Dealing with Homophones Part II: Why It Is Important To Understand Their Meanings

On a previous post we had about Homophones, we mentioned that as a transcriptionist, you must consider the group of words surrounding a homophone as this can impact the whole transcript. You must also have a wide English vocabulary so that you can determine which is the correct word to use. It's important that you know their meanings so that the transcript will make sense.

If you don't know how to deal with homophones the right way, it can be a real fuss. Words can get mixed up and meanings of the sentences won't make sense at all.

Let me give you some examples on some homophones: the definitions of each words and how to identify which words to use.

"...will basically sell products..."

"...we'll basically sell products..."

Notice that both fragments make sense. "Will" is a verb expressing the future tense while "we'll" is a contraction of "we will". So which of the two should you use?

If you only heard these words without listening to the preceding one, you will definitely have a hard time figuring out which one to use. However, if you found out that the preceding word is "you", then you will know which one to use. It will be the first set of words. So it's not only important that you know what "will" and "we'll" are, it's also important that you determine the word/s before it.

Here's another example:

"...by that item..."

"...buy that item..."

It's hard to determine which word to use in this one. But if you know the preceding words are "when you", then you'll know which one to use exactly. If the words before that are "place a check mark", then you would choose the first one. Of course, this is assuming that you know their meanings already. "By" is a preposition identifying the agent performing an action while "buy" is to acquire in exchange for money or its equivalent.

Transcribing is not just listening intently to an audio or video recording. It's not just about typing what you heard. It's about understanding the material that you are transcribing especially in this context. It's about making sure that the sentences are coherent with each other and they make sense.

So whenever you encounter homophones, make sure to listen and understand the material you are transcribing. It will create a really big difference to your transcript and to the overall quality of your work.

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