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Homophones I (Which/Witch, Here/Hear, By/Buy, Whether/Weather)

Intermediate

After this lesson, you will be able to tell the difference between four pairs of words that sound the same but have different meanings. This knowledge will allow you to avoid misspelling common words.

Exercise 1

Sentence Practice

Which of his books do you like most?
She dressed as a witch for Halloween.

She isn’t coming here today.
I can hear him singing.

I left my hat by the bookcase.
Will you buy the new phone?

Whether you like it or not, you will have to do as your parents say.
The weather forecast says it will be rainy this weekend.

Grammar Focus

'Homophone' (words with the same sound) is made up of the Greek words 'homo' (the same) and 'phone' (sound) - the same phone in 'telephone'.

Homophones are words that sound the same, but differ in spelling and meaning.

Which vs Witch

Which is a determiner or a pronoun used in questions to refer to specific item(s).

Which sweater is your favorite?

A witch is a woman who is believed to have magical powers.

In the story, the hero defeated the evil witch.

An easy way to tell 'which' and 'witch' apart is that 'which' is one of the 'wh- question words' (who, what, where, when, why).

Here vs Hear

Here is an adverb that shows location.

Come here!

Hear is a verb that means "to perceive sound using one's ears".

Can you hear the music?

By vs Buy

By is a preposition used when we need to show location.

There is cake by the wine case.

Buy is a verb that means "to get something by paying money".

Will you buy me a new laptop?

Whether vs Weather

Whether is a conjunction used in indirect questions to introduce an alternative.

They don’t know whether she passed the exam or not.

Weather is a noun that means “the state of the atmosphere at a certain time and place” (i.e. is it rainy? sunny? windy?).

The weather is nice today; let's go for a walk.

Exercise 2

Sentence Practice

We can come here any time we want.
During the night you can hear the wolves howling.
There is a car parked by the bridge.
I could never afford to buy a new house.
The weather has been horrible these past few days!
I really don’t know whether to go to that party or just stay at home.
Which flavor of ice cream would you like?
Mary wants to be a witch for Halloween.

Exercise 3

Fill in the Blanks

Fill in the blanks to complete the sentences.

Sally dressed up as a for Halloween.

A.
which
B.
witch

answer is right?

A.
Which
B.
Witch

We may have to cancel the picnic due to the .

A.
weather
B.
whether

The picnic might be cancelled depending on or not it rains.

A.
weather
B.
whether

Meet me the bridge at 5 o'clock.

A.
buy
B.
by

Please me a ring.

A.
buy
B.
by

I like to study .

A.
hear
B.
here

When I put in my earplugs, I cannot my alarm clock.

A.
hear
B.
here

Exercise 4

Sentence Building

Create sentences using the following words and phrases.

Example

whether/weather, nice → 1) Do you know whether or not she is nice? 2) The weather is nice today.

Here, quiet
Hear, quiet
Buy, house
By, house
Which, hat
Witch, hat