Words Often Confused

If you know the difference between your/you're; then/than; lose/loose, then you probably won't be subject to ridicule or lose respect from fellow writers. This is from a photocopied booklet in my English class, so I don't know who to give credit to.

a/an

• A is used before a word that begins with a consonant, plus u when it sounds like 'you'.
• a pencil, a union, a European trip
• An is used before a word that begins with a vowel sound. It's the sound that matters, not the letter.
• an apple, an hour, an umpire

accept/except

• Accept is a verb and it means to 'receive willingly.'
• I accept your invitation. (I willingly receive your invitation sounds a bit weird, but it makes sense.)
• Except means 'excluding' or 'but.'
• Everyone came except him. (Everyone came but him.)

affect/effect

• Affect is a verb and means 'to influence.'
• Her advice may affect his decision.
• Effect means 'result.' If a, an or the is in front of the word, then it isn't a verb and will be effect.
• His words had a great effect on the crowd.
• The rain had no effect on the attendance.

it's/its

• It's a contraction and means 'it is' or 'it has'
• It's cold. (It is cold.)
• Its is a possessive. (Possessive like its, yours, hers, ours, theirs and whose are already possessive and don't need apostrophes.)
• The committee gave its review.

loose/lose

• Loose means 'not tight.' A trick to remember is that loose is roomy enough for two o's.
• My pants are loose and baggy.
• Lose misplaced its second o, so it only has one.
• We're going to lose the game.

passed\past

• Passed is a verb.
• He passed the house.
• Use past when it's not a verb.
• He walked past the house is the same as he walked by the house, so it's not a verb.

peace/piece

• "Piece of pie." The one meaning a piece of something always begins with pie.
• I gave that kid a piece of my mind.
• Peace is the opposite of war.
• They signed the peace treaty.

than/then

• Than compares two things.
• I'd rather have this than that.
• Then tells when (then and when rhyme)
• He finished his test and then he went home.

their/they're/there

• Their is a possessive.
• Their house is pink.
• There points out something (the three words indicating a place or pointing out something all have here in them: here. there, where).
• I was sure I left it there.
• They're is a contraction. Just substiture they are and see if it works.
• They're happy now. (They are happy now.)

two/too/to

• Two is number.
• I have two dogs.
• Too means 'more than enough' and 'also.' (Too has more than enough o's.) 
• The lesson was too long.
• I found it boring too.
• Use to for all the other meanings.
• He's going to the beach.

were/where

• Were is a verb
• We were miles away from home.
• Where refers to a place. (Remember that the three words indicating a place or pointing out something all have here in them: here. there, where)
• Where is he?

woman/women

• Woman is singular. One female.
• That woman is my mother.
• Women is plural. A bunch of females.
• Those women are loud.

you're/your

• You're is a contraction and means 'you are.' (If the sentence works when you replace you're with you are, you're good.)
• You're welcome. (You are welcome.)
• Your is a possessive.
• Your toast is ready.

Gotta love my English teacher's stash of booklets, right? Actually, I think every English teacher in my school has their stash. Another one has piles of writing tips and materials printed out. He also said something very useful to his class. "You can't prepare for an English exam, so you just bullsh!t it."

Dialogue Punctuation

This is only semi-related, but it's priceless.

Dialogue loves to confuse writers and make them want to bash their heads against the wall. There are so many rules, and some don't even make sense.  Well, bash no more, because I shall (at least try to) explain.

A dialogue tag is a set of words placed directly before or after dialogue. He said, she said, I yelled, and so on. If you've got just a piece of dialogue with a tag, it'll look like this:
"I just went to the store," he said.

Let's look at that again.
Wrong:
"I just went to the store." He said.
"I just went to the store," He said.

Right:
"I just went to the store," he said.
Note the comma and lowercase h. Never use a period before a dialogue tag. Always use a comma, and never capitalize the next word unless it's I or a name.

Wrong:
"Did you buy me anything," she asked.

Right:
"Did you buy me anything?" she asked.
This is a question mark, so don't use a comma. Don't use one instead of an exclamation point, either.

Wrong:
"No," he replied. "But I knew I was forgetting something."

Right:
"No," he replied, "but I knew I was forgetting something."
Since No, but I knew I was forgetting something. is actually one sentence, you use a comma before the tag, and a comma after the tag.

Wrong:
"Aww," Susie pouted.

Right:
"Aww." Susie pouted.
There's no comma here, since Susie pouted. isn't a dialogue tag. It's simply stating an action. You can't pout a word, can you?

Wrong:
"How did you do that" he asked.
"I talked to him yesterday" he said.

Right:
"How did you do that?" he asked.
"I talked to him yesterday," he said.
You always need puncuation with your dialogue.

Wrong:
"Hey, that was funny," I laughed.

You can't laugh a word. You can't smile it either, and if you hiss it, it'd better have an s unless you speak Parseltongue.

Right:
"Hey, that was funny." I laughed.
I laughed isn't a tag, it's just a sentence.

Wrong:
"Hello everyone" he said.
"Hello everyone", he said.

Right:
"Hello everyone," he said.
You always, always, always need punctuation inside your quotes. Always. I can't think of a reason you wouldn't.

Wrong:
"Billy, did you do your homework?" the teacher asked. "No, my dog ate it," Billy replied.

Right:
"Billy, did you do your homework?" the teacher asked.
"No, my dog ate it," Billy replied.
Always, always, always start a new line for each new speaker.

I don't know why the rules are so confusing. I didn't write them. Yes, I know they don't make sense. You just have to learn to deal with it.

I hope that helped. Since I probably forgot something (or quite a few things), there's also a really great article here. The best way to learn all these rules is simply to read a lot of books. Books have a lot of dialogue, and hopefully you'll learn how it works as you read. Pay close attention, and watch where punctuation is placed in different situations. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me!

Originally posted here.