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The Written Word Sept 2008



Horrible Homonyms, Part One




A homonym  mimics the sound of another word, but means something else.  Here are a few examples:






Everyday/Every Day





This one is fairly easy. Just remember that hear is a verb meaning what one does with his ears. That leaves here, which is an adverb referring to a particular place.



I can’t hear you.

Did you hear what he said?

Come here. (Come where I am.)

Wish you were here.

It’s cold in here. (In this room)



They’re is a contraction for They Are

Their  is possessive

There refers to a place somewhere else.



They’re going to fly to Rio tomorrow.

They’re losing the game.

Did the boys ride their bicycles?

Have you seen their baseball? 

Stand over there by that tree so I can take your photo.

I want to go to Ireland. Have you ever been there?



Let’s take the easy one first. Bare means naked, empty, or unadorned. Bared is a verb, meaning to lay bare, to remove a covering.


Bear is the name of an animal, but it also means to endure. 



He walked across the bare floor. (Unadorned by carpet or rugs)

Her gown revealed her bare shoulders.

The wolf bared its teeth as we approached.

I think I saw a grizzly bear!

“I cannot bear the pain!” she screamed.

The chair collapsed, unable to bear the 700 pound man.

This is so sad! I am just unable to bear it!

 His suffering was too much to bear.


Born means to have been given life. It can be combined with words, for example American-born meaning born in America. Sometimes it is used to describe a talent supposedly held since birth, i.e., he’s a born leader.   


Borne means carried or endured and is the past-perfect tense of "bear" (as in to bear children.)



He was born on Christmas Day.

As a foreign-born girl, she had a difficult time with the language.

John was a born politician.

She’s a born liar.

The heavy sacks were borne on the backs of pack mules.
After she had borne twelve children, she called it quits.
Some of the women had never borne children.


Everyday/Every Day

Every day (two words) is a measurement of time, i.e., they did it every day

Everyday (one word) is an adjective meaning something commonly used or done.



The old man goes to the city every day.

I think we should do it every day.

She wore her everyday shoes, not her high heels. 

For the two of them, fighting was an everyday occurrence. (They fought every day.)



A strait is a narrow channel connecting two bodies of water, as in the strait of Gibraltar.


Straight means not curved or bent, as in “He drew a straight line.”



This is one of those confusing times when the apostrophe DOES NOT show possession. Who’s is a contraction, meaning “who is.” 

Whose is the possessive.



Who’s going to win the game?

Who’s going with us?

Whose little boy is that?

Whose car are we driving?


I hope you enjoyed this, and in the next issue, I'll be posting part two.