More Easily Confused Words! Hi Maiza!

its The possessive form of it. It is a pronoun Example: “The vicious Chihuahua loves its bone!” Who possesses the bone? It’s the Chihuahua’s bone, and he dares you to disagree.

it’s the contraction of it is or it has Example: “It’s been tremendously fun learning how to dance “The Dougie!”, exclaimed First Lady Michele Obama....or she could say... “It has been...”

its versus it’s trick Simple test: if you can replace it’s in your sentence with it is or it has, then your word is it's; otherwise, your word is its. “The Chihuahua loves its bone.” “The Chihuahua loves it is bone.” No! “The Chihuahua loves it has bone.” No! Get it?

lose (verb) to mislay or suffer the loss of something. Example: A very common sentence Mr. Day hears in his house is, “Oh, Phil! How did I lose my keys again?” Not again!!! This will be Mr. Day in two years. Mrs. R says, “No…too much hair.” ;)

loose (adjective) means free or not fastened Example: On this ride, you better hope your seat belt doesn’t come loose!

lose versus loose tricks Next time you write the word loose, ask yourself, “Should I lose the double letter “o”? If you want a verb that means “to mislay or suffer the loss of,” then lose the extra “o”. On the other hand, if you want your word to mean free or unbound, be free with your use of “o”’s!

TRICK (a bit sick, but helpful) Think of the word goose. Goose has two “o’s” in it. See the noose on its neck? Remember: It is a relief that the noose on the goose is loose!

Lead (pronounced “led”) (noun) a heavy metal Example: If you ever have played the game Clue, you may have hypothesized that the butler committed the murder by striking the victim with a lead pipe.

Lead (pronounced “lēd”) (verb) to show the way Example: The New York Giants’ captains always lead their team on the field, and their Super Bowl victory catapulted the team all the way to the White House.

led (verb) to show the way. It is the past tense form of the verb lead. Example: A Nepalese Sherpa led this climbing expedition to the top of Mount Everest.

lead, lead, and led tricks A rhyming trick: Lead the metal rhymes with bed. Would you want to sleep in a lead bed? Horse trick: A wise person once said, “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.” An observant person once said, “I led the horse to water. He did not drink. He then died.”

peace (noun) a state of calm or mutual harmony During times of war, whether it be between nations or within one’s own, there are always people who struggle for peace.

piece (noun) a section or a part of something On Thanksgiving, I always have at least one piece of pumpkin pie.

peace versus piece tricks Peace trick: It takes an ace to make peace in today’s world. –the last three letters of peace are a, c, and e. That spells ace, and an ace is someone who is an expert! Piece trick: The word pie is the trick. Whenever you are confused as to which spelling to use, ask yourself if you are talking about a section of something…a piece of something. If you are, then you know it’s the piece with “pie” that is correct.

He wouldn’t be smiling if he knew where his insides went.

good (adjective) satisfactory in quality, quantity, or degree Example: Dana thought the Fleet Foxes song “Helplessness Blues” was as good a song as she had ever heard! Fleet Foxes (check them out!)

well (usually an adverb) in a satisfactory manner Example: Eddie Vedder, the lead singer of Pearl Jam, sang very well at last year’s concert in Hartford! “Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh, I’m still alive, yeaheahea I’m still alive!

Let’s compare good and well! Use the adjective good when describing nouns or pronouns. In other words, use good when stating how something or someone is. Use the adverb form well when describing verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs. In other words, how something or someone does something. When referring to health, use well.

good versus well practice