Common mistakes in English
Many speakers tend to get confused between ‘There’, ’Their’ and ‘They’re’ and knowing how to use these three words correctly is an important step in learning English.
The words ‘There’ and’ Their’ are homophones. Homophones are words that are spelt differently but pronounced the same. It is a common mistake to replace one for the other.
‘There’ always refers to a place, whether concrete or abstract, whereas ‘Their’ shows belonging or possession. ‘They’re, on the other hand, is the short form of they are. Let’s look at these examples for each of them
THERE:
How can anyone live there?
Let’s go there.
There will be a party tomorrow,
THEIR:
Let us buy their car.
Let us not go to their house. Return their books tomorrow.
THEY’RE:
They’re sitting there in their car. In this sentence, notice how ‘there’ is used to signify a place whereas ‘their’ is used to show possession. The word ‘they’re’ is a contraction of the word ‘they’ and ‘are’ and should not be confused with ‘their’ and ‘there’.
Much and Many
Much’ and ‘many’ are both determiners that suggest an unspecified quantity, with more or less the same basic meaning: ‘in great quantity’ or ‘in large number’. There is, however, a distinction in their usage.
‘Much’, not ‘many’, is used for uncountable nouns, which are in singular form.
I have much faith in him.
How much money do you have in your wallet?
There was much compassion in his voice.
On the other hand, ‘many’ is used for countable nouns, which are in plural form, and here ‘much’ cannot be used.
Many youngsters today are taking to atheism.
How many days remain?
There are many obstructions ahead for us.
Affect
‘Affect’ is used as a verb and means ‘to have an influence on’ and ‘Effect’ is used as a noun and means ‘the result’.
AFFECT
The dropped catch did not affect the result of the game.
The heavy rainfall affected the grains kept in the old warehouse.
Did the noise affect your sleep?
EFFECT
The effect of the tsunami was devastating.
The side effect of the cough syrup was drowsiness.
Did the noise have an effect on your sleep?
Effect is also used in the expressions ‘in effect’, ‘take effect’ and ‘come into effect.’
‘In effect’ means to ‘In fact’ or ‘In reality’
His silence was in effect an acceptance of the crime.
‘Take effect’ means ‘to produce an action’
The medicine will take effect in an hour.
‘Come into effect’ means ‘to come into existence’
The news laws come into effect next month.
