Even professional writers make mistakes. I should know; I’ve been working as a content writer these past five years, and I’ve made more errors than I can count. Embarrassingly, some of those errors have even made their way into published copy. But that’s the way it goes sometimes.

It’s why you should become the best proofreader of your own work. You may think that you can just use Grammarly or another simple proofreading tool, but the reality is that all of them have their limits, and many particularly struggle with homophone errors. So let’s talk about what this means and how you can get better at finding and eliminating these mistakes from your own stories.

What are homophones?

Skip this section if you’re already aware of this, but homophones are words that sound the same but are spelled differently. They’re also notoriously common in the English language. For example, pear (fruit) vs. pair (two of a kind).

The following is far from an exhaustive list, but these are the most common mistakes that I’ve seen.

1. There, their, and they’re

These are among the most commonly confused homophones, and they all differ greatly in their meaning.

There refers to a location. “Go there right now.”

Their, on the other hand, is a possessive pronoun, like yours, hers, or his. “Is that their car?”

They’re is a contraction, meaning it’s two words mashed together; in this case, they and are. “They’re leaving tomorrow.”

2. Your and you’re

Your, like their, is a possessive word. “Is that your weapon?” You’re, on the other hand, is a contraction, like they’re. It means “You are.”

If you’re ever confused between these two options, just try to remember that the apostrophe stands for another letter, namely the ‘a’ in you are.

3. Its and it’s

As with the previous examples, this is another case of confusion between a possessive and a contraction.

“Its” is a possessive pronoun, as in this example: “Its bark is worse than its bite.”

“It’s” is a contraction that means “it is.”

4. Effect and affect

I see this all the time even from professional writers, but effect and affect aren’t just two ways to spell the same thing. Effect is a noun and refers to the result of something. “Sunlight has an effect on plant growth.”

Affect, on the other hand, is a verb (action word) that causes something. As an example, “Sunlight affects plant growth.”

These are the kinds of errors that even Google Docs sometimes misses. I’ve even had times in which Google Docs suggests changing effect to affect when it’s already correct. So you’re not the only one who might get confused about this.

5. Accept vs. except

These are two more common terms that writers confuse. Accept, again, is a verb, and according to Oxford it means “consent to receive something.” You should use it in contexts like, “Can you accept that?”

Except, on the other hand, refers to excluding something or someone. For example, “I would do that, except for the fact that I don’t want to.”

6. Two, too, and to

Each of these has a completely different usage. Two is the number.

Too is used in multiple ways, like describing “too much” of something or to say “also” as in the example, “I did that too.”

To is also used in a couple different ways, like “Going to the store,” or before a verb as in the example, “I want to run.”

7. Compliment and complement

To compliment someone means to say something nice about them.

To complement something is to add something that completes, fits well with, or improves on the original. “That blouse complements your outfit very well.”

In the same way, complimentary is used differently than complementary. Complimentary can refer to something that’s offered for free, like a complimentary tour. It can also be used to describe a way of speaking: “You’re being very complimentary.”

Complementary, again, means that something fits well or completes another thing. “That blouse is complementary to that skirt.”

8. Hear and here

Hear refers to taking in a sound. “I can hear you just fine.”

Here refers to a location. “Come here right now!”

9. Piece and peace

The ninth and final homophone I’ll talk about here is piece vs. peace. Piece means a part of something. “I want a piece of pie.” It’s also slang for a gun in some cases.

Peace, on the other hand, generally means freedom from disturbance or from war. It can be used in phrases like “peace of mind” or “at peace.”

Practice your homophone usage

As in the last “mistakes” post, I’ll give some examples with blanks for the homophones. See which ones you got right with the answer key at the end.

A. I’m sure it’s just the after(effects / affects) of the medication.

B. Is the dog hiding under (there / they’re / their) car?

C. (It’s / Its) a beautiful day.

D. He’s trying to give you a (complement / compliment).

E. I can’t (accept / except) what you’re saying.

F. The restaurant is open every day (accept / except) Friday.

G. Those (too / two / to) are (too / two / to) much.

H. (Your / you’re) face is ugly.

Answers are at the end of the post.

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Final thoughts

Homophones are never going to be easy, but hopefully this article made your proofreading a little easier. And hopefully it also makes it easier for the editors, beta readers, or critique partners who try to review your work. As always, let me know in the comments if you have any questions or suggestions, and follow me on my profile so you can see when I publish my next guide in this series.

Answer key:

A. effects

B. their

C. It’s

D. compliment

E. accept

F. except

G. two, too

H. Your