Drink, Drank, Drunk

Everyone knows what drink means. The confusion comes in when figuring out when to use drank and when to use drunk (as a verb, not the other meaning mostly everyone is familiar with). It's actually pretty simple.

Drank is the simple past of drink.

• Example: I drank two glass of fresh-squeezed orange juice this morning.

Drunk is also the past tense of drink but is only used with the verb "have."

• Example: Instead of orange juice, I had drunk two glasses of wine and promptly felt the effects. I have drunk my way through this bottle of wine in record time.

Memorization tip: If you do not use the verb have you do not use drunk.

Hang vs. Hung

Hang means to suspend from above, attach to a wall, droop, or fold in a specific way.

• Example: Will you please hang the painting four feet from the ceiling? When you finish with that, please hang the drapes over the windows.
  

Hung is the past tense of hang. However, hanged is also the past tense.

And therein lies the confusion. The most common mistake regarding these two past tenses comes when talking about the act of killing someone and describing the private parts of a man. Hanged is always used to describe how someone died. Hung always refers to the private parts of a man.

• Example: The executioner hanged the criminal at midnight yesterday. (versus) He told the girl at the bar that he was her ideal man because he was well hung.
  

Memorization tip: The man was hanged because he was hung. With his best friend's wife he had way too much fun

Its vs. It's

Its refers to the last single noun referred to.

• Example: At the dog track today, the dog I bet on won. Its come from behind victory over the other dogs was remarkable.
  

It's is a contraction of it and is.

• Example: It's about time I made to the next level in the game.

Memorization tip: When in doubt, say the sentence using "it is." If the sentence makes sense, use it's. If the sentence does not make sense, use its.

Farther vs. Further

As they relate to each other:

Farther defines distance. It compares how far apart two things are. Most often the two things being compared are a person and an object or two people.

• Example: After walking in the wrong direction for 20 minutes, John is now farther away from the bank than his friends.
  

Further means to a greater degree, a greater extent, or in addition (moreover). It is most often used when there is no notion of distance.

• Example: I do not want to discuss this matter any further.

When discussing a metaphorical distance, both farther and further are used interchangeably.

Memorization tip: The word 'far' is in farther. Far always relates to distance. If that is the case, use farther.

May vs. Can

May asks permission. It is often connect to a question.

• Example: May I borrow your car for the weekend? Yes, you may.
  

Can asks about an ability.

• Example: I bet I can make 20 free throws in a row.

Memorization tip: When asking a question the default word is may.

Irregardless

Irregardless is, in fact, not a word. As far as I can tell, it seems to be a misuse of the words regardless and irrespective. Somewhere along the line, someone probably combined the two words and it stuck.

Actually, when irregardless is broken down, it actually means the opposite of what the speaker intends. Regardless means "despite the present circumstances" or "not paying attention to the present situation." The prefix ir means "not" or "before." When ir and regardless are combined the new word, irregardless, actually means "regarding." This is the exact opposite of what the speaker means.

Since irregardless is not a word, there are no example sentences. Stick to something like this instead: I bought the shoes regardless of how they fit.

Memorization tip: Most of the time, when people say irregardless they mean regardless.