Word Confusion: We’ve versus Weave

Posted June 29, 2021 by Kathy Davie in Author Resources, Self-Editing, Word Confusions, Writing

Revised as of
11 Jan 2023

Yeah. No. There is no way that “she’ll we’ve some baskets”. ‘Cause. No. No writer or proofreader should have missed this one. A contraction is wayyyyy too obvious. Well, not to a spellchecker, as it only checks for spelling not context.

Know that even a contraction like we’ve can be an heterograph (a subset of homophone), in this case, it’s with weave.

I’d like to think that it’s a typo. That someone accidentally hit the “a” instead of the apostrophe. But. No. That apostrophe is way the other side of the keyboard.

Word Confusions . . .

. . . started as my way of dealing with a professional frustration with properly spelled words that were out of context in manuscripts I was editing as well as books I was reviewing. It evolved into a sharing of information with y’all. I’m hoping you’ll share with us words that have been a bête noire for you from either end.

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We’ve	Weave
The Big Picture! We’ve Done It! I’m a World Record Holder! by Amanda Slater is under the CC BY-SA 2.0 license, via Flickr.	Weaving is courtesy of Sterling College is under the CC BY 2.0 license, via Flickr. — I’ve always wanted to learn to weave.
Part of Grammar:
Contraction (uses an apostrophe) to combine: Pronoun + Infinitive (to have)	Noun ¹; Verb ¹, intransitive ² & transitive Plural for the noun: weaves Gerund: weaving Third person present verb: weaves Past tense: wove, weaved ² Past participle: woven, weaved ² Present participle: weaving
Contraction for we have	Noun: [Usually with adjective] A particular style or manner in which something is woven ¹ A hairstyle created by weaving pieces of real or artificial hair into a person’s existing hair, typically in order to increase its length or thickness Verb, intransitive: To form or construct something, as fabric, by interlacing threads, yarns, strips, etc. ¹ To be or become formed or composed from the interlacing of materials or the combining of various elements To compose a connected whole by combining various elements or details Twist and turn from side to side while moving somewhere in order to avoid obstructions ² Take evasive action in an aircraft, typically by moving it from side to side [Of a horse] Repeatedly swing the head and forepart of the body from side to side (considered to be a vice) To move or proceed in a winding course or from side to side Verb, transitive: Form (threads, yarns, strips, fibrous material, etc.) by interlacing long threads passing in one direction with others at a right angle to them ¹ Make (a complex story or pattern) from a number of interconnected elements [weave something into] Include an element or detail in (a story or pattern) To direct or move along in a winding or zigzag course Move from side to side, especially to avoid obstructions [Informal; get weaving] To hurry Start to do something
Examples:
We’ve arrived. We’ve got to stop meeting like this! Listen! We’ve got company. We’ve got to go. We’ve been spending the summer on the beach.	Noun: It was a scarlet cloth of a very fine weave. Trailers show him with dyed blond hair and, in one scene, a flowing blond weave. To recreate Alexander the Great’s mane of hair, the actor had blond dye and a weave. Verb, intransitive: This type of yarn is woven into fabric which will make jackets. Blackie weaved from side to side. He had to weave his way through the crowds. The Spitfire weaved from side to side, evading the Messerschmitt’s gunfire. She weaved through the defenders and scored a goal. The dancers weaved in time to the music. He weaved his way through traffic. A stout woman weaved her way along the edge of the pool. It was a colorful tale he weaved. Verb, transitive: They have some amazing textiles woven from linen, silk, or wool. Some thick mohairs can be difficult to weave. We were shown how to roughly weave ferns and grass together to make a temporary shelter. She wove a basket from strips of a magazine. He weaves colorful, cinematic plots. There are interpretative comments woven into the narrative. She wove an old folk melody into her latest musical composition. The story weaves together the past and present in surprising ways.
Derivatives:
	Adjective: woven Noun: weaving Verb: outweave, outweaving, outwove, outwoven, reweave, reweaving, rewove, rewoven
History of the Word:
Unknown.	Old English wefan is of Germanic origin, from an Indo-European root shared by the Greek huphē meaning web and the Sanskrit Ūrṇavābhi meaning spider, literally wool-weaver. The current noun sense dates from the late 19th century. Late 16th century and probably from the Old Norse veifa meaning to wave, brandish. Use weaved for past tense or past participle, if you weave your way somewhere, if you keep changing direction while you go there, in order to avoid hitting things.

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C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan . . . which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them . . . and we’ll all benefit!

Satisfy your curiosity about other Word Confusions on its homepage or more generally explore the index of self-editing posts. You may also want to explore Book Layout & Formatting Ideas, Formatting Tips, Grammar Explanations, Linguistics, Publishing Tips, the Properly Punctuated, Writing Ideas and Resources, and Working Your Website.

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