Usage

What's the right word to use?

Some of these usages won't matter twenty years from now, but you don't know which ones won't matter so learn them correctly now.

Affect/Effect: Most of the time, when my students use these words, "affect" is a verb and "effect" is a noun. You affect something, and your action has an effect. Many adults don't know the difference between these words either. I am trying to affect your writing now so I can have an effect on your future.

Alike/Like: "Alike" means "equal" and is an adverb. You would say that cats and pigs are alike, or Tom and Harry are alike. "Like" in this case means "similar to" and is a preposition. You would say that cats are like pigs. You can't say that cats are "alike" pigs or that cats and pigs are "like." Also, there is no such thing as "a like," and you can't say something is "alike to" something else.

Different from/Different because: When someone asks you how two things are different, you can say it two ways: "A and B are different because they are different colors," or "A is different from B because they are different colors." (You never never never say "different by.")

Know/No: To "know" is to understand and have information about, and to "no" is to turn something down. "Now we know more than we did before," is a good statement (and I hope it's true). "I didn't no that," means you didn't say no to it, and it's incorrect.

There/They're/Their: "There" sort of means "in that place." "They're" is a contraction and means "they are." "Their" means it belongs to them. "Over there, they're all eating their favorite foods." Sure, all three words sound alike but that doesn't mean they're like one another that much otherwise. (see "Alike/Like")

To/Too/Two: "To" is a preposition, "Too" means more than enough, and "Two" means 2. "The two of us are going to the mall to spend too much money."

Where/Were: "Where" means a place and is pronounced "Ware.". Haverford School is a place where we care about language. "Were" is a verb and is pronounced "Wurr." When we were in Dr. Turner's class, we learned about verbs.