wrote and how it is used. It's because many of us don't care about grammar as long as the person we're talking to understands what we mean
2006-12-17 03:15:52 · answer #5 · answered by Maneth D 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They're - is like they are, but they're, it's a contraction
Their - means to belong to someone.
There - I went to school over there.
kind of make sense?
2006-12-17 03:13:27 · answer #6 · answered by ZackyVPresents6661 1 · 1⤊ 3⤋