Chapters ThirtyOne and ThirtyTwo More on Homonyms and

Chapters Thirty-One and Thirty-Two More on Homonyms and Capital Letters English Essentials John Langan Beth Johnson English Essentials © 2005 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

More on Homonyms and Capital Letters 2 Confusing Word Pairs Certain pairs of words are easily confused. Homonyms, for example, (words that sound alike but have different meanings), canlead/led be tricky: tail/tale BE CAREFUL WHEN principal/principle all ready/already USING THESE WORDS!!! air/heir pair/pear Other words are just difficult to tell apart and use correctly: accept/except quiet/quite among/between advice/advise English Essentials were/where desert/dessert loose/lose © 2005 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

More on Homonyms and Capital Letters 3 Inflated Language Also be wary of using fancy words and phrases. Try to keep your writing SIMPLE and DIRECT. The patrolman could not ascertain when the deviant had embarked upon his flight from the victim’s home. Better: The police officer couldn’t tell when the robber had left the scene of the crime. English Essentials © 2005 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

More on Homonyms and Capital Letters 4 Capital Letters There are many uses of Let’s take a look at some. . English Essentials © 2005 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

More on Homonyms and Capital Letters 5 Capital Letter Use CAPITALIZE… Names of Geographical Places: I want to see the Grand Canyon. Let’s vacation in Maine! English Essentials © 2005 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

More on Homonyms and Capital Letters 6 Capital Letter Use CAPITALIZE… Historical periods and well-known events The Renaissance occurred after the Middle Ages. English Essentials © 2005 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

More on Homonyms and Capital Letters 7 Capital Letter Use CAPITALIZE… All words in the opening of a letter, and the first word in the closing. My Dear Edna, Your friend, Joan English Essentials © 2005 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

More on Homonyms and Capital Letters 8 Capital Letter Use CAPITALIZE… Common abbreviations composed of the first letters of the words they represent. The FBI wrote a letter to the CIA about the UFO NBC reported. English Essentials © 2005 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.