My wife recently handed me a list purporting to contain the 100 most often misspelled words in the English language, and I thought it might be fun to take a look at some of them and the hints given for remembering how to spell them correctly. No, you do not have to wade through all 100 of them today. We’ll just go through the letter A. My comment about each one is added.
- acceptable – Several words made the list because of the suffix pronounced -êbl but sometimes spelled -ible, sometimes -able. Just remember to accept any table offered to you and you will spell this word OK.
Sounds kinda silly, but maybe it’ll help someone remember.
- accidentally – It is no accident that the test for adverbs on -ly is whether they come from an adjective on -al (“accidental” in this case). If so, the -al has to be in the spelling. No publical, then publicly.
This seems sensible. If the root word ends in al, the adverb ends in ally. Okay.
- accommodate – Remember, this word is large enough to accommodate both a double “c” AND a double “m.”
For some reason, I’m good at misspelling this one. I always get the double “m” but frequently forget to double the “c.”
- acquire – Try to acquire the knowledge that this word and the next began with the prefix ad- but the [d] converts to [c] before [q].
Seems like someone is really stretching to be cute here.
- acquit – See the previous discussion.
Same as above.
- a lot – Two words! Hopefully, you won’t have to allot a lot of time to this problem.
I almost never see this one spelled right. Please, folks. There is no alot.
- amateur – Amateurs need not be mature: this word ends on the French suffix -eur (the equivalent of English -er).
This one would be easier if we’d pronounce it properly—amater–instead of amature.
- apparent – A parent need not be apparent but “apparent” must pay the rent, so remember this word always has the rent.
This doesn’t even make sense. Just remember the double “p.”
- argument – Let’s not argue about the loss of this verb’s silent [e] before the suffix -ment.
They’re right, but is this clue easier to remember than just remembering the spelling to start with?
- atheist – Lord help you remember that this word comprises the prefix a- “not” + the “god” (also in the-ology) + -ist “one who believes.”
Has anyone actually ever misspelled this one?
Don’t know how helpful this will be. Should I do more of these or just quietly retire the idea? Which of these words have you had trouble remembering how to spell?
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WANA: We may not have it all together, but together we have it all.
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Pingback: 100 MOST OFTEN (MISPELLED) MISSPELLED WORDS IN ENGLISH (1) | MILE2HERALD (NEWS AND TIPS)
David – I’m one of those kids that learned spelling by rote memory. Thus I have zero skill. How I wish wordpress would automatically alert me when I’ve butchered yet another word.
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Like Microsoft Word does? That would be handy, Sheri.
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As a college professor I cringe at the lousy spelling these days (okay, I’m starting to sound like my grandmother here; not a good thing). So thanks for the tips, David.
Another ‘a’ word: awhile… I get comments from beta readers and even the occasional editor about this. Either ‘awhile’ or ‘a while’ is technically correct, but ‘awhile’ is becoming more commonly used. It is NOT wrong!
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Thanks, Cassandra. I personally use “awhile” to mean soon, as in “I’ll do it in awhile.” I use “a while” to denote a longer period, as in “It took a while to finish it.” Don’t know if there’s any logic behind that other than my own.
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These are great! A fun way to learn. I’ve been reading flash cards for vocabulary for my GRE and been stretching the creativity to remember some of my words. Thanks for a great post!
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Thanks, Karlene.
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David, I truly enjoyed this post, but I fear the ravages of time and hardening of the arteries have caught up with me. I had to stare at “amateur” for a full 10 seconds before thinking, “oh, yes. That IS how it is spelled.” Coming from someone who can’t remember not knowing how to read and has had a lifelong preternatural ability to spell anything, rather than running around with my hair on fire, I’ll just accept that my brain was having a little rest and move on from there. Thanks! 🙂
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Thanks, Viola. After seven decades, mine frequently takes very long naps.
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Your tips make me grin, David. How accommodating is that?
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It’s what I live for, Barb.
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David, You are after my own heart. As an ex-spelling bee champion, misspelled words are my pet peeve. I like some of your tips for remembering, but let me share with you one hint my elementary school teacher gave us about the words ‘a lot’. She said an easy way to remember that it is two words is to put the word ‘whole’ in the middle of it. Since she said that I never made that mistake again.
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Good tip, Carole. Thanks.
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Going through all 100 words in great detall would probably become too tedious, so why not just list the 100 most commonly misspelled English words without any further explanation? I consider myself a fine speller, but some of these words have really given (or still give me) me headaches.
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Oops! That “detall” is a typo. I meant “detail.”
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I’ll consider that, honey. Thanks.
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Yes! I love tips and tricks about proper spelling. I don’t always write with that handy squiggly red line telling me to rethink my spelling. Sometimes, I *gasp* use pen and paper.
I’m
stubborndetermined to learn from versus depend on MS Word. I rarely right click for the correct spelling. I delete and retry until I write it right on my own.Of the ones you’ve listed, accommodate is the word that tripped me up. Correct spelling became imbedded in an empty brain cell (previously used for lose and loose). This happened about…
Calculating….
Three minutes ago.
I see lose and loose misspelled all the time. The trick I use? Loose Goose. If it doesn’t play with goose, it’s a loser.
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Cute tip, Gloria. Thanks.
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Thanks for sharing these tips David. Enjoyed it 😉
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Thanks, Rich. Hope to see you tomorrow.
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Will do 😀
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