Spelling, put simply, is the art of correctly assembling words from their letters. And just like the passion for correct pronounciation, sorry, pronunciation, there are ardent supporters of a Zero Tolerance approach when it comes to inaccuracies.
To some, correct spelling is as sacred as religion. Sticklers we might call them. To others—a powerful world leader comes to mind—it doesn’t seem important at all.
You may notice some ommisions omissions from the list as there’s so many to choose from, but here are our top 10 misspelled words. After all, it’s hard to always reach a concensus consensus when it comes to the English language.
10. begining ❌ – beginning ✔️
Being the third word in the Old Testament doesn’t stop this one from tripping up even the most devout Pharisees of our beautiful language. A Google search of this word brings back 12.8 million results.
And we’re only just beginning.
9. definately ❌ – definitely ✔️
Definitely one to watch out for this one. The way you pronounce it lends some to think it’s an a – as the phonetic pronunciation is dɛfɪnətli.
And if you’re interested in knowing what the ə phoneme is, take a look at this video.
So people can be forgiven for thinking that it’s spelled definately.
Or not, if you don’t believe in forgiveness of course.
8. truely ❌ – truly ✔️
Truely puzzling this one. Or is it truly? To find the truth, we see what the writing experts grammarly have to say.
Truly is the only acceptable way to spell the adverbial form of the adjective true.
Truely is not an alternative spelling; it’s a common mistake.
Never a truer word said.
7. beleive ❌ – believe ✔️
This is a case of the English language ‘rules’ actually standing up, as the I before C except after C rule wins out with this word. That said, even that rule has notable exceptions, such as the energy-boosting caffeine.
The incorrect version still yields an impressive 5.6m results in Google however and as Cher put it best;
“Do you believe in i after e?”
6. occured ❌ – occurred ✔️
“Is it double c or double r – or is it both?” you may ask.
The best way to remember how to spell occurred is to remember its double set of double consonants. In English, the final letter is doubled when a word of two or more syllables has stress on the final syllable. Occur fits the rule (/əˈkəː/), so there are two Cs and two Rs in occurred.
5. Until, Till, or ‘Til ✔️ (but never Untill ❌)
Until indicates when something will happen, begin, or end.
Till means the same thing as until but it’s NOT an abbreviation of until. It’s actually older than until and it should not be written with an apostrophe.
Then there’s ’Til, which turns up now and then but major usage dictionaries and style guides consider it an error, so it’s best to avoid it.
But whatever you do, please don’t confuse till and until to the point where you add another l – getting untill.
But until next time.
4. seperate ❌ – separate ✔️
Whether it’s being used an an adjective (separate issues) or a verb (we need to separate) separate is one of the most commonly misspelled words in the English language. It’s often misspelled as seperate, a word that has no meaning and is simply a misspelling.
There are a couple of ways to remember the correct spelling of separate, but I think by far the easiest (and most fun) is to remember there’s a rat in separate (sep-A-RAT-e).
3. recieve ❌ – receive ✔️
Although the i before e rule is not to be totally trusted (as there are exceptions to it), this is where the except after c addition comes into play.
One way to remember it? Try using Roman numerals. That’s right.
‘I’VE told you Before – RECEIVED contains 4′ (IV).
repeat….
‘I’ve told you be4, received contains 4…’
‘I’ve told you beFOUR, received contains 4…’
‘I’ve told you be for, received contains 4…’
‘I’ve told you before, received contains 4…’
There are a whopping 34 million entries in Google for the incorrect recieve.
I hope this one has been received loud and clear.
2. alot ❌ – a lot ✔️<
Alot is a common misspelling of a lot.
A lot should always be spelled as two words. Unless of course you’re referring to the northern Indian town Alot
But I must say, 120 million results is certainly a lot for a small town in Madhya Pradesh, so I’m assuming the majority are misspellings of a lot.
1. There, their and they’re ✔️
The big trio. All three of these words are pronounced the same, and the spelling differences don’t seem to do a good job of stopping people from mixing them up.
So how can you get it right every time? Well, unfortunately this time it’s just best to lock down the three meanings first.
There can be used in a couple of ways. As an adverb, there is the exact opposite of the word here and means “at that place”:
Example: He asked me to go there and check on his fish while he’s away.
There is also often used as a pronoun. In that case, its role is usually to introduce a word or a clause:
Example: There is something strange going on with Julian today.
Their is the third-person plural possessive pronoun:
Example: All of those kids with their contagious laughter really made my day.
Example: They didn’t want to see all of their hard work go to waste.
They’re is what you get when you contract “they are” or “they were.” It’s the same kind of thing that happens when you contract “we are” into “we’re,” or “you are” into “you’re”:
Example: They’re going to a party tomorrow.
Example: You should meet my work friends; they’re a real hoot.
So their there it is. Our top 10 misspelled words. We hope you’ve had alot a lot of fun reading it!
Sometimes when I write my quotes, I like to put in telling mistakes because it gets people reading and spalking more.
― Anthony T. Hincks.
Happy Puzzling!
