Their; They're; There.

• Their (pronoun). A form of they that shows possession.

• They’re (contraction). Joins the words they and are.

• There (adverb). Indicates a particular place.

• There (pronoun). Indicates the presence of something

To; Too; Two.

• To (preposition). Indicates movement.

• To. A word that completes an infinitive verb.

• Two. The number after one. It describes how many.

• Too (adverb). Means also or very.

Your; You're.

• Your (pronoun). A form of you that shows possession.

• You’re (contraction). Joins the words you and are.

Its; It's.

• Its (pronoun). A form of it that shows possession.

• It’s (contraction). Joins the words it and is.

Where; Were.

• Where (adverb). Refers to location.

• Were (past tense verb).

Lose; Loose.

• Loose (adjective). Describes something that is not tight or is detached.

• Lose (verb). Means to forget, to give up, or to fail to earn something.

Whose; Who's.

• Who’s (contraction). Joins the words who and either is or has.

• Whose (pronoun). A form of who that shows possession.

Choose; Chose.

• Choose. (verb in the infinitive)

• Chose. (verb in the past tense)

Accept; Except.

• Accept (verb). Means to take or agree to something offered.

• Except (conjunction). Means only or but.

Affect; Effect.

• Affect (verb). Means to create a change.

• Effect (noun). Means an outcome or result.

Fewer. Less.

• Fewer is used for things you can count. (e.g. problems, injuries)

• Less is used for things you can’t count. (e.g. happiness, love, kindness)

Who; That.

• Who is used to reference people.

• That is used to reference things.

• You could also use "that" when referring to people, but "who" is strongly preferred.

I; Me.

• You can test the sentence to see which one is correct by removing the other people in the sentence, and listening to see if "me" or "I" sounds more correct.

• Example: Do you think the teacher is too strict with my friends and [I or me]?

  • Test 1: Do you think the teacher is too strict with I?

  • Test 2: Do you think the teacher is too strict with me?

  • Test 2 sounds correct, so the sentence should use "me"

Lie; Lay.

• Lie (present tense verb). Meaning to recline or rest on a surface.

  • Past tense of this verb is also lay.

  • Lay (verb). Meaning to put or place.

Who; Whom.

• Who. Used to refer to the subject of a sentence.

• Whom. used to refer to the object of a verb or preposition.

• To determine when your pronoun is the object of a verb or preposition, try substituting “he” or “she” and “him” or “her.”

  • If “he” or “she” fits, you should use who.
  • If “him” or “her” fits, you should use whom.
  • You will likely need to rearrange the sentence while you test it. And if the sentence is a question, try answering the question to see if he/she or him/her makes more sense.

Among; Between

• Among is used when talking about people or things that are not distinct, and are instead viewed as a group.

• Between is used when referring to one-to-one relationships. The elements that are being referred to must all be separate and distinct.

Which; That

• Which. Use when the information in the clause is not needed to understand the noun in the sentence. Preceded by a comma.

• That. Use when the information in the clause is necessary to understand the noun in the sentence. Not preceded by a comma.

• 📖 Grammarly article on Which vs. That.

🕹 More interactive games to test your knowledge of commonly confused words

• Grammar Monster Confused Words Test

• Sheppard Software Grammar Games