In this section of our ParaPro Study Guide, we will build off of what we learned in the last unit regarding grammatical errors and tackle usage errors. There are many commonly confused words that the ParaPro exam will want to make sure you can use correctly.
Common errors
The exam will test your ability to distinguish between words that sound the same but are spelled differently, or words that mean similar things but are used differently depending on the context.
Examples of commonly confused words you’ll come across but must know the difference between include:
- Then vs. Than
- Your vs. You’re
- Its vs. It’s
- Their vs. There vs. They’re
- Affect vs. Effect
- Accept vs. Except
- To vs. Too vs. Two
- Who vs. Whom
- Who’s vs. Whose
- Whether vs. Weather
- Everyone vs. Every one
- Good vs. Well
- Less vs. Fewer
The following tips and rules will help you remember the difference between the words above.
- Remember that contractions, such as “it’s,” “you’re,” and “they’re,” are two words in one. Whenever you see an apostrophe in the middle of the word, mentally pronounce both words in your mind.
For example, “The ball is over they’re.” Does that make sense? Test it out. “The ball is over they are.” That obviously does not make sense; therefore, we know it’s the wrong use of they’re. “There” refers to location, which is what should be used here. “Their” refers to possession. A way to test “their” out is to replace the word with “our” and see if it makes sense. “The ball is over our” does not make sense, so we know that’s not right.
The same rules apply for “it’s” vs. “its” and “your” vs. “you’re.” To test if “it’s” is used correctly, plug “it is” in its place; to know if “you’re” is correct, plug in “you are.” - Emphasize the difference between words with similar sounds. “Then” and “than” can sound similar if you are not careful, but if you remember the “e” sound is for the word that refers to time (e.g. “we’ll watch a movie and then get ice cream”) and the “a” sound is for comparison (“my brother is shorter than me”), you can keep them separate in your mind.
- When reading, pay attention to words that can be two-word phrases or a single word. “Altogether” vs. “all together” and “everyone” vs. “every one” are a couple examples. “Altogether” refers to something as a whole, as in “when you add the costs up altogether.” “All together” refers to all members of a group, and there are often phrases in between the two words, as in “I put all our clothes together.” Conversely, “everyone” refers to a whole group where as “every one” refers to each individual person or thing, as in “everyone sang along” or “I checked every one of them,” respectively.
- Remember that “who” vs. “whom” is a question of subjects vs. objects. We learned about subject and object pronouns in the last unit, and they can be used here: a key test before using “who” or “whom” is to check what pronoun you can replace the word with. If you can fill the spot in the sentence with “he” or “she,” use who. If you can insert “him” or “her,” use whom.
- When distinguishing between “good” vs. “well,” simply remember that “good” is an adjective and “well” is an adverb. You would say that a dog is good because a dog is a noun, but you’d say that a dog runs well because running is a verb.
The exception - Speaking of exceptions, be cautious of “except” vs. “accept”!
Look at the following examples:
Example 1
In the following sentences, which words are used incorrectly?
1. If you look over there, your going to find a man whose dog has lost its bone.
2. There was a loud rumble of thunder. Then another. A third. The last one was louder then the first two. I looked over to my friend to see if he was okay.
3. Everyone in at the game was affected by the noise accept my friend Jack who kept going along with his business.
Answers:
1. “Your” should be “You’re.” Remember to replace the word “you are” in its place, and if it makes sense, use you’re. In this case, “you are going to find a man…” is correct, meaning it should be you’re.
2. “The last one was lounder THAN the other is correct. “Than” is used to compare one thing to another, and as is the case here, the writer is comparing one rumble of thunder to another.
3. “Accept” should be “Except.” Accept means to receive or acknowledge while “except” means not including, which makes more sense here. Affected is correct as this means influenced while Effected means the end result of something, used more traditionally at the end of the sentence.