Unit 21: Fakes and phrasals
Phrasal verbs and misspelt words
Select a unit
- 1Pop-ups
- 2Hidden talents
- 3Can't buy me love
- 4Travellers' tales
- 5The colleague from hell
- 6Jurassic mystery: unpacking the past
- 7Career changes
- 8Art
- 9Project management
- 10The dog ate my homework!
- 11The diary of a double agent
- 12Fashion forward
- 13Flat pack skyscrapers
- 14Extreme sports
- 15Food fads
- 16Me, my selfie and I
- 17Endangered animals
- 18A nip and a tuck: cosmetic surgery
- 19I'm really sorry...
- 20Telling stories
- 21Fakes and phrasals
- 22Looking to the future
- 23Becoming familiar with things
- 24From rags to riches
- 25Against the odds
- 26Our future on Mars?
- 27Where is it illegal to get a fish drunk?
- 28Dodgy dating
- 29Annoying advice
- 30I'll have been studying English for thirty weeks
Session 1
Do you find English spelling difficult? Don't worry, you're not alone! Many native speakers also have problems too. In this session there are some hints and tests to help you improve and feel more confident.
Activity 3
It's there
Same sound, different spelling
English has quite a few words that sound the same, but which have different spellings and meanings.
It's / its
Their / there / they're
Your / you're
It's over there.
Their cat had left its toys in the washing machine.
You're right, your train doesn't leave until 11.00.
These words are called homophones. Here are a few more examples:
allowed / aloud
break / brake
cell / sell
hear / here
no / know
right / write
sea / see
steel / steal
weight / wait
which / witch
whole / hole
Read the text and complete the activity
A tip for remembering which spelling is which
Look at the letters that are different, can you think of a connection between the meaning of the word and the different letter? For example:
Cell and sell: Sell is something that happens in a shop. Shop begins with S, that can help you remember that sell begins with s.
Hear and here: Hear is what you do with your ears. That can help you remember that when you mean hear with your ears the spelling is h - e - a - r.
Allowed and aloud: Something that is aloud, makes a sound. So use that to help you remember that the word aloud has ou in, just like sound.
Can you think of other examples to help you remember the homophones in the list?
To do
Here's a quiz to help you practise some of the homophones in the list.
Homophones
5 Questions
In each question choose the correct word or words to complete the sentence
Help
Activity
In each question choose the correct word or words to complete the sentence
Hint
Think of the meaning of the sentence.Question 1 of 5
Help
Activity
In each question choose the correct word or words to complete the sentence
Hint
Think of the meaning of the sentence.Question 2 of 5
Help
Activity
In each question choose the correct word or words to complete the sentence
Hint
Think of the meaning of the sentence.Question 3 of 5
Help
Activity
In each question choose the correct word or words to complete the sentence
Hint
Think of the meaning of the sentence.Question 4 of 5
Help
Activity
In each question choose the correct word or words to complete the sentence
Hint
Think of the meaning of the sentence.Question 5 of 5
Excellent!Great job!Bad luck!You scored:
End of Session 1
How did you do? Don't worry if you made a few mistakes. It takes time to get good at spelling. In the next session we leave the topic of spelling and move on to look at some phrasal verbs. Now, that is something to look forward to, isn't it?
Session Vocabulary
Homophones
These are words that have the same pronunciation but different spelling and meanings. There are many of these in English, for example:
allowed / aloud
break / brake
cell / sell
hear / here
its / it's
no / know
right / write
sea / see
steel / steal
their / there / they're
weight / wait
which / witch
whole / hole
