Homophones Hurt Your Writing: Buy, By, & Bye

Welcome to this edition of Words For Thought, the blog on wordrefiner.com. Like many of the previous blogs we are looking at homophones. Words that sound the same but have different spellings and meanings. 
I understand how important it is to have an error free manuscript. With over 40 years of experience, I have found that homophones give almost every writer fits and difficulties. Because we sound words out in our mind, it is easy to write the wrong word.
Let’s not forget typographical errors also, a slip of the finger on the keyboard can create a different word that may not be caught by a spell-checker. There are many groups of words that vary by only one letter, such as vary and very, or must, mist and most.
The correctly spelled word in the wrong context will not be flagged by most spell-checkers. Word Refiner is dedicated to uprooting all of these hidden errors and providing your document free of spelling errors that you want and deserve.

Now, onto today’s episode!

Three single syllable words that sound exactly alike, such excellent candidates for #HomophonesHurtYourWriting and by chance #TyposHurtYourWriting; multiple opportunities to provide a less than smooth ride for your reader.

Buy means to purchase something.  Simple enough, unless your finger misses the key for “u”.  Your spellchecker won’t catch that, it sees a correct word; will you?

By is a preposition, a part of speech that helps direct action: “She went by the fence as she walked down the road.”

Bye is an abbreviation for goodbye.  It can also be an acronym for Before Year End.  There are other meanings also; in sports or competitions, it means a competitor is advanced to the next round without having to participate in the present round.

The English language is so much fun, we are having fun aren’t we?

There they are, three words with identical sounds.  If you use the wrong word the reader might think they hit an invisible tree root and lose the reading momentum you worked so hard to build.  Use every tool available to prevent that from happening, do not give your readers a reason to not finish your story. Use Word Refiner, beta readers, critique partners, proofreaders and editors to ensure that your work is error free and as smooth as possible.
Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed this issue of Homophones Hurt Your Writing on Words For Thought.  Follow me on twitter: @wordrefiner, for more alerts about hazardous homophones search for  #HomophonesHurtYourWriting or #TyposHurtYourWriting on twitter.
Don’t forget the free offer for writers under the “Learn More” tab on our website.

Remember: Words Have Meaning and Spelling Makes a Difference. 
​Copyright © 2015 Mark L Schultz 

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