Errors No College Student Should Ever Commit!
- their ≠ there ≠ they’re
- too ≠ two ≠ to
- your ≠ you’re
- where ≠ were
(A foursome of blunders that justify why high school diplomas should be subject to being rescinded. In fact, you should be kept out of junior high if you can't master this.)
- would have ≠ would of
(Or any variation with should, could, ought, and similar verbs. This doesn’t even make sense in English if you think about it, but sadly many folk obviously aren’t thinking...)
- its ≠ it’s
(Not a bad error if you just want to annoy the grader; otherwise...)
- accept ≠ except
- thrown ≠ throne
- led ≠ lead
(It might have been a good PR stunt for Led Zeppelin, but do you want to take that chance? No, you don’t...)
- rain ≠ rein ≠ reign
- know ≠ no
(I pitied the first person to do this, thinking it was unbelievable. Many papers/exams later, I realized something has gone terribly wrong; I thought it was a joke when they told me the“N” on Nebraska helmets was for Nowledge...)
- president ≠ precedent
(Residents of the White House may think these are the same thing, but we good citizens know better.)
- profit ≠ prophet
(Another misspelling that ends up insulting the subject matter unnecessarily!)
- sight ≠ cite ≠ site
- populace ≠ populous
- aloud ≠ allowed
- strait ≠ straight
- tenet ≠ tenant
- bare ≠ bear
(This can yield some unintended double entendres, which I suppose is okay if you were aiming for the raised eyebrow.)
- than ≠ then
(It’s just one vowel, but it sure warps a sentence out of shape.)
- weather ≠ whether
- defiantly ≠ definitely
(These aren't even homonyms, but that doesn’t appear to deter the determined.)
- ravage ≠ ravish
(If I have to explain this, your love life needs a coach.)
- since ≠ sense
- consul ≠ counsel ≠ council
- alter ≠ altar
(One is a verb; the other, a place for sacrifice.)
- principle ≠ principal
- manor ≠ manner
- past ≠ passed
- roll ≠ role
(Come on, folks! If someone plays a leading roll, that just makes him Chief Biscuit.)
Sadly, this list is not complete or comprehensive. New horrors doubtless await...
P.S. “Coronate” is not a verb! It's barely a word, and only if you read some truly odd texts from the 1800s.