Worthy Words: Mnemonic Help

Confused between all right/alright? A lot/alot? I have mnemonic devises to help--not to be confused with pneumatic or pneumonia despite the silent first letter.

Word Processor (Photo credit: rahady)

Let the fun begin and the confusion end.

 1. a lot--(first of all, it's not a good word to use. Far too vague. But for facebook or emails--hey, have fun.) Remember that a lot is a lot of words.

2. all right/alright--since EVERYTHING's correct, not just one thing, the word contains TWO parts. all right. Alright is NEVER all right.

3. There/their/they're--

     a. There. We have no trouble with here. We know it's the location. Stick on the t. You now have   the location: there.

     b. Their. We know an heir owns stuff. Stick on a t. They now own it. Their.

     c.  They're. The ', AKA apostrophe, incdicates something left out. They're=they  are.

4. Can/may. Can is something you could do. May is something that is possible should permission be granted. Think mother may I.

5. Onto/on to: (mnemonic borrowed aka stolen from CMS) onto implies movement. I got onto the stage. If you can replace the to with up, you use onto. The two letter one is sort of like the preposition on and the infinitive to. But those terms (infinitive and preposition) is the subject of another blog.

Every Monday I'll share ways to remember your troublesome words. What words confuse you?