English Words-Learn How to Write the Right Words

They say the English language is one of the hardest languages to learn. I have to agree and I had English parents and was born in Australia and I still have trouble compiling the right words to make a correct sentence.  Although that is not the aim of this article as I do not write the way professional writers write. 

I write the way I feel from the heart and do not look to see if it has a pronoun, noun, verb, adjective or any other form of English correctness.  Yes I have been told that some of my sentences are not what they call correct sentences. So I will explain what a sentence is but do not expect to see correct English in my articles nor in this one. 

According to research on the internet and what I was taught, a sentence is a number or group of words that express a complete  thought.  It can be as short or long as you like. To be a sentence it has to have a subject which can be a person or a thing (noun or pronoun) that shows what or who your sentence is all about.

A sentence also needs to show what action (verb) the person or thing is doing; here are a couple of examples of my interpretation of what a sentence entails:

Mary laughed.  Jack ran to the shop. Helen helped her mother in the kitchen.

That is where I will leave the sentence structure topic as then it becomes complicated and there are so many other things you need to understand.  To learn more do a search on Google to learn “how to write a complete sentence” there is plenty of information out there.

I am writing this mainly to help people understand some of the differences in words and the many different spellings and uses of the words, nothing more and nothing less. If you have any suggestions you can add to this or corrections then please let me know, I would be glad of the help.

English and American spelling is different

If you are writing articles for the UK it will be different to writing for America. I will write the English first then the American.

Here are a few examples:

Centre-center. Neighbour- neighbor. Organise-organize. Tyre -tire If unsure in most cases it is best to use the American spelling, although your spell check will show when it is wrong. Of course this will depend on which language it is set to UK English or USA English.

Then or than

The elephant is bigger than the lion.

We had lunch then caught the bus home.

Then as it was so cold we turned on the heater rather than freeze.

Bought or brought

We bought a drink at the shop, (you are buying something).

They brought the meat for the barbecue. (You bring or take something somewhere)

Words that sound the same and spelt different

I have only done the most commonly used of these words as there are literally thousands of words with the same or similar sounds with different meanings.

Two, too, to is a classical example of this:

Two people walked into a shop, (shows the number of people).

There were too many to put in one box so the other two were sent separate.

Their, there or they’re

Their dresses were too short, (shows it belongs to them).

There was a fight last night. (Not belonging to anyone, normal speech).

The fight was over their boyfriends, because they weren’t there with them.

They’re all going on the same bus. They’re short for they are.

Bear or bare

The polar bear was so white

The girl walked bare foot to the shops

The girl ran as fast as her bare feet could carry her away from the bear.

Tare or tear

The tare weight of a vehicle

A tear slid down her face when she saw the tear in her beautiful new dress.

Through, thru, or threw

Go in one side and out through the other

Thru is a shortened U.S version of through.

He threw the ball into the bush

Roots or routes

The tree roots were exposed on the ground.

They followed the bus route into town.

The bus route took them past a large tree with its roots system breaking through the bitumen

Sweet or sweat

Sugar is very sweet

To sweat is moisture released from the pores in your body.

Hear or here

Can you hear the birds singing in the trees?

Why have you come here today?

I can hear the birds as I relax here under the trees.

For, four or fore

I went for a walk

I bought four books

He hit the ball to the fore of the golf course (meaning he hit it to the front)

Weigh, way or whey

Can you weigh the apples please?

Which way is it to town?

Whey is the thin watery milk separated from the curds.

As I said above I am not concerned about the construction of sentences as much as being able to help someone learn the differences in some of the English words and their meanings. If you come from another non English speaking country I hope this will give you a better understanding and learn how to write the right words.

You could print this out to use as a guide.