Taught, taut and other homophones you may've mixed up

Well, here I am: Not Worthy, been on for only 36 days, writing one not-so-good story, now writing a blog post. I shall be doing this because I've noticed one word that needs to be used more, but is commonly substituted for another word.

That word is taut.

Using Merriam Webster's online dictionary (accessed for this blog the 4th of September), the word taut is given as pulled tightly or tense.Taut has been used to describe a person's (or in this case a pony's) muscles, limbs, hair, and rope. This is how it should be used.

But it's [not its] usually replaced with the word taught. Taught is simply the past tense of the word "teach," as in "I was taught how to do that in primary school" and "We've been taught that several times". Taught does NOT mean the same thing as taut.

There are a lot of words I've seen mixed up. Here's a collection of them that I see fit to put up here, to help readers know which ones to use in a certain situation. I can only hope that this is useful to someone on this site; if it helps at least one person, I'll be glad.

Let's get started!

y'all vs. ya'll

These two words have different places to use apostrophes. The first one, y'all, is meant to be a variation of the phrase "you all". Unlike the second choice, y'all can be found on the Merriam-Webster online dictionary (as of September 4th.) The second choice, ya'll, is meant to be used in place of the phrase "you will," and I believe [I'll admit my unsureness here] this is used mainly to indicate accent.

"Ya'll see what Ah mean, Twi," Applejack cried. She turned to the rest of her friends. "Y'all will see that Granny Smith's gonna be okay!"
-as far as I know, this quote belongs to no story in particular, and was written solely for this blog

Moving on!

you're vs. your & its vs. it's & to vs. too (vs. two)

Here are three of the most-commonly mixed-up words I've seen. "Two" is just the number 2, and I can't recall ever seeing it in place of the others; I've used it, however, because it's [it is] also a homophone.

Let's begin with you're and your. Your does NOT mean "you are"; that's you're.

"You're doing it wrong!"
"I haven't heard what you're bringing to the party."
"That's just silly talk! Why, with all that work your (NO!) doing, you're (YES!) gonna get done soon!"

Your means that something belongs to YOU.

"Today is your birthday."
"Where'd you put your saddlebags?"
"Fluttershy, with all you're (NO!) animals running around, you must've forgotten your (YES!) appointment at the spa."

Its does NOT mean "it is"; that honor goes to it's.

"It's okay, Applejack."
"I mean it, sugarcube! It's just that, with all the work I've been doing, it's hard to focus."
"Really, Applejack, its (NO!) okay. It's (YES!) just been really quiet here."

Its is possessive, just like the words "my" and "your".

"Its wheel fell off."
"Remove the wheel, and put the wagon on its side."
"Ooh ooh ooh, and afterwards, can we paint it's (NO!) handle? And then its (YES!) wheels?"

To and too aren't that difficult either. I'd find it difficult to explain the multiple definitions of the word to, so I'll make up various sentences where it's used in the context of the definitions given by the Merriam-Webster online dictionary:

"Rainbow Dash flew to Cloudsdale." (movement to a place)
"Rarity shifted the peridot a bit to the right." (direction)
"Twilight Sparkle put her hoof to Pinkie Pie's chest." (contact or proximity)
"Sweetie Belle's father carried the hoofball 80 yards to the opposite end zone." (Indicate the far limit)
"He was pushed to the curb." (limit of extent)
"Celestia's carriage was parallel to Canterlot's sidewalk." (relative position)
"Scootaloo rushed to Rainbow Dash's rescue." (purpose, result or end)
"The lights went out to Sapphire Shores' horror." (result of an action)

Go here to see all usages the Merriam-Webster online dictionary lists for the word to.

Too, according to Webster, is used in five cases:
1. To replace "also", like "Apple Bloom, feed the sheep. And feed the pigs, too!"
2. To indicate something is excessive. "This stable is too small for the both of us."
3. To indicate a degree that becomes regrettable. "That's it! The Cutie Mark Crusaders have gone too far!"
4. To replace the word "very". "He wasn't too mad."
5. Like this: "I'm not weak!" "Are too!" "Are not!" "Are too!"

Hopefully this helps you with you're and your, its and it's, and to and too (and possibly two).

There vs. their vs. they're & were vs. we're & than vs. then

Let's get the easy ones out of the way: they're means "they are" and we're means "we are"; note the apostrophes in those two words.

Moving on: there is meant to indicate position, like this:

"Octavia moved her cello over there, where it would be safe."
"There are five muffins in Derpy's bag."
"There's a group of pungent dogs searching for gems in those caves."

Their is meant to indicate that something belongs to a group of people.

