Homophones and Confusables

Homophones are words that sound the same but have different meanings and spellings. They are one of the most common sources of errors in writing, and they are frequently tested in the SET Stage 1 comprehension paper. Getting these right also strengthens your Stage 2 extended writing. This lesson covers the homophones and confusable words you are most likely to encounter in the Sutton Selective Eligibility Test.

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The Big Three: There, Their, They're

These three words cause more mistakes than almost any others. Learn them carefully:

Word	Meaning	Example
there	A place, or used to introduce a sentence	Put it over there. There is a cat on the wall.
their	Belonging to them (possessive)	Their house is on the corner.
they're	Short for "they are" (contraction)	They're coming to the party tonight.

Test trick: If you can replace the word with "they are" and the sentence still makes sense, use they're. If it shows ownership, use their. Otherwise, use there.

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To, Too, Two

Word	Meaning	Example
to	Direction, or part of an infinitive verb	I walked to school. I want to read.
too	As well, or excessively	I am coming too. It is too hot.
two	The number 2	I have two brothers.

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Your and You're

Word	Meaning	Example
your	Belonging to you	Is this your coat?
you're	Short for "you are"	You're going to love this book.

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Its and It's

This is one of the trickiest pairs because the apostrophe rule seems backwards:

Word	Meaning	Example
its	Belonging to it (possessive — no apostrophe!)	The dog wagged its tail.
it's	Short for "it is" or "it has"	It's been a wonderful day.

Memory aid: Think of "his" and "hers" — neither uses an apostrophe for possession. "Its" works the same way.

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Who's and Whose

Word	Meaning	Example
who's	Short for "who is" or "who has"	Who's coming to dinner?
whose	Belonging to whom	Whose bag is this?

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Practice and Practise (British English)

In British English (which is used in the SET), these two words have different roles:

Word	Word Class	Example
practice	Noun (the thing)	Football practice starts at 4pm.
practise	Verb (the action)	I need to practise my spelling.