Note 333 – The use of sited, cited and sighted

Sited, cited and sighted are homophones, which are words that sound the same but are spelt differently.  I accidentally wrote sited instead of cited in one of my blog posts the other day, but fortunately spotted it (or sighted it) it before posting.  The sentence I wrote in Note 330 – Do you write snuck or sneaked? was “snuck (as opposed to sneaked) has been cited in news publications”.

As there are distinct differences between these three words, I thought I would include this in My Writing Notebook today.  Bonnies’ Books (bonniesbooks.blogspot.co.uk) was inspired to write a similar post called Write it Right ~ cited, sited, sighted, because she had spotted the error in another blogger’s post back in Dec 2010 (which I’m pleased to say, wasn’t mine!).  In her post she explains the difference between the three words and corrects the mistake of the mysterious blogger.

Here are some definitions of site, cite and sight in their verb form only, along with synonyms and the use of the words in sentences:

Site (as a verb)

Definition: “fix or build (something) in a particular place” (source: Oxford Dictionaries online)

Synonyms of sited: placed, plotted, located, positioned (source: Collins English Dictionary & Thesaurus)

Examples:

• the shed was sited behind the vegetable plot
• the mirror was sited above he fireplace

Cite (as a verb)

Definition: “refer to (a passage, book, or author) as evidence for or justification of an argument or statement, especially in a scholarly work” (source: Oxford Dictionaries online)

Synonyms of cited: quoted, named, mentioned (source: Collins English Dictionary & Thesaurus)

Sentence: As cited in the Guinness Book of Records

Sight (as a verb)

Definition: “to get or catch sight of” (source: Merriam-Webster Dictionaries online)

Synonyms of sighted: spotted, seen, observed, distinguished (source: Collins English Dictionary & Thesaurus)

Sentence: They sighted the plane ten minutes before it landed

Hope you enjoyed today’s blog

Until tomorrow…

Sandra
www.sandramadeira.com