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 in different contexts.
Examples of commonly confused words you must know the difference between include:
- Your vs. You’re
- Who’s vs. Whose
- Its vs. It’s
- Their vs. There vs. They’re
- Then vs. Than
- Affect vs. Effect
- Whether vs. Weather
- Everyone vs. Every one
- Who vs. Whom
- Good vs. Well
- Accept vs. Except
- To vs. Too vs. Two
- 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 the other contractions in the list above. To test if it’s is used correctly, plug it is in its place; to test who’s, plug who is in; 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.
Affect and effect may be the most commonly confused words that have a similar sound. In almost all cases, affect is a verb and effect is a noun. Your poor performance on a test can affect your grade, or it can have an effect on your grade. Do you see the small change that makes each phrase require a different word?
Just like with then and than, emphasize the different vowel sounds in your head to keep the words separated. The “a” word is used as an “action,” since it is a verb.
There are a few rare exceptions, as affect can be a noun referring to emotions (“he has a flat affect“) and effect can be a verb indicating accomplishing something (“her leadership effected change”), but you won’t see these very often. - Weather and whether are also close in sound and spelling. Weather relates to what is happening outside – rain, heat, wind, snow – while whether is a conjunction to compare alternative options, as in “whether you prefer bluegrass or R&B, this music festival has something for you.”
- 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 and every one refers to each individual person or thing, as in “everyone sang along” and “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 is in health and wellness. It’s grammatically correct to say “I don’t feel well” or “she is doing well.” - Speaking of exceptions, be cautious of except vs. accept! Except refers to something that should be left out of consideration, such as “I tried all of the food at the buffet except the chicken.” Accept refers to allowance or acknowledgment, as in “I was accepted into medical school.” To help keep these words straight, you can remember that when something is an exception, you “x” it out.
- Don’t make all your twos too complicated. To is a preposition, indicating spacial relation or action: “I’m going to the party tonight.” Two is the number. Too is an adverb that conveys something to an excessive degree or an addition to something: “It’s too hot out, so I think we should stay inside too.” If you’re trying to figure out the right “too” when you are adding an extra thought, simply use the too that added an extra “o” on its end!
- Finally, be careful with less vs. fewer. You’ll come across this mistake everywhere, including at grocery stores and in publications, which can reinforce incorrect usage. Less is used for uncountable things while fewer is used for countable things. You can plan to eat less meat in your diet, but that may include eating no fewer than three vegetarian meals per week. If you can’t count what you’re talking about, use less.
Let’s try an example.
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 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 mentally replace the contraction with you are, and if it makes sense, the contraction is correct. In this case, “you are going to find” is correct.
2. “The last one was louder than the first two” would be correct. Than is used to compare one thing to another, 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 in this sentence, as it is the verb that means “influenced or impacted.” Effect is a noun that refers to the end result of something.
You should now know the common usage errors that plague ungrammatical writing. To test your ability to recall and implement the usage rules you learned above, complete our brief 3-question review below.