Is exercising daily a healthful habit or a healthy habit? Does hear or here mean in this place? Would you own a heard of goats or a herd of goats? If an animal feeds on grass, is it herbiferous or herbivorous?Is heredity or hereditary responsible for your blue eyes? Were you rescued by a hero,…
If something is high-class or fashionable, is it haute or oat? Does a hawk or a hock fly through the air? Is hay or hey a type of grass that is used as fodder? When you cure a sickness, do you heal or heel? haute or haut, oat Both haute and haut mean high-class or…
Do you have hair or hare growing on your head? Would your bathroom be down the hall or down the haul? Is your shirt placed on a hangar or on a hanger before you put it in the closet? Does a hart or a heart beat in your chest? hail, hale As a verb, hail…
Do you groan or grown when you are in pain? Is the person who owns a grocery store a grocer or a grosser? Is someone who comes to visit you a guest or a guessed? Would you play a guitar or a catarrh? groan, grown A groan is a low, mournful sound uttered in pain…
Do sheep and goats grays or graze in the fields? Are greaves or grieves more than one piece of medieval leg armor? If you are displeased with the service you receive in a restaurant, do you grip, gripe, or grippe? grays, graze Grays are colors between black and white. Grays also means matures or ages. As…
Homonyms are confusing enough, but there is another category of confusing words: contronyms. Contronyms—also spelled contranyms—are also known as auto-antonyms, antagonyms, enantiodromes, self-antonyms, antilogies, and Janus words. Janus was the Roman god of beginnings and endings. He is often depicted with two faces looking in opposite directions. dabster A dabster is one who is…
Are the stops on your trip graft or graphed? Was last night’s parade grander or grandeur than last year’s? Would you use granite or granted in your landscaping? Was the play grate or great? Would you shred carrots with a grater or a greater? graft, graphed In horticulture, a graft is a bud, shoot, or…
Would a gofer or a gopher dig holes in your yard? During a bullfight, does the matador run a risk of being gored or gourd? When you visit the zoo, would you see a gorilla or a guerilla? After completing twelve years of school, do you participate in a gradation or graduation? gofer, gopher A…
Did a glacier, a glazer, or a glazier knock a hole in the Titanic? Are you gneiss to others, or are you nice to them? Is a gnu, a knew, or a new an antelope? Do you see current events on the gnus, news, or noose? glacier, glazer, glazier A glacier is a slowly moving…
Do your genes or jeans determine what color eyes you will have? During the Middle Ages, was a professional clown a gesture or a jester? If an item is gold in color, is it gilt or guilt? genes, jeans Genes are the basic physical units of heredity. The genes passed down to her by her…
