English has many homophones – words that sound identical but mean different things. These are challenging for many English speakers to master. For example, it is not uncommon to see the words loose and lose mixed up, as well as the words principle and principal. They’re, their, and there are also commonly confused for each other.
It may be helpful to focus on a few pairs of words and learn what makes them different from each other, and then help your student practice using the correct term by making fill in the blank sentences. For example:
– The shirt was too big, it had a ______fit. (loose / lose)
– The school ______ was kind and very helpful. (principle / principal)
– The neighbor was sad because ______ lawnmower broke. (they’re / their / there)
Or perhaps you could work with your student to come up with sentences that use each term properly. Some commonly confused words can be found here.
