Commonly Confused Words and Capitalization

​Correct answer: Than

• Than - used to compare; ex. "I scored more points than she did."

  Then - used to indicate a point in time; ex. "We had lunch and then went back to class."

​Correct answer: Your

• Your - possessive form of "you"; ex. "Your dog is very well behaved."

  You're - contraction of "you are"; ex. "You're coming to the movies on Friday, right?"

​Correct answer: Where

• Where - indicates a place or location; ex. "Where did you put book?"

  We're - contraction of "we are"; ex. "We're all going to the same college.

  Were - past tense form of are; ex. "Were you at the concert last night?"

Correct answer: They're

​

• They're - contraction of "they are"; ex. "They're moving to West Virginia."

  Their - means it belongs to them; ex. "I hope their new puppy likes all the new toys."

  There - indicates a place; ex. "I saw your friend over there."

​Correct answer: Its

• Its - possessive form of it; ex. "Its name is Nemo."

  It's - a contraction of "it is" or "it has"; ex. It's been swimming in circles."

​

• Mr. Smith

• Hillside, New Jersey

• Capitalize the first word of a sentence.

• Every day is a new day.

• Capitalize the word "I" every time.

• It has been a long time since I saw a good movie.

• 
  

• 
  

• Proper nouns-Names of people, specific places, things

• teacher-Mrs. Barreiros

• school-Hillside High School

• city, state, country- San Francisco, California

• car- Honda Accord

• computer-Dell

• Capitalize languages nationalities

• Spanish, French, Portuguese

• Capitalize names of religions

• Islam, Christianity, Buddhism

• 
  

• 
  

• Capitalize words like mom or grandpa when they are forms of address or used as the person's name.

• Wait until Mom sees this mess.

• How much did bread cost when you were a child, Grandma?

• Do not capitalize these words when you are just referring to the person.

• Your dad is very funny.

• Holidays-Thanksgiving, Valentine's Day

• Days of the Week- Monday, Friday

• Months- April

• Note: do not capitalize seasons-summer, winter, fall, spring

• 
  

• Titles of books, movies, plays, magazines, poems, video games, songs

• NOTE: do not capitalize articles (a, an, the) or prepositions (in, on, with, to, about, under, below, etc.

• The House on Mango Street

• War of the Worlds