Homonyms

It is well-known that I am a grammar Nazi, so I am going to post a few basic grammar rules that you can follow so that even if you don't know what you're talking about, you at least sound smart. I feel it is my job to teach you this stuff, since your English teachers in school obviously did not.

Today's topic is homonyms. Homonyms are words that sound the same, but have different spellings. Don't let them fool you. They are, in fact, completely different words.

Example number one: They're, their, and there. "They're" is a contraction of "they are", "their" is possessive (it shows ownership for those of you with limited vocabulary), and "there" refers to the location of something.

Example number two: You're and your. "You're" is a contraction of "you are", and "your" is possessive.

Example number three: To, too, and two. "To" is a preposition (it links nouns, pronouns, and phrases to another word in the sentence, again for those of you with limited vocabulary), "too" is another word for "also" or can also show the extent of something (i.e. this grammar stuff is too easy), and two is a number.

These are the big ones that I can name off the top of my head, so we'll leave it at that for now. Here is a quiz where you can test your homonym skills:

1. (To, Too, Two) many people screw this simple stuff up.

2. Many people judge (you're, your) intelligence by how well you speak.

3. People need to proofread (they're, their, there) work.

4. The Green Bay Packers went (to, too, two) the Super Bowl and won!

5. If you don't understand this stuff, (you're, your) probably not very smart.

6. (They're, Their, There) is no reason why you should get any of these wrong.

7. The Green Bay Packers won the first (to, too, two) Super Bowls.

8. The Packers could do it again next year because (they're, their, there) going to have several players back from the injured reserve.

Answers:

1. Too

2. your

3. their

4. to

5. you're

6. There

7. two

8. they're

Grading scale:

8 correct - C

1-7 correct - F

If you did not get 100% on that quiz, you are stupid. Stay tuned for verb conjugation, plurals, and pronoun case.