Commonly Misspelled Words
Good spelling has
little correlation to being a good writer; it is possible to be an excellent
writer but poor speller. Misspelled words, however, will give your work a
sloppy appearance even if the style and composition are brilliant.
English is a
hybrid of many different languages and has a colorful past. This results in the
various spelling rules and their many exceptions. Learning a few of the most
important rules and a few of their exceptions can help you avoid the most
common mistakes.
Adding Suffixes
If a word ends in –e
and the suffix (letters added to create a new word-ending, like –ing) begins
with a vowel, drop the final –e.
take =
taking phone = phoning bake = baked love = lovable
Exception:
be = being
If a word ends in a consonant plus –y, change the –y to –i when
adding a suffix.
crazy = crazier
happy = happiest fry = fried cry = cried Exception:
The above rule does not apply for –ing.
fry =
frying cry = crying supply = supplying When adding “full” to the end of a word,
drop the second –l.
joyful not joyfull harmful not harmfull
“ie” versus “ei”
Perhaps you
remember this rule from the rhyme: Place “i”
before “e” except after “c” or when
sounded like –ay as in neighbor and weigh. Here are some examples of when
this rule is correct:
i
before e: friend,
niece, fiend, piece, believe, fierce, die, field
except
after c: receive, perceive, deceive, receipt, ceiling
when
sounded like –ay: weight, sleigh, feign
Exceptions: being,
either, society, weird, leisure, foreign, science, height, seize, protein
Doubling the Final Consonant
If a word
is just one syllable and ends in a consonant, double the last letter when
adding a
suffix.
tag =
tagging flap = flapped hit = hitter nap = napping
For two syllable
words that end with a single consonant, double the final consonant if the final
syllable is stressed.
transmit = transmitted forget = forgetting imbed = imbedded If the stress falls on the first syllable, the final consonant
is not doubled.
travel = traveled marvel =
marveled
Making Nouns Plural
Most nouns are made plural by
simply adding –s to the end.
rock = rocks
bed =
beds flower = flowers
coin = coins
If the noun ends in –s, -z, -x,
-sh, -ch, or –ss, then add –es.
boss = bosses fax
= faxes dish = dishes match = matches
Exception:
quiz = quizzes
For words that end in –f or –fe,
change the –f to –v and simply add –es.
life = lives leaf = leaves wife =
wives
Exceptions: chef =
chefs cliff =
cliffs belief =
beliefs roof = roofs
Using -ible versus -able
How do you know which suffix to use, –ible
or –able? The general rule here is that if the root word
is Latin-based, then use –ible, and use –able for all other words. Since most
of us don’t speak Latin, the following guideline may help. Of course, there are
exceptions to this guideline, so use a dictionary when in doubt.
If you take away the –ible/–able, is the root word a common English
word? If so, then use –able.
Form =
formable
Work =
workable
Answer =
answerable
Value =
valuable
Afford =
affordable
Comfort =
comfortable
If the root word is not a common English word when alone, use –ible. In
the following words, the root words alone do not make sense.
|
compatible |
illegible |
plausible |
|
comprehensible |
incredible |
possible |
|
edible |
intelligible |
responsible |
|
fallible |
invisible |
sensible |
|
gullible |
irresistible |
tangible |
|
horrible |
permissible |
visible |
Exceptions:
The following words make sense as root words but still take the –ible
ending:
accessible, defensible,
contemptible,
digestible, flexible, suggestible
Using Spell Check
Spell check on your word processing program can be a great help, but it
is not a perfect solution to spelling errors. Spell check usually does not
catch misspellings that form real words, such as from/form. It also does not
catch homonyms—words that sound alike but have different meanings and spellings
(see Confused Words chapter). A spell checker, for example, may have a hard
time dealing with this sentence:
Eye come
form a place were wee do knot no how to beet the other team.
American vs. British spelling
Some words have different
spellings in American English and British English.
|
American |
British |
|
center |
centre |
|
check |
cheque |
|
color |
colour |
|
gray |
grey |
|
labor |
labour |
|
neighbor |
neighbour |
|
theater |
theatre |
|
while |
whilst |
75 commonly misspelled words
|
acceptable |
fiery |
occasionally |
|
accidentally |
foreign |
occurrence |
|
accommodate |
gauge |
pastime |
|
acquire |
ghost |
perseverance |
|
a lot |
grateful |
personnel |
|
amateur |
guarantee |
possession |
|
apparent |
height |
precede |
|
argument |
hierarchy |
privilege |
|
calendar |
humorous |
pronunciation |
|
category |
immediate |
publicly |
|
cemetery |
independent |
questionnaire |
|
changeable |
indispensable |
receipt |
|
collectible |
intelligence |
recommend |
|
column |
judgment |
referred |
|
committed |
colonel |
reference |
|
conscience |
leisure |
restaurant |
|
conscious |
liaison |
rhyme |
|
consensus |
license |
rhythm |
|
definitely |
maintenance |
schedule |
|
discipline |
maneuver |
sergeant |
|
embarrassment |
miniature |
supersede |
|
equipment |
mischievous |
twelfth |
|
exceed |
misspell |
tyranny |
|
existence |
neighbor |
until |
|
experience |
noticeable |
vacuum |