"It's [it is] all their fault!"
"Their plan was a disaster."
"Pinkie Pie picked up Mr. and Mrs. Cake and carried them to their room."

were is the past tense of the word "are."

"We were playing outside."
"There were five muffins in Derpy's bag, but she ate them all."
"The Wonderbolts were flying around Ponyville!"

Moving on to than and then. You should probably go to Webster's to see all the usages listed of the words than and then; please note that both words can be used as more than one part of speech. Basically, than is used for comparing things, while then is used to indicate a time. Here are some sentences using both of them:

"And then (the time is after some other time) he came up, and he was taller than (comparing the shorter speaker and the taller subject) me."
"I would usually take my medication, then (time is after she took the medication) I would go up the stairs; it was much faster than (comparing waiting time and action time) waiting for Big Macintosh to carry me up."
"Then (after that) we have to worry about the barn's problems, those other than the roof."

It's not too in-depth, but I hope it helps nonetheless.

Here is a list of other homophones (words that sound the same but are spelled differently) that could be confused; I'm not saying most of these have happened, but I've seen a few:

-Hear vs. Here: If you're trying to indicate a position, use here. "I'm right here." "I really think we're supposed to meet here." "Here you go, my good man." If you're trying to indicate perceiving a sound, use hear. "I can hear him singing." "She can't hear you." "He had to clean his ears out in order to hear him."

-Sea vs. See: If you're trying to indicate that someone's perceiving a sight, use see. "I can see you." "You can't see anything blindfolded, you dodo!" If you're trying to talk about a body of water (or, being poetic, a large quantity), use sea. "The salty water of the sea sprayed her."

-Peak vs. Peek: (This is especially for clopfic writers) The peak of something is the height of it. To peek is to look, either quickly or stealthily.

-Lets vs. Let's: Let's is a contraction of the words "let us".

"Let's go to the park."
"While they're gone, let's go to your place."
"Let's watch."

Here are some sentence for the other word, lets:

"He lets them do that."
"It lets the monster claw at it."
"Bon Bon lets the foals get free samples."

-Soar vs. Sore: If someone's in the air, you'd probably say they might soar over you; if that pegasus lands on you, you'll probably be pretty sore.

-White vs. Wight: (Only because I've seen someone do this before) White is a color. Wight, according to Webster, is a creature, or a living being (It also has a meaning as an adjective, but this is archaic according to Webster).

Somewhat on the same note,

-Bite vs. Bight: (I'll admit, I don't think I've seen this one yet) To bite, obviously, is to close your teeth over something. A bight is either a bend in a coast or a slack part of a rope (according to Webster's online dictionary).

-Lightning vs. Lightening: If you see that flash in the sky, a bolt that's soon followed by thunder, you'd call that lightning (without the 'e'). Lightening implies a relieving of burden, such as "I'm lightening the load" or "The crane was lightening the ship's weight".

-Poor vs. Pour: A poor person has little; a poor quality of something is bad. If you pour water on your computer, you have a problem.

-Plain vs. Plane: It's plain to see a plane in the sky. Also, putting points on a mathematical plane could excite people, as could eating plain bread.

-Hole vs. Whole: A hole is a place where people may fall. Whole indicates a quantity, such as "He ate the whole thing" and "The whole group walks with their knees reaching past their navels." (Okay, I'm not sure how that would work)

I began this little thing because I was confused as to why a lot of people used 'taught' for 'taut'; I added a bunch of others that came to mind. If this helps you out, please let me know. If you think this is all crap, let me know. If there are any other homophones you wish for me to add (and I know there are probably hundreds of others I didn't add), please let me know. If you need to know which one to use in your own story, let me know.

If this is an abomination of a blog, let me know. I'd like to be able to improve these blogs, if possible.

Thank you for reading this blog, and I wish you the best of your talents with your writing.

Edit: A thank you to Bronymaster for helping me clarify the usages of than and then. I did so a bit.

Comments

[fallen starr]

Oh, this is useful! I know it isn't exactly what you're talking about, but maybe something with seen/saw would be cool too. That always confuses me. Another thing I like is how you corrected people on their use of y'all and ya'll. Now, I don't know where you're from, but I'm a southerner, and it kills me when I see people misuse that term. Yeah, I know it's not correct anyway, but at least use it right! lol. Another thing people need to learn about the word y'all is that it is used for at least two people. I've seen a picture on facebook that is perfect for what I mean, but since I don't know how to upload pics, I'll just write it out.

You= 1 person
Y'all= 2 or more people
All Y'all= 5+ people

Just some more wisdom on words.