{"id":3179,"date":"2012-08-22T16:41:09","date_gmt":"2012-08-22T16:41:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/schooltutoring.com\/scholarship\/?p=3179"},"modified":"2014-12-02T08:32:06","modified_gmt":"2014-12-02T08:32:06","slug":"commonly-confused-homophones","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/schooltutoring.com\/scholarship\/2012\/08\/22\/commonly-confused-homophones\/","title":{"rendered":"Commonly Confused Homophones"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Homophones<\/em> are words that sound identical, but are spelled differently and have different meanings. The following are definitions of some <em>commonly confused homophones, <\/em>followed by simple mnemonic tricks that writers can use to double check whether they are using the correct forms for the correct meanings.<\/p>\n<h5>Principle vs. Principal<\/h5>\n<p>A <em>principle<\/em> is used only as a noun, meaning an idea, or ideal, that is used to guide decision making. A <em>principal<\/em> is an administrator of rank; a person charged with making decisions. When I was of school age, I was helped to remember the distinction by saying to myself:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\u00a0The school <em>princi<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">pal<\/span><\/em> is my <span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">pa<\/span>l.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>It was the vice-principal you had to watch out for&#8230;. <em>Principal<\/em> also has a variety of other uses and meanings: as an adjective, describing positions of relative importance, and as a noun meaning property or <em>capital<\/em> (see below) before interest.<\/p>\n<h5>Capitol vs. Capital<\/h5>\n<p><em>Capitol <\/em>is a very specific word, with strictly limited uses. It is a noun, meaning a building that houses a state legislature. It is also used as a proper noun, <em>Capitol<\/em>, only when referring to that building which houses the U.S. federal legislature in Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n<p><em>Capital<\/em> has multiple meanings and uses, one of which is referring to a municipality that plays host to the legislative apparatus of a state or country. Hence,<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\u00a0The state legislators meet 3 times a week inside the <em>capitol<\/em> building in Albany, the <em>capital<\/em> of New York state.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Other common uses of capital, as a noun, refer to wealth in the form of property or money before interest, and capital letters. One way to remember the correct spelling for the latter usage is that capi<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">tal<\/span> letters are <span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">tall<\/span>. It is also frequently used as an adjective, meaning <em>principal<\/em> (see above) or referring to an offense deserving of the death penalty.<\/p>\n<h5>Compliment vs. Complement<\/h5>\n<p>A <em>compliment<\/em> is something said that is flattering. <em>Complement<\/em> means something completes a set or is a flattering addition to something. One spelling has an \u2018i,\u2019 the other has an \u2018e.\u2019 We can remember the difference by saying to ourselves, \u201c<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">I<\/span> like to give compl<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">i<\/span>ments.\u201d<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\u00a0I <em>complimented<\/em> the host on the menu, saying, \u201cthe hors d\u2019oeuvres were the perfect <em>complement <\/em>to the main course.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Still need help with Writing? Please read more about our\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/schooltutoring.com\/tutoring-programs\/writing-tutors\/\">Writing tutoring services<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"tutorOrange\">SchoolTutoring Academy<\/span> is the premier educational services company for K-12 and college students. We offer tutoring programs for students in K-12, AP classes, and college. To learn more about how we help parents and students in El Segundo, CA visit: <a href=\"https:\/\/schooltutoring.com\/tutoring-in-el-segundo-california\/\">Tutoring in El Segundo, CA. <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Homophones are words that sound identical, but are spelled differently and have different meanings. The following are definitions of some commonly confused homophones, followed by simple mnemonic tricks that writers can use to double check whether they are using the correct forms for the correct meanings. Principle vs. Principal A principle is used only as [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[228,324,346,779,1389,2162],"class_list":["post-3179","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english-and-grammar","tag-capitol-and-capital","tag-commonly-confused-homophones","tag-compliment-and-complement","tag-homophones","tag-principle-and-principal","tag-what-is-a-homophone"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/schooltutoring.com\/scholarship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3179","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/schooltutoring.com\/scholarship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/schooltutoring.com\/scholarship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/schooltutoring.com\/scholarship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/schooltutoring.com\/scholarship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3179"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/schooltutoring.com\/scholarship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3179\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/schooltutoring.com\/scholarship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3179"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/schooltutoring.com\/scholarship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3179"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/schooltutoring.com\/scholarship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3179"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}