Things You Should Know: Homophones
Episode 07
Has your grammar ever been corrected by some annoying friend, relative, or English teacher? No need to fear! Professor Pipes is here! In this "Things You Should Know" episode of Piper's Paraphrases, she covers some of the common homophones (there/their/they're, your/you're, its/it's, and to/too/two) so you can be sure that you're always using the right one!
Transcript
Hello, and welcome to Piper’s Paraphrases. I’m Professor Pipes, and I’m here to tell you a little about some things you should know by now. So if you didn’t know this yet, TYSK TYSK. But don’t worry. I’ve got you covered.
Today, let’s talk about some common homophones. No, Cooper, not home phones! Who even has a home phone anymore? Homophones are words that sound alike, but have different meanings and are spelled differently. Specifically, we’re going to talk about the ones that really bug your English teacher, and that grammar obsessed aunt of yours. I know. We’ve all got one. Well, now you’ll be able to avoid all those annoying comments where they correct you, because you’ll know exactly which one to use. Let’s focus on “there,” “your,” “too,” and “its.”
There are three kinds of there, and I’m HERE to tell you about THERE. In fact, that’s lesson number one. T-H-E-R-E is a location, like “I ran from here to there.” It’s probably the easiest to remember because it has the word “here” inside of it. T-H-E-I-R is a possessive pronoun, meaning it refers to something owned by a group of people, as in “that is THEIR adorable dog.” T-H-E-I-R is pretty easy to remember, too, because it has the letter “I” in it, which is also a pronoun. I love THEIR dog. Don’t worry, Cooper, I love you, too. Finally, T-H-E-Y-’-R-E is a contraction that means THEY ARE, as in “they’re puuurrfect cats.” “They are purrfect cats.” Why’s there an apostrophe? It stands in place of the “a” in are.
Speaking of apostrophes, let’s move on to your. Y-O-U-R is a possessive pronoun, as in “what is YOUR problem?” No, Cooper, I’m not talking to you. Y-O-U-’-R-E is a contraction that means you are, as in “you’re getting really good at this.” “You are getting really good at this.” Again, the apostrophe takes the place of the “a” in are.
Next is its. I-T-S is a possessive pronoun yet again, like, “That is its garden” “The garden belongs to it.” I-T-’-S is a contraction that means “it is,” as in “It’s an octopus’ garden.” “It is an octopus’ garden.” Why? Because the Beatles were weird. Anyway, the apostrophe takes the place of the “i” in “is.”
Lastly, let’s talk to…. Not to anyone, just the word to. T-O is a preposition, showing that someone or something is moving toward something else, as in “I’m going to Disneyland.” No, I’m not. Wish I were, though. And “T-O” is in the word toward, so that’s pretty easy to remember… T-O is also used as part of a verb phrase, like “I’m going to kill you.” Again, no I’m not. Or am I? Anyway, T-O-O means, in addition or as well or also, as in, “You like pizza? I like pizza, too!” An easy way to remember it, is there’s an additional “O” in it, just like “T-O-O” means in addition. Finally, T-W-O is a number, like, “One, two, three, o’clock, four o’clock rock!”
Ok, so now you’ve got it! And if you really want to impress someone, you can correctly write this sentence, “It’s great that you’re spending your time going over there to their house while they’re gone on vacation to give their dog its food and to check on their two cats, too.”
Sorry that English is super weird. But hopefully this video made it just a tiny bit easier.
Thanks for watching this episode of Piper’s Paraphrases. Go forth, read a bunch, and be good people!
