All it takes is a single tweet or text for some people to reveal their poor grasp of the English language.
Homophones - words that sound alike but are spelled differently - can be particularly pesky.
Regardless, you should never choose incorrectly in these 9 situations:
1. "Your" vs. "You're"
"Your" is a possessive pronoun, while "you're" is a contraction of "you are."
Example 1: You're pretty.
Example 2: Give me some of your whiskey.
2. "It's vs. "Its"
Normally, an apostrophe symbolizes possession. As in, "I took the dog's bone." But because apostrophes also replace omitted letters - as in "don't" - the "it's" vs. "its" decision gets complicated.
Use "its" as the possessive pronoun and "it's" for the shortened version of "it is."
Example 1: The dog chewed on its bone.
Example 2: It's raining.
3. "Then" vs. "Than"
"Then" conveys time, while "than" is used for comparison.
Example 1: We left the party and then went home.
Example 2: We would rather go home than stay at the party.
4. "There," vs. "They're," vs. "Their"
"There" is a location. "Their" is a possessive pronoun. And "they're" is a contraction of "they are."
Use them wisely.
5. "We're" vs. "Were"
"We're" is a contraction of "we are," and "were" is the past tense of "are."
6. "Affect" v. "Effect"
"Affect" is a verb and "effect" is a noun.
There are, however, rare exceptions. For example, someone can "effect change" and "affect" can be a psychological symptom.
Example: How did that affect you?
Example: What effect did that have on you?
7. "Two" v. "Too" v. "To"
"Two" is a number.
"To" is a preposition. It's used to express motion, although often not literally, toward a person, place, or thing.
And "too" is a synonym for "also."
8. "Into" v. "In to"
"Into" is a preposition that indicates movement or transformation, while "in to," as two, separate words, won't.
Example: We drove the car into the lake.
Example: I turned my test in to the teacher.
In the latter example, if you wrote "into," you're implying you literally changed your test into your teacher.
9. "Alot"
"Alot" isn't a word. This phrase is always two, separate words: a lot.