Dawaki English Academy

Here are the 10 common errors involving homophones — words that sound the same but are spelled differently and have different meanings — along with their incorrect and correct usage:

1. Their / There / They're

Incorrect: There going to the park later.

Correct: They're going to the park later.

Explanation: They're = They are

2. Your / You’re

Incorrect: Your going to love this movie.

Correct: You're going to love this movie.

Explanation: You're = You are

3. Its / It’s

Incorrect: The cat licked it’s paws.

Correct: The cat licked its paws.

Explanation: Its = possessive; It’s = It is

4. To / Too / Two

Incorrect: I want too go too the party to.

Correct: I want to go to the party too.

Explanation: Too = also; Two = number 2; To = preposition or part of infinitive verb

5. Then / Than

Incorrect: He is taller then me.

Correct: He is taller than me.

Explanation: Than is used for comparisons; Then refers to time/order

6. Accept / Except

Incorrect: Everyone accept Musa passed the test.

Correct: Everyone except Musa passed the test.

Explanation: Accept = to receive; Except = excluding

7. Affect / Effect

Incorrect: The new law will effect many people.

Correct: The new law will affect many people.

Explanation: Affect = verb (to influence); Effect = noun (result)

8. Loose / Lose

Incorrect: Don't loose your keys.

Correct: Don't lose your keys.

Explanation: Loose = not tight; Lose = to misplace or not win

9. Than / Then

Incorrect: If you do this, than you’ll succeed.

Correct: If you do this, then you’ll succeed.

Explanation: Then = consequence or sequence; Than = comparison

10. Principal / Principle

Incorrect: He’s a man of strong principals.

Correct: He’s a man of strong principles.

Explanation: Principle = moral rule; Principal = head of a school or main

🎤SPEAK RIGHT, WRITE BRIGHT
@ ABUTURAB ENGLISH ACADEMY
DAWAKIN KUDU, KANO.

✍Tijjanin Dawakėė
24/05/2025.

Here are some common errors involving homophones — words that sound the same but are spelled differently and have different meanings — along with their incorrect and correct usage:

1. Accept / Except

Incorrect: Everyone accept Musa passed the test.

Correct: Everyone except Musa passed the test.

Explanation: Accept = to receive; Except = excluding

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2. Affect / Effect

Incorrect: The new law will effect many people.

Correct: The new law will affect many people.

Explanation: Affect = verb (to influence); Effect = noun (result)

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3. Loose / Lose

Incorrect: Don't loose your keys.

Correct: Don't lose your keys.

Explanation: Loose = not tight; Lose = to misplace or not win

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4. Than / Then

Incorrect: If you do this, than you’ll succeed.

Correct: If you do this, then you’ll succeed.

Explanation: Then = consequence or sequence; Than = comparison

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5 Principal / Principle

Incorrect: He’s a man of strong principals.

Correct: He’s a man of strong principles.

Explanation: Principle = moral rule; Principal = head of a school or main

🎤SPEAK RIGHT, WRITE BRIGHT
@ ABUTURAB ENGLISH ACADEMY
DAWAKIN KUDU, KANO.

✍Tijjanin Dawakėė
24/05/2025.

JOIN US EVERY SUNDAY MORNING TO LEARN ENGLISH @ ABUTURAB ENGLISH ACADEMY

"ALL WHAT" AND "ALL THAT"

The phrase "all what" is generally incorrect in standard English. The correct phrase is usually "all that."

"All that" is used to refer to everything that or the only thing that. It acts as a relative pronoun introducing a clause.

For instances:

1- Don't say:
All what he said was nonsense.

Say:
All that he said was nonsense.

2- Don't say:
All what I need is a break.

Say:
All that I need is a break.

3- Don't say:
She remembered all what he told her.

Say:
She remembered all that he told her.

Why "all what" is wrong:

In English grammar, “what” is typically not used after “all” when introducing a clause. “What” is a fused relative pronoun (meaning “the thing(s) that”), while “all that” separates the determiner (“all”) and the relative pronoun (“that”).

