Homophones
Homophones are words which sound the same but which have different origins and different spellings. Arms and alms, for example. Altar and alter. Arms are weapons from the verb meaning to arm oneself. Alms are gifts of charity. The word alms isn’t a plural word but from the Old English almysse, which in turn is from the Greek word for ‘charity’. Altar is from the Latin altaria meaning ‘a high place’, whereas alter is from the Latin alter meaning ‘other’.
Sometimes the difficulty arises when a word is borrowed from another language. The word buoy is from Dutch and should have had the spelling boy but because it was pronounced bwoy in Dutch it was given the u to indicate the different pronunciation. Now it has dropped that pronunciation but retained the strange spelling!
Again, when two words are pronounced in exactly the same way, you sometimes need a memory-jogger to help you sort out which one you want. Stationary and stationery. Remember there is an envelope (an e) in stationery. Currant and current. Remember that you can eat a currant – the one with the a.
Here are some more homophones that are often confused.
bare / bear - Don’t confuse the spelling of bare, to be uncovered, with bear which sounds the same. A bear is a large animal with short fur. To bear something is to hold or carry it.
bizarre / bazaar - Don’t confuse the spelling of bizarre with bazaar (a kind of market) which sounds the same. The word bizarre means ‘unusual’ and its spelling certainly is! Remember especially the arre ending. It comes from Basque, a language spoken in parts of Spain and France.
boar / boor / bore - Don’t confuse the spelling of boar, a male pig, with boor or bore which sound the same. A boor is a rude person, and a bore is a hole made by drilling, or a dull person.
feat / feet - An action requiring great skill, courage or strength is a feat. Don’t confuse the spelling of feat with feet which sounds the same but is spelt with a double e. Your feet are at the end of your legs.
foul / fowl - Don’t confuse foul with fowl which sounds the same. If something is foul, it is extremely unpleasant. A fowl is a bird kept for eating or for its eggs, such as a hen, duck or turkey.
jeans / genes - Don’t confuse the spelling of jeans with genes which has the same sound. Jeans are something you wear, while genes are the units in the body responsible for passing on physical characteristics, like blue eyes, from parents to their children.
prey / pray - Prey is an animal hunted for food by another Don’t confuse the spelling of prey with pray which has the same sound. When someone prays, they talk to the god they believe in.
principal / principle - Don’t confuse principal, the head of a school, with principle which has the same sound. A principle is a general truth or rule.
there / their / they’re - There means in or at a particular place: The book is there, on the top shelf. Don’t confuse the spelling of there with their or they’re, both of which have the same sound. Their is a form of they that shows something belongs to them: The boys are with their mother. They’re is a short form of they are.
strait / straight - Don’t confuse strait, which is a narrow channel connecting two large bodies of water, with straight which describes something with no bends.