Easily Confused Words List 1

Bye/Buy/By Bye: interjection, what you say when you are leaving; short for goodbye Buy: verb, what you do when you get things from a store and pay money for them “I need to buy ice cream and cake for the party tonight.” By: Preposition, meaning next to something or a time period. “I live by Sherwood Park.” “We need to leave by seven.”

Good/Well Good: adj. to describe a noun (person/place/thing/idea) “They have good food.” “That movie was good.” “Good idea!” Well: adv. To describe verbs or adjectives “He did well on the vocabulary test.” “That food was well prepared.” “Did the movie do well at the box office?”

Then/Than Then: indicates time and the order events occur. “I went home, and then I made myself a snack.” Than: used to draw a comparison between two or more things “He is taller than his brother.” “I have more money than Tyler.”

Their/There/They’re Their: Shows ownership like mine, his, and hers “We will take their car to the movies.” There: A place or location. It’s similar to here “The movie theater is over there.” They’re: Short for THEY ARE “They’re going to the movies later.”

Whether/Weather Whether: A conjunction that has a similar meaning to if. “I wonder whether it will rain.” Weather: what goes on outside: rain, sun, snow, etc. “This rainy weather is terrible.”

Where/Were Where: Used to ask the location of something “Where are my keys?” Were: past tense of the verb are “We were in the kitchen.” “They were on the couch.”

Whose/Who’s Whose: Comes before a noun to explain to whom the noun belongs “Whose pencil is this?” Who’s: Short for WHO IS or WHO HAS “Who’s going to clean up this mess?” “Who’s got the answer to number five?”