THE 100 MOST OFTEN MISSPELLED WORDS IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE A •

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acceptable • It will help to remember that the little word table is hiding inside acceptable. accidentally • We mispronounce this word, and so we misspell it. If you pronounce the little word all in accidentally, you will spell it right. accommodate • Remember, this word is large enough to accommodate both a double c AND a double m. acquire • If you sound the c and the q, when you pronounce this word, you will always spell it correctly. acquit • See the previous hint. a lot • We sound these two words as if they were one word, and then our problems begin. A lot is slang for many or much. Another word, allot, means to set aside something for future use: I will allot 20 minutes for my homework tonight. amateur • This word ends with the French suffix -eur (the equivalent of English -er). apparent • This word has the little word parent inside it. Remember to sound both p's: ap-parent argument • For some silly reason, we drop the e in argue, before adding the -ment. atheist • The prefix a- means not. A theist believes in God. Therefore, an atheist does not believe in God.

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believe • Isn't it odd that the little word lie is hiding inside believe? bellwether • A bellwether is a strong leader. Often this word is misspelled as bellweather. A wether is a gelded ram, chosen to lead the herd. He wore a bell, to show that he was the leader, so he was called the bellwether.

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calendar • We mispronounce this word as calender. If you use the ah sound in -dar, you will spell it correctly. category • We mispronounce this word as catagory. If you use the eh sound after the word cat, you will spell it correctly. cemetery • We mispronounce this word as cematery. If you use the eh sound for each e, you will spell it correctly. changeable • The change keeps its [e] here to indicate that the [g] is soft, not hard. collectible • We mispronounce this word as collectable. If you use the ih sound (-ible), you will spell it correctly. column • The n used to be pronounced in this word, but because we now swallow the n, this word has become a spelling demon. committed • Remember to double both the m and the t. conscience • Your conscience is the voice in your mind that says you are doing something wrong. Notice the little word science (meaning knowledge) inside conscience? We mispronounce this word as conchunce. That's why we misspell it. conscientious • A conscientious person listens to his conscience. See part of the little word science again? We drop the -ce in science, and add tious, but we mispronounce it concheenchus. AACK! conscious • If you are conscious, you are awake and aware. We mispronounce this word as conchus, and that's why we misspell it. Remember that the -us sound is spelled -ous. consensus • A consensus is an agreement between many people.

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definite (ly) • Even though definite ends with silent-e, we mispronounce -nite as -nit. So you have to remember to add the silent-e, before adding -ly.

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discipline • Do you see a little piece of the word science (knowledge) in discipline?

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Remember that this word ends in silent-e, even though we mispronounce it as disciplin. drunkenness • Remember to pronounce both n's in this word, and you will spell it correctly. dumbbell • See the two little words dumb and bell here? We swallow the b in dumb, and that makes it a spelling demon.

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embarrass (ment) • Remember to double the r AND the s in this word, or you can remember the little word ass hiding inside embarrass. equipment • This word is misspelled as equiptment 22,932 times on the Internet right now. Remember to equip yourself with the proper equipment, before you go mountain climbing. exhilarate • We swallow the h in this word, and that makes it a spelling demon. exceed • Remember that this one is -ceed, not -cede. (To exceed (to go beyond) all expectations, master the spellings of precede (to go before) and supersede (to be better than). existence • Remember that after the little word exist we add -ence, not -ance. experience • See the -ence in this word, too. Don't use -ance. fiery •

The stars are fiery (they look like they are on fire) on a clear night. This word should be spelled firey (see the little word fire), but because we have mispronounced it for so long, the dictionary writers changed the spelling to fiery (fi-er-ee). Shame on them!

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foreign • We swallow the letter g in this word, and that makes it a spelling demon.

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gauge • To gauge means to measure, and a gauge is a measurement tool -- like a tire pressure gauge. We swallow the u, and that makes it a spelling demon.

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grateful • Don't be tricked into using the word great inside grateful, and don't be

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tricked into using the word full at the end of this word. The suffix is spelled -ful. guarantee • We swallow the letter u in this word, and that makes it a spelling demon. harass • See the little word ass inside this word? height • We mispronounce this word as highth, and we swallow the e, too. That makes this word a terrible spelling demon. hierarchy • If you pronounce this word correctly (hi-er-ar-chy), you will spell it correctly. A hierarchy is a list of powerful people, listed in order of their power. humorous • We mispronounce humor as humer, and that makes it a spelling demon.

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ignorance • Pronounce the suffix -ance (as in dance), instead of -ence, and you will spell it correctly. immediate • Pronounce both m's, and you will spell this word correctly. Notice the little word mediate inside immediate? independent • See the little words in, and depend, and dent inside this word. If you pronounce the ending correctly, you will always spell this word correctly. indispensable • This one ends in -able, not -ible. inoculate • This one sounds like it should have two n's in it, but we only use one. intelligence • Using two [l]s in this word and ending it on -ence rather than -ance are marks of . . . intelligence. its/it's • The apostrophe takes the place of the letter i, so it's means it is. Something that belongs to it is its.

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jewelry • See the little word jewel inside this word. A jeweler makes jewelry.

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judgment • For some odd reason, in English we drop the e in judge, before adding the suffix -ment.

