Words that sound alike to each other.

[Solaris]

I swear that I have seen people write stories and then spell a word that they are trying to say wrong. And then when you correct them in the review box, you would think that they would appreciate the correct spelling but they get extremely angred over your review of their story because you corrected their spelling of one or more words.

So here is a few words that I have seen people write down wrong.

There - Their. Example: There path was hindered by a huge boulder. Should be: Their path was hindered by a huge boulder.

Site - Sight. Example: Their site was blocked by many people. Should be: Their sight was blocked by many people.

Those two are the major ones that I see misspelled the most. But I am sure that there are several others that are done incorrectly too. If you know of any words that sound alike and you know the correct spelling, please add them to this list.

Beth

[Melrick]

Oh yes, "there - their" errors really bug me.

Another similar one I've seen a number of times is "they're - there". As in, "There (or sometimes 'their') going down the street." Instead of "They're going down the street." It's not hard to work out the correct word if you just think about it.

[bitBlackmage]

Hmm... sometimes I do make simple mistakes like that. Often enough I'm not really paying attention (see: zoned out), but I usually go back and correct them when I notice them. I like when people tell me I messed up somewhere--it's likehaving an assistant.

Here's another:

When/win

[Melrick]

Here's another mistake many people make, to-too: "He was to tired to get out of bed" instead of "He was too tired to get out of bed." And there's plenty of other screw-ups people make with to-too.

[SkyaraSnow]

Ugh....Their, They're, and There. That one frustrates me to no end. We all should be over the age of 18 on here, so we all should know how to use these.

Alot-A lot. It took me ages to fix that one. Now I cringe when I see it used the first way.

Been-Ben. One is a name, one is not.

There's many others, but I can't remember them.

[cu-kid9]

Oh, I have lists of this stuff in my head!

"all of a sudden" not "all of the sudden"

"Alright" is "all right" (much like alot and a lot).

"due/do" and "it's/its" (I actually make that last mistake more than I would like to admit)

This one makes me cringe every time I see it: "then" and "than" Although they don't really sound alike, I see this mistake more than any other out there. "Than" is used for comparisons, "then" refers to time...I really wish people would start getting this one right.

[bitBlackmage]

Ugh....Their, They're, and There. That one frustrates me to no end. We all should be over the age of 18 on here, so we all should know how to use these.

Alot-A lot. It took me ages to fix that one. Now I cringe when I see it used the first way.

Been-Ben. One is a name, one is not.

There's many others, but I can't remember them.

Age need NOT apply. Seriously.

Especially if you simply forget or are dyslexic or anything. It's not like people do it on purose.

[Harley Quinn hyenaholic]

To/Too/Two.

And all the examples above.

Now everybody makes spelling mistakes once in a while. And sometimes even computers miss spelling errors. But the above are just an example that the writer can't be arsed to read their own work. No wonder it sucks. If they can't bother to go over their own spelling, their own grammar, their own plot, hell, if they can't even arse themselves to turn on their Office document writer thing's spell-checker, they really are stupid.

"Hey, I've already WRITTEN it, why arse myself to READ it? I'll just throw a hasty spasm attack when somebody reviews and tells me the writing is terrible, or asks why I can't spell for cookies and that my fic sucks."

Me, I go over a chapter multiple times before I put it up. Usually because it's just been on my computer for so long. It still sometimes has a few mistakes I miss, and I hate missing them. I even hate punctuation errors. But going over it is vital.

[cu-kid9]

Age need NOT apply. Seriously.

Especially if you simply forget or are dyslexic or anything. It's not like people do it on purose.

I agree. I don't think these mistakes have anything to do with age. I think the point here, though, is that there are people out there who make these mistakes continuously (like every sentence, not just every once in awhile. We all understand clumsily fingers and staring at something so long you don't see the mistakes anymore) and do nothing to correct them. If you know you have problems with things like these, then have someone look over your work.

Another one is "you're" and "your"...I did this one tonight while I was writing...

"whose" and "who's" saw this one over and over in a grad student's paper tonight (along with a myriad of others)...a grad student...seriously.

[Raphaella]

Well I have to say that I find this thread informative and I will take these things to heart. I have not written much since High School and so my grammar knowledge is pretty much, horrid. I have always been a bit dyslexic too, and so I am constantly writing from as form, I know I do it, and still I sometimes miss it.

Also I write with MS office. There is a pretty good spellchecker, but when I don't know how a word is spelled correctly, I may accidentally choose the completely wrong word from the list of suggestions it gives. For the longest time I was writing decision as diction and I hadn't the foggiest, I am constantly re-reading what I write and my mind just fills in the mistakes.

I need a good beta, that's my problem. I use the online dictionary to death as well, but when you don't really know how a word is spelled it can be hell trying to find it. I read a lot and so I have a fairly good vocabulary and it's disheartening when you want to use a specific word and can't spell it! I have heard some people insinuate that if you can't spell a word you shouldn't use it, but I disagree. I say if you don't know what a word means you shouldn't use it.

It is hard to find a good beta here. I have posted for one, but alas, none have answered. I don't want to go spamming for betas, you know? Thank you guys and gals all the same though. I will try to read my stories more carefully and watch out for things like than and then.