More commonly confused words

Sight/ cite / site   

Short common English words that mean basic things and sound exactly the same are major challenges for non-native writers of academic English. The words sight, cite, and site are pronounced identically, yet have different meanings. The familiar noun sight refers to the ability to see. It can also mean something that can be seen, as in the term sight-seeing, meaning to be a tourist and looking at things. In informal English, the noun sight can also be used to mean something that draws our attention because it looks bad. For example, people might say:

After participating in this year’s BDMS Bangkok Marathon race, my hair was a sight.

This usage for the word sight is not formal enough for a thesis or academic research paper. Also informal would be to use the verb sight to mean see, as in:

We sighted the islands of islands of Phi Phi, Koh Pha Ngan, and Koh Tao as the ferries drew near.

Military veterans are accustomed to speak about sights as devices on guns that are looked through to aim at targets. In this context, sight can also be used as a verb, as in the phrase the sights of a gun. The noun sight derives from older words in German and Dutch meaning appearance, or something that is seen. The verb to cite is well-known to all students and ajarns who have written research papers with footnotes. It means to refer to something, some previously published words, or a book, or a writer, to document a statement. We cite an authority to show that what we are saying is not just our personal opinion, but has also been confirmed by reliable writers before us. Also, we cite others to show that we respect other researchers who worked before us, and to avoid being accused of plagiarism. We do not wish to give the impression that we have created an idea that is not original with us, so we cite the writers who may have had the same thought before us. More generally, the verb to cite also means to mention something or draw attention to it. This may be outside the context of a research paper, when we are just talking informally about what someone else said. As a verb, cite is also used to mean honored or recognized, as when someone in the armed forced is cited for bravery. Law students and ajarns will also recognize the verb to cite as referring to a court summons, meaning that someone is served with a writ, or written command in the name of a court, ordering them to appear. This meaning for the verb to cite dates back to the Middle Ages, with a Latin term meaning to call. In law, the noun summons is a type of call, an order to appear before a judge. The noun site means a specific place or area where something will happen. Often the word site is used for the location of a construction project, or where some historical event has occurred. Site is also used more recently as a short way of referring to websites. If we think about the URLs used for websites, they are all about where the given information is located on the internet. Because the location of the data is of primary importance, the word referring to place is used to describe it. Site can also be seen as a verb, meaning to locate something somewhere, although this is a fairly rare usage. The origins of the noun site are in a Latin word meaning local position. So we have three words, sounding the same, with different origins and meanings, all of them useful in writing research papers.

Word                                      Origins and meaning of original term

Sight                                        Latin, appearance, something that is seen.

Cite                                          Latin, to call.

Site                                           Latin, local position.

Often for writers of Thai English it can be confusing to worry about the origins of English words in multiple foreign languages. Yet in telling sight, cite, and site apart, paying a little attention to origins may help to clear up matters. Only one of the three words begins with the letter c. As it happens, cite derives from a word meaning to call. When we cite a reference in a research paper or thesis, we do not literally call them the way we might call a friend on the telephone. Yet in another way we do call out to previously published writers, showing them and the world that we recognize them and the good work they have done. In this sense, to cite someone or something is a kind of call. If we keep this idea in mind, we will be more likely to spell the word cite with a letter c and not with a letter s.  Deciding whether to spell a word sight or site depending on its meaning may be a more difficult challenge. Remembering an invented sentence including the words as a guide to spelling may be one way to improve the odds of getting them right:

The students cited the site, which was an unusual sight.

The sight of the construction site made the court cite the corporation.

Here are some other usage examples:

• Brunei Darussalam’s second largest English-language newspaper The Brunei Times published its last edition on Monday, citing business sustainability issues and several other matters as reasons for its closure.
• The committee drafting the new computer crime law of the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) acknowledged pressing concerns over Internet rights but cited the need to balance rights with cyber-crime investigations as well as national security.
• Fragrant Group, meanwhile, has deferred plans to launch two more condominium projects by year’s end, after introducing its latest condominium, the Bt4-billion Circle Prototype Condo. The company cited a drop-off in demand for the decision.
• There is no need to cite any polls or indices.
• Let me cite a few examples.
• Hundreds of thousands of people formed a one kilometre-long queue and endured five hours of heavy rain just to catch sight of the Royal couple.
• Credit Suisse sets sights on assets of wealthy Thais.
• Thai doctors from Banphaeo Hospital take their cataract machine deep into Myanmar and restore sight to 206 grateful citizens.
• Thais in sight of Suzuki Cup final spot.
• The site then will deliver the frames to customers at home, for which it charges a deposit of Bt300, which be returned as a full credit, she said.
• As many as 10,000 people in Kayin State in Myanmar have been displaced due to fighting over the Hat Gyi Dam construction site, as plans move forward to begin building on the Salween River.
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  (All images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)