These words all sound alike BUT they are not interchangeable.

In their haste, some of the greatest critics of everything else on this FORUM also have an annoying tendancy to use these three words as if they were synonyms - they are not:

There is an adverb specifying a place; it can also be an expletive. Adverb: Sylvia is lying there unconscious. Expletive: There are two Comps left to find for the BPO.

Their is a possessive pronoun. Fred and Sylvia finally completed their BPO. They were later than usual with their submission today.

They're is a contraction of they are. Fred and Sylvia will soon find that they're going to be docked for their tardiness. They're going to be very cranky !

Just an observation.

P.S. Fred and Sylvia are fictitious REALTORS®

Thank you!

They're, their and there used improperly is a huge pet peeve of mine!

I use this to help me remember!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfRJDNvTJd0

anyone for "to", "too", or "two"?

Ones that annoy me when used improperly:

where, wear

here, hear

allowed, aloud

alter, altar

bare, bear

Best one though was spotted on my own MLS - dopey agent said that the property was by the water damn.



I hate it. I worked hard to learn this stuff in grammar school and I resent that others got away with not learning it. LOL

As we all know spell check won't fix the problem!

Thank you for revealing that I have Company in this regard. Advice and advise are two others that are often abused/misused; even though they are not quite homonyms.

Because this FORUM is relied on as a site for novices to seek information from experts. It grieves me when people switch the two words:

People here often advise (verb) others who are seeking their advice (noun).

They should never be swapped out . . . . at least not by the "experts".

I think proper word usage is an indication of responsibility and carefulness...but I realize there are many who disagree with me.

The problem is spell check so they appear correct.

Anyone got a suggestion on when to use "to and too". I know I get that one wrong.

Hello Dayton: Do we have a Spell Check on this FORUM ? All it can do is verify that a word is "valid" even though it may still be "incorrect" in that situation.

Regarding the dreadful to, too, and two issue; How about:

"I used to have two Wives; but that was just too much !"

to: works as part of the infinitive form of a verb - to swim, to ride, to write; or as a preposition meaning 'in the direction of' or 'towards' - to the store, give it to Jim, I'm going to bed.

two: the name of the number 2; it acts as an adjective in sentences.

too: is an adverb with two different uses. 1) meaning more than enough, an extra amount - too much money, too difficult, too many BPOs; 2) meaning also or as well as - I am going, too. Give me some bread, too.

After all that, I am now just too tired to submit those two BPOs !

I agree - make sure that you are using the right word for the right situation! Using "too" instead of "to" or "their" instead of "there" is sure way to lose clients! For me, whenever I see an error like that, I wonder about what other simple errors that person is making. It really helps your authenticity and credibility by making sure spelling and grammar are correct.

Another word pair that people misuse is "your" and "you're":

Your (possessive) = "This is your house"

You're (contraction, short for "You are") = "You're the best!"

Thanks Rebekah, for keeping this thread alive. Over the past couple weeks, I have become convinced that some of the very brightest people were allowed to skip a grade in Grammar School (2nd or 3rd) where these elements were taught; and they never thought they missed something. And no one ever had guts enough to correct the otherwise intelligent people . . . . so now here they are at age 50 or so, and are unknowingly making a first impression that is so contrary to what they have to offer. Sad, isn't it ?

There is an amazing list of homonyms compiled by Alan Cooper located at:

http://www.cooper.com/alan/homonym_list.html which contains:

706 Sets of Homonyms involving 1529 Individual Words

In the practice of Real Estate, another current mis-use is:

cited - meaning referenced, often legally;

sighted- meaning visually identified; and

sited- meaning located.

Homonyms would drive me crazy if I wasn't already there !

Thanks again.

Raze & raise are two more.

The old building needs to be razed.

A recent misuse of "site", it should have been "cite", also reminded me of "sight".

Just noticed there was an earlier post of the past tense version of this.

Another pair I see misused all the time is "loose" and "lose."

If that loose button isn't fixed, I will lose my slacks.