The Grammar Witch

Warning: Hazardous Homophones

The English language has lots of words that sound the same but have different spellings and meanings. Watch out because unless your spell check is smarter than mine, it won’t catch these little devils.

site/sight/cite
Here’s one I see frequently in student papers when writers are referring to sources, that is, when they cite a source. The other site means location as in website or “The grassy circle is a good site for a May Day celebration.”

rein/rain/reign
We’re all familiar with the one in the middle, but are you sure which one is used to control a horse and which one to describe what a monarch does?

cue/queue
This one is rare because Americans say “line” (while the British say queue) when we have to stand in one, and we know that cue is a “signal to do something” or “a long, tapering stick used to play pool with.”

weather/whether
We talk about the weather a lot in Oregon; whether it’s rain or shine, we notice it.

symbols/cymbals
Which ones is your lit professor likely to ask you about, and which ones makes noise when you smash them together?

there/their/they’re
We all know the difference among these three, but your spell check doesn’t. Also, refrain from using contractions in your writing unless you mean to be informal.

its/it’s
You should know this one because it was in a previous Grammar Witch column. Stand in the corner if you don’t, and immediately after that buy yourself a writing handbook. Diana Hacker’s A Pocket Style Manual is my recommendation.

advice/advise
These aren’t, strictly speaking, homophones (let’s call them “near kin”) because we pronounce them differently, but they are close enough to be confusing. Just remember one is a verb and the other a noun.

adapt/adopt
More of the same, these two are close in meaning as well as appearance. One means “to adjust or become accustomed to”; the other means “to take as one’s own.” Observe this example: “Our family adopted a Vietnamese orphan, who quickly adapted to his new surroundings.”

adverse/averse
Close enough to be confusing, averse means “opposed” or “reluctant,” and adverse means “unfavorable” as in “I am averse to your proposal because it could have an adverse impact on the economy.”

effect/affect
I saved the most dangerous pair for last. If you wanted to, you could argue they are pronounced differently; but if you listen to how most of us pronounce them in real sentences, you won’t hear a distinction. This must be why they are used incorrectly so much of the time not just by student writers but by those that get published regularly.

QUIZ (select the correct form appearing in parentheses)

1. The extinction of one species is likely to (effect/affect) the status of others.

2. Repeal of apartheid laws has had no (effect/affect) on prejudice.

3. Cutbacks will (effect/affect) more than 250,000 firms.

4. Lake Marion is (uneffected/unaffected) by GSX landfill.

5. The drug did not (effect/affect) the disease, and it had several adverse side (effects/affects).

HELP: Affect is usually a verb meaning “to influence” while effect is usually a noun meaning “result.” Try substituting these in the above sentences. You should know that effect can also be a verb meaning “to bring about” as in “Only the president can effect such a dramatic change,” but this is a less frequent use than its use as a noun. MORE HELP: Have a good dictionary handy to keep hazardous homophones under control.

BONUS POINTS: Read back over this column and notice how punctuation is placed when it occurs next to quotation marks.

Thanks to James J. Kilpatrick’s “The Writer’s Art” column in The Oregonian(11/21/92) for describing homophones as hazardous.