Since, Sense, Cents
Once again I would like to express my “love” of the English language with another stumbling block of mine. For starters, a little background, I am a self diagnosed dyslectic. I do not think it is too severe. I have been able to find adequate workarounds, at least for the most part, I still struggle with spelling and the concept of ‘right’ and ‘left’.
I was told that one of the ways dyslectics are able to recognize and spell words is by associating the way a word looks with something more meaningful (to a dyslectic), like what they represent and how they sound. For instance when I see the word “penny” I think of holding a real penny.
Most of the time it works well (it can be a little slow sometimes), however there are those words that are hard to associate with actual things. Words that do not easily associate with concrete objects or actions are tricky, homonyms are also trouble.
Both are against me in the case of since, sense and cents.
‘Cents’ has never given me any trouble, even though it sounds like the other two, the picture for that word is obvious and unique. Those other two though, those are trouble.
Currently my trick for figuring out which of these two words is called for is to imagine a brain, when I want to write “sense.” As in “you got any sense?”. Conversely when I want to write ’since’ I think of a “river of time” or “one idea flowing in to the next” (dramatic isn’t it).
I wish I just knew which one to use with out having to think about it, but at least I know how to determine the right one to use if I give my self enough time to figure it out.