Power Point that covers easily confused and misspelled words

1. Writing Mini Lesson

2.  There are many words that are commonly
misused or easily confused.
 It may be because they sound alike or are
spelled alike.
 There, their, they’re, accept/except,
your/you’re, its/it’s, etc.
 We will review and practice some commonly
confused and misused words.

3.  Do you mix up there, their and they’re?
 Do you use your when you should be
using you’re?
 These are common word mistakes!
 It is important to use these common
words correctly because they are used
often in writing.

4.  The longest of these (they're) is the easiest not to
get wrong. The apostrophe indicates that a letter is
missing, in this case a:
 They're = they are
e.g. They're going to the club.
 Their is a possessive word that shows ownership of
something.
e.g. Their house isn't as big as ours.
 There is a word with many uses, indicating a place
or position.
e.g. My new Honda Insight is over there. There is a
cat on its roof.
 In this example the word there takes two subtly
different meanings.

5.  This is one of the most common confusions. The
problem here is similar to that of there and
they're, in that you're is also a contraction.
 You're is really you are, the apostrophe
showing the a is missing:
e.g. "You're really tall and your spiky hair
makes you seem taller!"
 Your is a possessive pronoun (used with hair
above)
e.g. your car, your phone, etc.
 One common misuse of the word your is in
questions such as:
"Hope your okay."
 It should, of course, be
"Hope you're okay."

6.  To is a preposition, meaning that it's used with a noun or
pronoun. Most people use it all the time.
e.g. "Kylie danced to the music". To has a massive
range of uses and meanings, too many to go into here!
[Ed. Did you see what we did there?]
 Too has a number of meanings.
As well: e.g. "Gemma wanted to go on holiday too, but
dogs weren't allowed on the plane."
In excess: e.g. "Vic had added too much flour to the cake
mixture."
More (of something) than ideal: e.g. "Mercury was too
close to the Sun to be habitable."
 Two is the number 2 Eg. I have 2 favorite teachers.

7.  The first two of these words are pronounced the same
way. They have a very different meaning:
 Threw = past tense of "throw"
e.g. Jimmy threw the ring at Emiko.
 Through has a number of related meanings, but mostly
it's all about completing something.
e.g. Elvis walked through the door.
e.g. John was through with work for the day.
 And how about this one:
e.g. Gareth was through with mosquitoes coming
through the window!
 Thorough is completed work with no mistakes. Here it is
in its adverb form:
e.g. Keith cleaned his car thoroughly at least once a
week.

10. It’s up to you.
It's means It is! (and sometimes it has).
The apostrophe -s creates the contraction
for the verb is (or has).

11. 2. I couldn't tell _______________ she was
serious or not.
•whether
•weather

12. I couldn't tell whether she was
serious or not.
The word weather refers to climatological
conditions.

13. 3. ____________ are too many possible
answers to this question.
•There
•Their
•They’re

14. There are too many possible
answers to this question.
The correct response is there. They're means
they are, and their is the possessive form of they.

15. 4. _________ going to help me with this?
•Whose
•Who's

16. Who’s going to help me with
this?
Whose is the possessive form of
who.

17. 5. Reading that book had a peculiar
_______________ on Evelyn.
•effect
•affect

18. Reading that book had a peculiar
effect on Evelyn.
Remember affect is usually a
verb, effect is a noun

19. 6. I'm afraid she's going to _____________
her grandmother's wedding band.
•loose
•lose
•

20. I'm afraid she's going to lose her
grandmother's wedding band.
Remember lose has one “o” you
don’t want to “lose” more than
one thing

21. 7. She has apparently found it difficult to
___________ the circumstances.
•accept
•except
•

22. She has apparently found it difficult
to accept the circumstances.
Remember Accept is the verb.
Except is usually a preposition
meaning not including.

23. 8. My mother has been _______________
in bed all morning.
•lieing
•laying
•lying
•

24. My mother has been lying in bed all
morning.
Remember “laying” is used for
objects, “laying” carpet

25. 9. She apparently doesn't care
about ___________ origins in
antiquity.
it's
its

26. She apparently doesn't care about
its origins in antiquity.
It's means It is! (and sometimes it has). The
apostrophe -s creates the contraction for the verb
is (or has). This is perhaps the most often misused
word in English.

27. 10. It's usually hotter
__________ this in July.
•than
•then

28. It's usually hotter than this in July.
Use than to make comparisons.

29. 11. The politicians can't seem
to find an appropriate
___________ for the new
community college.
•cite
•sight
•site

30. The politicians can't seem to find an
appropriate site for the new
community college.
Site means a geographical spot
Sight is related to vision
Cite as in “cite” your sources

31. 12. I am completely
_________________ in this
course.
•uninterested
•disinterested

32. The politicians can't seem to find an
appropriate site for the new
community college.
Site means a geographical spot
Sight is related to vision
Cite as in “cite” your sources

33. 13. I'll be back in ______.
•a while
•awhile

34. I'll be back in a while.
A while is a noun. Can you wait awhile? (Awhile
[one word] is an adverb that can modify a verb.)

35. 14. When you are finished,
_________ to the next part of
the exam.
•proceed
•precede

36. When you are finished, proceed to
the next part of the exam.
Proceed is to go forward. Precede means to go
before.

37. 15. We need some new
_______________ for our
office.
•stationary
•stationery

38. We need some new stationery for
our office.
Remember “E” for envelope for stationery with an
“e”. Stationary means to stand still, like a stationary
bike.

39. 16. I like to have ice cream for
_________.
•desert
•dessert

40. I like to have ice cream for dessert.
Remember you always want 2 desserts- the one with
the 2 “s”

41. 17. Thanks. ________
welcome.
•Your
•You’re

42. Thanks. You’re welcome.
Remember your belongs to you, you’re is you are.
It should always be you’re welcome.

43.  Read your work aloud to see if it makes
sense
 Use a common word chart, bookmark or
checklist.
 These mistakes aren’t often picked up in
spell check so you really need to check
your work.
 Practice! Make sure you use them the right
way in your writing assignments.
 Say it in your head before you write it down,
ask yourself if you are using the right one!

44.  Don’t forget to complete Assign #14
Online Scavenger Hunt. It is worth 20
points.
 Please review your notes from Monday
before our review class on Friday.
 If you didn’t turn in Assign#13 or post on
the Graphic Organizer blog try to get
that in tomorrow.
 Questions?