What are homophones and why do they matter to writers?

What are homophones?

A homophone is defined by the Cambridge Online Dictionary as “a word that sounds the same as another word but has a different meaning, or a different spelling and meaning“.

English is full of homophones, and basic word-processing software doesn’t always manage to pick up on them, particularly if the syntax of the sentence still makes sense despite the error in meaning.

Some classic examples you probably had drilled into you at school include:

two / too / to
their / there / they’re
which / witch

A tiny disclaimer is needed at this point. I am writing this article with ‘standard’ dictionary pronunciation in mind, so it’s entirely possible that if you have a regional accent, some of the words I mention might not actually be homophones for you. If that’s the case, feel free to share your examples in the comments.

So, we know what homophones are, but why should we pay attention to them?

Why do homophones matter to writers?

When writing out a first draft, if you are focused more on getting your ideas down, and less on accuracy, it is highly likely that some cheeky little homophones will pop into your writing.

Just because we know that certain words are homophones, it doesn’t mean we’re always consciously on the alert for them when writing. This is one of the many reasons that it is a good idea to re-read your writing, ideally out loud, before sharing it. When checking your own work, it’s definitely worth keeping an eye out for these rogue homophones.

However, it can also be the case that you might be unaware that a particular word is actually a homophone, and therefore such mistakes might pass you by. So, what can be done about this?

How can I improve my use of homophones?

If homophones cause you a problem, my first suggestion is to set up a dedicated place to record your soon-to-be-developed homophone collection. This is could be:

a document on your computer
a small notebook
a piece of paper stuck to the wall
a collection of post-it notes

Do whatever works best for you. I started with a bunch of post-it notes on the wall by my work station, but that quickly evolved to a Word doc once they all started losing their stickyness and falling off.

From this point forwards, every time you encounter a homophone related mistake, in your own writing or elsewhere, add it to your collection.

If you are using a spell checker or editing software and it picks up on some homophone related mistakes, add those to the list too. And, if you are bored, do a quick online search for ‘common English homophones’. You might find a few fun surprises to add to your growing collection.

Also, if you are working with an editor or beta reader, make sure to note down anything that they pick up on. In fact, if homophones are something you are consciously working on, it is worth asking your editor to highlight any homophone errors that they spot, as they might have a tendency to treat such features as a silent correction, in which case you may not notice them.

Some of my own favourite homophone mistakes are:

bear / bare
principle / principal
tail / tale

When I stop to think, I know perfectly well that these words have different meanings, but when in the flow of writing, the wrong option sometimes just falls from my fingers onto the keys.

Over the years of working on my husband’s manuscripts, I have developed a little cheat sheet for myself, to speed up my work and improve my accuracy. My document contains his favourite homophone slips, along with other aspects of his writing that I know he likes me to keep an eye out for.

Some of his favourite homophone mistakes are:

waste / waist
wry / rye
bold / bald

Having a cheat sheet with these words listed means that I can just run a quick control + find for those words, and then rectify any errors that slipped through. I do this as one of my initial checks when working on a new manuscript so that these errors don’t snag my attention during the proofreading process.

At the end of the day, a tidy final piece of work is what we’re aiming for, and anything that we can do to make the process of drafting and editing more effective and accurate is worth doing.

So, why not get started today, and create yourself a homophone log? I promise it will be worth its wait in gold. Sea what I did their? Oh, and again.

I hope you found that useful, and if you want to share any of your own personal homophone favourites, feel free to leave them in the comments.

Thanks for reading and have a lovely day!