English spelling can be tricky to master, partly because of the many influences on the English language over time. Luckily, there are strategies to help you remember correct spellings.
Homophones are words that sound identical but have different spellings and meanings. Finding ways to remember which one to use is helpful as getting these wrong can really confuse a reader.
Common examples include:
witch and which
too, two and to
sight, site
through, threw
whether, weather
they’re, their and there
break, brake
right, write
waist, waste
where, wear, were
coarse, course
its, it’s
stare, stair
male, mail
weak, week
so, sew, sow
by, bye, buy
tail, tale
bored, board
piece, peace
serial, cereal
aloud, allowed
flour, flower
sent, scent, cent
in, inn
It is useful to think of ways to remember the correct homophone for your sentence. You might like to use pictures or, as with your spellings, you could make up a rhyme or mnemonicA tool to help the memory, often by using a memorable pattern of sounds, letters or words. to help you.
For example:
To/too/two
To – remember just the one 'o' to get from one place to another.
Too – means 'as well as'. Remember the spelling by thinking that it has ‘toooooooooooo’ many ‘o’s.
Two – remember this by thinking of the ‘w’ meaning ‘2’.
Waste/waist
Remember the difference between ‘waste’ and ‘waist’ with the sentence:
‘I have a waist’. The ‘i’ in the sentence refers to the ‘i’ in the spelling.
Aloud/allowed
Remember that if you’re speaking something aloud, it will be ‘loud’
