WORDS OFTEN MISSPELLED
accidentally advice affect beginning believe benefit challenge criticize deceive definite describe despise develop disappoint duel ecstasy effect existence fiery formerly humorous hypocrisy immediately incidentally latter led lose marriage mischief murmur necessary occurred parallel Philip playwright preceding prejudice principal privilege pursue repetition rhyme rhythm ridiculous sacrilegious seize separate shepherd siege similar simile too tragedy tries undoubtedly until Write to-day, to-night, to-morrow (but not together) with hyphen. {noders note: you don't have to do this anymore.}
Write any one, every one, some one, some time (except the sense of formerly) as two words.
The End of The Elements of Style
This is by no means intended to be an exhaustive list. It simply lists misspelled words that I find particularly painful. The painful words are ones that are commonly used, and therefore theoretically easy to remember and naturally commonly misspelt. It is also an ongoing project and I add significant typos as I notice them. Please feel free to /msg me with words that could be appended to this list.
Instructions for use (AA batteries not included): Commonly encountered misspelling of the word is followed by the correct version.The numbers below each entry refer to the google matches for each version of the word (misspelt version vs. correct version) and this section is intended to show that you are not the only culprit. When in doubt:
definately - definitely
The word definitely is related to the word finite. Recalling this should expel any doubts concerning the evil introduction of an 'a'. 351,000 vs. 3,460,000
humerous - humorous
The word humour/humor (depending on which side of the Atlantic you're on) is rarely misspelt so the infiltration of this particular horror baffles me no end. 16,500 vs. 684,000
occured - occurred
Also applies to Occurrence. 384,000 vs. 5,270,000
persistant - persistent
Another persistent yet easily avoidable error. 65,300 vs. 1,190,000
mispell - misspell
Duh. The word is a combination of mis and spell. 2,110 vs. 18,200
sentance - sentence
26,400 vs. 2,930,000
tendancy - tendency
30,500 vs. 1,310,000
usefull - useful
Applies to the entire list of words with the same ending such as thoughtful, helpful, plentiful and others. 26,400 vs. 2,930,000
existance - existence
158,000 vs. 4,360,000
diffrent - different
Applies to diffrence (difference). Commonly misspelt because of the way it's pronounced. 56,800 vs. 31,600,000
responsability - responsibility
Pity I can't provide statistics for the even more common responsable (responsible) but the word is correct in french and spanish. 56,600 vs. 3,090,000
commerical - commercial
(Thanks to baffo) 129,000 vs. 15,800,000
wierd - weird
A weird exception to the 'i' before 'e' except after 'c' rule. 129,000 vs. 15,800,000
speach - speech
Well, you write speak, so why not speech? Go figure. 46,700 vs. 6,250,000
See also : "A lot" is two words, commonly misspelled words, misspelt
There's no use having long lists of misspelled words without a way to get people to spell them right! This is a collection of tricky words, and ways to spell them correctly, that I've picked up over the years.
The methods listed here are all positive methods - they teach you how to spell words right. Negative methods teach you how not to spell a word wrong. It's a bad idea to try to learn both types at once, lest you get confused and learn the incorrect spellings by mistake.
This far from a complete list; the mnemonics mentioned here are just ones that I've been learning gradually. Many have different versions - necessary can have crisps/chips instead of cakes, for example. If you know any that I have missed, please /msg.
If you're trying to remember a spelling, and can't remember any of the methods listed above, you could always...
printable version chaos
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