PagineThe words
| Correct | Common slip | Memory trick |
|---|---|---|
| accommodate | acommodate | It is big enough to accommodate two c’s and two m’s. |
| achieve | acheive | I before e: achIEve. |
| address | adress | Add a double d and a double s. |
| a lot | alot | Two words, just like “a little”. |
| argument | arguement | Argue loses its e: argu-ment. |
| beginning | begining | Begin + n + ing: the stress is on “gin”, so double the n. |
| believe | beleive | Never believe a lie: beLIEve. |
| business | buisness | It is a BUSy-ness: bus-i-ness. |
| calendar | calender | The calendAR has days in the yeAR. |
| cemetery | cemetary | Only e’s: cEmEtEry. |
| conscience | concience | Con + science: your conscience is the science of right and wrong. |
| definitely | definately | There is finite inside: de-FINITE-ly. |
| embarrass | embarass | You turn Really Red and feel So Silly: double r, double s. |
| environment | enviroment | There is iron in the envIRONment. |
| exaggerate | exagerate | It is a double-g exaggeration. |
| February | Febuary | Say the hidden r: Feb-RU-ary. |
| friend | freind | A friend is there to the end: fri-END. |
| government | goverment | You govern a government: govern + ment. |
| grammar | grammer | Do not mar your grammAR. |
| guarantee | garantee | A guard gives a guarantee: GUAR. |
| independent | independant | An independENT person pays rENT. |
| knowledge | knowlege | Know + ledge: you stand on a ledge of knowledge. |
| library | libary | Say both r’s: li-BRAR-y. |
| license | lisence | C before s: li-C-en-S-e. |
| maintenance | maintainance | Main-ten-ance: the ten is in the middle. |
| millennium | millenium | Double l, double n: a thousand years deserve double letters. |
| necessary | neccessary | One collar and two sleeves: one c, two s’s. |
| noticeable | noticable | Keep the e to keep the c soft. |
| occasion | occassion | Two c’s, one s: oCCaSion. |
| occurrence | occurence | Double c, double r: o-cc-u-rr-ence. |
| parallel | paralell | The two l’s in the middle are parallel lines. |
| privilege | privelege | It is vile to lose your privilege: pri-VI-lege. |
| receive | recieve | E before i after c: reCEIve. |
| recommend | reccomend | One c, two m’s: re-co-MM-end. |
| restaurant | restaraunt | Rest + au + rant: you rest, then rant about the food. |
| rhythm | rythm | Rhythm Helps Your Two Hips Move. |
| schedule | schedual | S + chedule: it ends in -dule. |
| separate | seperate | There is a rat in sepARATe. |
| successful | succesful | Double c, double s, single l at the end. |
| surprise | suprise | SURprise: say the first r. |
| tomorrow | tommorow | One m, two r’s: to-mo-RR-ow. |
| until | untill | Until has one l (but till has two). |
| weird | wierd | Weird is weird: it breaks the i-before-e rule. |
| which | wich | Which witch? Which has an h after the w. |
| writing | writting | Write drops its e: writ-ing, one t. |
Guides and tools
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Frequently asked questions
What is the most commonly misspelled word?
Lists vary, but “separate”, “definitely”, “accommodate”, “necessary” and “receive” appear on almost every list of tricky English words.
How do memory tricks help with spelling?
A short, silly phrase links the tricky part of a word to something easy to remember, like “there is a rat in separate”. Make your own for words you always miss.
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