A lot of the issues that people have with English involve the difficulty of transferring knowledge of spoken English to written English. In this installment of Grammar Bites we will be looking at homonyms. Homonyms are words with different spellings and meanings that have the same pronunciation.
Lead (noun), Lead (v., present tense), and Led (v., past tense)
Here are three words that people frequently confuse with each other while writing. The noun “lead” is pronounced with an “eh” sound. It refers to a kind of metal, or to material used in pencils. A common phrase is, “Get the lead out!” which means “Go faster!”.
The present tense of the verb “lead” is pronounced with an “eee” sound. It means to go first, or instruct others how to act. The past tense of the verb, however, is “led”, and is pronounced with the “eh” sound. The main thing to remember when you’re writing it down is that the past tense is shorter than the present tense!
Peaked vs. Piqued
These two words are homonyms that further confuse the issue by having similar meanings. If something has “peaked”, it means that it reached its highest level. For example, you can say, “That athlete’s career peaked five years ago.” However, when you see the word “piqued”, it is almost always in the idiom “That piqued my interest.” If something piques your interest, it arouses your curiosity or desire to learn more. Keep an eye out for that idiom, and you’ll be fine!
Phased vs. Fazed
This is another set of homonyms. In this case, however, they have very different meanings! “Phased” is the past tense of the verb “to phase”. If something is being phased in, it is being introduced; if something is being phased out, it is being removed from circulation. An example would be to say, “I’m sad because my favorite lychee-flavored soda was phased out last year.”
“Fazed”, on the other hand, is an adjective used to describe a person; if someone is fazed by something, they are disconcerted, dismayed, or disoriented by it. You could say, “The fact that class was an hour late totally fazed John.” The two can even be used in the same sentence: “Poe was fazed by the fact that his department was being phased out at the end of the year.”
If you pay attention to the quirks and exceptions of the English language, it will improve your communication and further your understanding of how to use words correctly. Keep on top of those homonyms – remembering them will give you a special boost in your written English!