Homophones: New — Night
Here are five more pairs/groups of words known as homophones (words that sound alike or almost, anyway), but are spelled differently and mean something different. They’re the toughest words in English to use correctly, because it’s so easy to mistype one, read it, and say, yup. Fine. Your eyes may not realize that the word isn’t the one you meant.
And spellcheck doesn’t help at all! If you spell a word correctly; even if you don’t use it correctly, spellcheck will be happy.
You, on the other hand, might not be.
So, here for your continued learning pleasure are five more pairs of Tricksters!
News (n.): information
Gnus (n.): an African antelope, also known as a wildebeest
Nice (adj.): kind; friendly; helpful; pleasant
Gneiss (n.): a coarsegrained metamorphic rock resembling granite
Nicks (v.): present tense of the verb “to nick,” to slightly damage or dent
Nix (n.): a part-human water spirit in German mythology; (v.): to deny; to say no to
Nigh (adj.): close or direct
Nye (n.): a brood or flock of pheasants
Night (n.): the opposite of day
Knight (n.): an honorary title
Are any of these words new to you? I was completely unfamiliar with gneiss, and the definition of both nix and nye surprised me.
For more information on these or other English words, visit YourDictionary.com, Merriam-Webster, or Dictionary.com, terrific resources that give definitions of these words.