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kernel (colonel) • A kernel of corn sounds just like the French word colonel (a rank in the American military). That means you have to memorize both these spelling demons, to keep them straight.

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leisure • This word is often misspelled as liesure, but then the little word lie sneaks in. Keep the little word lie out, and you will spell the word correctly. liaison • A liaison is a secret meeting between two people -- like in a love affair. The word is French, and the French love vowels. That's why you see iai inside this word. library • Some people pronounce this word li-bary, and that's why they misspell it. Pronounce both r's and you will always spell this word correctly. license • We often misspell this word as lisence, but that's not right. Use the c before the s (in alphabetical order). lightning • Lightning is the electricity that comes from the sky; lighting is the electricity that comes from a light bulb. If you pronounce the two n's in lightning, you will always spell it correctly.

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maintenance • See the words main, and ten? Now all you have to remember is to pronounce the suffix -ance, not -ence. maneuver • Here is another French word, and you know that they love vowels. Neu in means new, and a maneuver is a new move that gets you out of trouble. medieval • The Middle Ages are sometimes called the Medieval Period (1000-1400 A.D.). If something is really old-fashioned, we sometimes call it medieval. Medi- means middle. Don't be tricked into spelling the suffix eval as the word evil. It isn't evil to be medieval. memento • A memento is something you keep to remind you of something special -like a birthday card. Mem- comes from the word memory. millennium • A millennium is a thousand years. Isn't that odd? Remember to double both the l and the n.

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miniature • Mini- means small, and a mini-a-ture is something made smaller than its regular size -- like a miniature car. minuscule • See the word minus in minuscule. Something that is minuscule is tiny, tiny, tiny. mischievous • People often mispronounce this word mis-che-vi-ous. Notice that the i comes before the e? The word should be pronounced mis-chie-vous. misspell • What is more embarrassing than to misspell this word? Just remember that it is mis + spell. Mis- means error.

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neighbor • Horses neigh when they are hungry. What does that have to do with being a good neighbor? noticeable • Remember that there are two little words hiding here: notice and able. occasionally • Just remember not to double the s in this word that doubles the c and the l. occurrence • Double the c and the r, but remember that the suffix is -ence, not -ance. pastime • Since a pastime is something you do to pass the time, you would expect a double [s] here. Well, there is only one. perseverance • We often misspell this word as perserverence. Remember that there is no little word serve in perseverance. personnel • Personnel are the people who work for a company -- like employees. Personal means that something is private and just for one person. Double the n when you are writing about the employees who work for the company.

playwright • In Old English a wright was a craftsman, so someone who wrote plays was a playwright. A person who made wheels was called a wheelwright. The w used to be pronounced, but now we swallow it.

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possession • Possession possesses more [s]s than a snake.

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principal/principle • Just remember that the principal of your school is supposed to be your pal (friend). A rule that an expert creates is a principle. Doctors follow this key principle: First do no harm. privilege • We often misspell this word as privaledge. That's because we add an a and a d that sound like they belong in this word. Remember: two i's + two e's in that order. pronunciation • Even though we pronounce words using pronunciation skills, we don't add the o to pronunciation. Pronounce the second syllable like nun, not noun. publicly • See the little word public inside publicly? Don't pronounce it publically, and you won't spell it incorrectly.

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questionnaire • This is a French word. Add the French suffix -naire to the word question.

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receive/receipt • These are two more French word. Use the e before the i, in alphabetical order. recommend • See the prefix re- and the little word commend? referred • See the two little words inside this word: refer and red? Don't forget to use two r's. reference • Refer to the last mentioned word and also remember to add -ence, not -ance. relevant • Remember to use the little word ant at the end of this word. restaurant • Here is another French word, so use aur after the little word rest and before the little word ant.

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rhyme • Actually, rime was the correct spelling until 1650. After that, egg-heads began spelling it like rhythm. Why? No rhyme nor reason other than to make it look like rhythm. rhythm

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The ancient Greeks invented this word. They added air [h] between the r and the y. If you pronounce it with air, you will spell it correctly.

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schedule • In school, you must follow a bell schedule. That will help you to remember that this word begins with sch-. Then all you need to do is remember that the suffix ends in selent-e, not dual. separate • We often misspell this word as seperate. Remember that there are two a's, not two e's, in separate. sergeant • We often misspell this word as sargent, because that's the way we pronounce it. This is another French word, and the French love vowels, so we have to memorize the gea in sergeant.

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their/they're/there • They're (they are) all pronounced the same but spelled differently. There is the opposite of here (See the little word here inside there?). Their is the ownership word (That is their car.) threshold • The threshold is the wooden frame you step over to enter through a door. The frame holds the door in place. Just don't double the h, even though it sounds like you should. twelfth • Because this word is formed from the number twelve, we often misspell it as twelvth. Just remember to pronounce the f in twelfth. tyranny • A tyrant is a ruler that gives his people no freedom. His form of government is called a tyranny. Just remember to double the n.

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until •

Don't double the l in until.

vacuum • We often misspell this word vacume, with a silent e. You just need to memorize that this word has a double u.

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weather • This word sounds just like whether, because we swallow the h when we pronounce the word whether. If we sounded the w with a little air [wh], it wouldn't be a spelling demon. The weather is what comes from the sky. Whether is used to write about a choice: Whether or not I go to the dance,

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weird • The little word we is inside we-ird.