Homophones and mnemonics

There / Their / They’re
- (there contains ‘here’ because it’s about a place; their has ‘heir’ because it’s about possession; they’re = they are)
Where / Were / Wear
- (where contains ‘here’ because it’s about a place; wear contains an ‘a’ because it’s about apparel, and were is past tense)
Past / Passed
- (past is the noun – e.g. in the past; passed is the verb – e.g. time passed slowly)
Whether / Weather
- (I’ll check whether the weather is nice)
Aloud / Allowed
- (aloud = using your voice loudly, allowed = giving permission or a warrant to do something)
To / Too / Two
- (to indicates direction, too = also, two = 2. Remember that ‘two’ with a ‘w’ (double-u) is double the number one, whereas ‘too’ has too many ‘o’s!)
Who’s / Whose
- (who’s = who is at the door; whose = whose coat is on the door)
Which / Witch
- (which = question word, witch = magic creature on a broomstick → can you remember which witch is which? Hint: witches always have toads!)
Affect / Effect
- (affect is the verb; effect is the noun)
Complement / Compliment
- (two colours complement each other; I’ll give you a compliment if I’m nice)
Sight / Site
- (sight = seeing something through your glasses, site = a place)
Through / Threw
- (through = going from one side to another; threw = past tense of ‘throw’ e.g. he threw a ball through a window)
Break / Brake
- (break = damaging something, brake = stopping something)
Waist / Waste
- (waist = part of the body, waste = garbage to be discarded – remember the letter ‘i’ has a thin waistline!)

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