Maybe I need a different title, but quadruple homophones are so uncommon, I get excited. I am open to suggestions for a different title, please leave a comment.
Our selection this week is Dew, Do, Due, and Doo. These words have been through adjustments over time. Actually that can be said about most of the English language.
As mentioned previously, when people write or read to themselves they are saying the words out loud in their mind. Most words have only one way to be spelled correctly. Computer spell checkers excel at correcting these words. However, there are a lot of word pairs, many word triples and the very rare word quadruples that sound the same. Computer spell checkers will not correct these words when they are used incorrectly.
You begin to see the problem now, each of these words is spelled correctly when used in the right context. Faced with a homophone quadruple the writer has a 1 in 4 chance of using the correct word in the chosen context.
Now onto today’s episode! High Score! Second in the series about Quadruple Homophones!
Dew is the moisture that is present on the grass in the early mornings.
Do is slang for Hairdo. “Nice do” can be a pleasant conversation opener in a casual situation.
Due, library books are due by a certain date.
Doo is what we hope everybody picks up when they walk their dog.
There they are, four words with identical sounds. If you use the wrong word the reader might think they hit an unnoticed crack in the sidewalk of reading and falter, losing the momentum you worked so hard to build. Use every tool available to prevent that from happening, do not give your readers a reason to not finish your story. Use Word Refiner, beta readers, critique partners, proofreaders and editors to ensure that your work is error free and as smooth as possible.
Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed this issue of Homophones Hurt Your Writing. Follow me on twitter: @wordrefiner, for more alerts about hazardous homophones search for #HomophonesHurtYourWriting or #TyposHurtYourWriting on twitter.
Don’t forget the free offer for writers under the “Learn More” tab on my website. I have another excellent value for authors for promoting their book, see the “Review Your Book” tab. I have well over 100 book reviews on my website.
Words Have Meaning and Spelling Makes a Difference.
Some good words to keep in mind! Thanks for sharing! 🙂
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