CrossCurricular Literacy at John Cabot Academy Homophones and
Cross-Curricular Literacy at John Cabot Academy Homophones and Other Common Misconceptions LO To learn to distinguish between easily confused words
Homophones • Homophones are words which sound the same but have different meanings and spellings. • The word is Greek in origin. • Homo = the same • Phone = sound
Common Homophones • Here – this place • Here is my homework. • Hear – to perceive sound • I can hear the students laughing.
Common Homophones • • There- place There are five computers in this classroom. He sits over there. Their – possession Their car has broken down. They’re = they are They’re cooking in B wing = They are cooking in B wing.
Common Homophones Your – possession Is that your mobile phone? You’re = you are You’re very good at spelling = You are very good at spelling. • NB The apostrophe replaces the missing letter. • •
Common Homophones • Its – possession • Its tail is very fluffy. • It’s = it is • It is very warm in this room. • NB The apostrophe replaces the missing letter.
Common Homophones • • Licence = noun (naming word) I have a driving licence. License = verb (doing word) I am licensed to sell alcohol. • Confusion can arise when reading an American text in which the spelling of both the noun and verb is license.
Common Homophones • • Practice = noun (naming word) I like to do my piano practice. Practise = verb (doing word) I practise my keyboard skills every evening. • Confusion can arise when reading an American text in which the spelling of both the noun and verb is practice.
A Common Misconception • Less/fewer – are often confused and used inappropriately.
A Common Misconception • Less - is used to show a smaller amount or quantity of singular nouns (naming words). This means that if you are using a word to cover an amount of one thing, you should use less. • I will take less sugar in my tea. • There are less teachers than I expected in this meeting. X
A Common Misconception • Fewer is used to show a smaller number of individual persons or things (i. e. more than one thing) • There are fewer teachers than I expected in this meeting. • Fewer people have come than we expected. • Less people have come than we expected. X
A Common Misconception • The s at the end of teachers indicates that fewer should be used as we are writing about individuals. • I will eat less fruit. • Less is used because we are using the word fruit which covers one thing.
A Common Misconception • Different from/different than • Physics is different from Biology. • I took a different way home than the one I was told to take. • Different to is always wrong! X
- Slides: 13