✍ Tijjanin Dawakėė
3rd May, 2025.

"Ashes of Greed; Beyond the Ruins",
a poem composed @ AbuTurab English Academy

Once the drums of hope beat loud,
In fields of promise, thick and
proud;
But now the winds howl lean and
dry,
Beneath a pale and broken sky.

Panthers in gilded halls reside,
While hungry mouths are cast
aside;
Their pockets swell, their
mansions rise,
As common dreams are sold for
lies.

Oil once bled from sacred ground,
Now trickles slow, no joy, no
sound;
The crops decay, the markets fall,
A battered people heed no call.

The Naira weeps in battered
hands,
As price and hunger stalk the
lands;
Jobs are ghosts and schools
grow still,
While leaders fatten on the kill.

They built no roads, they stole the
light,
They feasted through the endless
night;
And in the dawn, what did they
leave?
A nation taught to cry and grieve.

Yet in the dust, a whisper grows—
A flame the greedy never know:
That from these ashes, brave and
sure,
The cripple's will may yet endure.

✍Tijjanin Dawaki
An Activist
29/04/2025

MORNING TEA FROM ABUTURAB ENGLISH ACADEMY

/ðə hɑːdəst ˈfiː.lɪŋ 'piː.pəl lɪv wɪð ɪz ðə fɪər əv wɒt ˈʌðərz θɪŋk ə'baʊt ðəm/
ˈdeɪ.vɪd ˈɪkəl

Could you please try to convert the above statement in IPA transcription to standard English orthography?

✍Tijjanin Dawaki

Don't say: Usman is my tied friend.
Say: Usman is my close friend.

AbuTurab English Academy

"𝐁𝐀𝐁𝐔 𝐌𝐀𝐈 𝐒𝐎𝐍 𝐀𝐋𝐈 𝐒𝐀𝐈 𝐌𝐔𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐈, 𝐁𝐀𝐁𝐔 𝐌𝐀𝐈 𝐊𝐈𝐍 𝐀𝐋𝐈 𝐒𝐀𝐈 𝐌𝐔𝐍𝐀𝐅𝐈𝐊𝐈"
~ 𝐈𝐧𝐣𝐢 𝐌𝐚'𝐚𝐢𝐤𝐢𝐧 𝐀𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐡 (𝐒.𝐀.𝐖.𝐖.)

Malam Ibrahim Badamasi Abdulkadir (𝐊𝐡𝐚𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐡𝐢) Dawakin kudu Unguwar Maliki
Na farin cikin gayyatar al'ummar musulmi masoya Manzo da Iyalan Gidansa tsarkaka Alaihimus Salam
Zuwa wajen gagarumin maulidin Wasiyyin Ma'aikin Allah 𝐈𝐦𝐚𝐦 𝐀𝐥𝐢 𝐝𝐚𝐧 𝐀𝐛𝐮𝐝𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐛𝐢 (𝐀𝐬) da kuma munasabar Nisfu Sha'aban -ranar haihuwar limamin wannan zamanin 𝐈𝐦𝐚𝐦 𝐌𝐚𝐡𝐝𝐢 (𝐀𝐬)
Wanda Insha Allahu zai kasance kamar haka:
𝐑𝐚𝐧𝐚: Gobe Alhamis 15 ga Sha'aban
1446 (13/02/2025)
𝐋𝐨𝐤𝐚𝐜𝐢: Karfe 8:00 na dare zuwa abin
da ya sawwaka
𝐖𝐮𝐫𝐢: Filin dake kusa da Makarantar
Sakandiren 'Yammata dake
Masaka cikin garin Dawakin kudu.
Babban Bako Mai Jawabi:
Abul Bashar Al- Sheikh Usman
Al- Ja'afari.
Allah ya bada ikon zuwa Ilaheey

✍Tijjanin Dawaki
Internet Forum
12/02/2025.

اللهم صلِّ على محمد وآل محمد