I have little formal education beyond high school, but I speak and write my native language very well, well enough that I started and edited my own magazine for seven years, wrote for a dozen or more other magazines and had a book published.
As an editor I was often required to turn an interesting but poorly written article into something usable, and sometimes this required major surgery. I have never been impressed with the teaching of our native language.
Bloggers continually insult me with poor use of words, especially homonyms. Follow me across the fold for examples of PROPER usage. You will recognize from them the ever popular misuses.
"They're" = (contraction) "they are"
"Their" = (pronoun) "of, or belonging to them"
"There" = (noun) "that place"
"Your" = (pronoun) "of, or belonging to you"
"You're" = (contraction) "you are"
"Yore" = (noun) "a long time ago"
"Rein" = (Noun): "a means of control" (Verb) (followed by "in"): to bring something under control
"Reign" = (noun): "the period of time during which a throne is occupied" Verb (NEVER followed by "in") = "to rule absolutely."
"Through" = (preposition) "by way of"
"Threw" = (verb) "hurled"
"Write" = (verb) "to inscribe"
"Rite" = (noun) "ceremony"
"Right" = (adjective) "correct," "the direction opposite of left"
"Lead" = (pronounced "led", noun) "an elemental metal" (pronounced "leed," verb) "to direct"
"Led" = (verb), past tense of the verb "to lead"
If you have other examples, put them into comments.