Commonly Misspelled

Words

1.Spelling and Sound

Many spelling mistakes result from similarities in the pronunciation of words with very different meanings. These are covered in the list below. Other words that cause spelling difficulties are listed separately.

absent (adjective) absence (noun)absorb absorption accept except access (entry) excess (too

much)advice (noun) advise (verb)affect (to influence) effect (result)allowed (permitted) aloudalter (change) altar (in a church)appraise (value) apprise (inform)bitten beatenbase (foundation) bass (in music)

bath (noun) bathe (verb)believe (verb) belief (noun)berry (fruit) bury (the dead)beside (by the side of) besides (as well as)birth berth (bed)bizarre (strange) bazaar (market)bloc (political grouping) blockbreath (noun) breathe (verb)buoy (in water) boybuy (purchase) bycash cache (hiding place)casual (informal) causal (to do with causes)cause caseceiling (above you) sealingceased (stopped) seized (grabbed)chick cheekchose (past tense) choose (present tense)cite (make reference to) sight

siteclimatic climactic cloths (fabrics) clothes

coma (unconscious) comma (punctuation)compliment (praise) complement (make complete)conscious (aware) conscience (sense right)contract constructconvinced convicted (of a crime)conventional (usual) convectionalconversation conservation concentrationcouncil (group) counsel (advice)cord (rope) chord (music)course coarse (rough)credible (believable) creditable (deserving credit)critic (one who criticizes) critique (piece of criticism)defer (show respect) differdeference (respect) differencedeprecate (criticize) depreciate (reduce in value)desert (dry place) dessert (sweet)device (thing) devise (to plan)died/had died dead/was deaddissent (protest) descent (downward motion)distant (adjective) distance (noun)

edition (of a book etc.) addition (something added)emigrant immigrantenvelop (verb) envelope (noun)except expectfear fair fare (payment)feeling fillingfell feel fillflaunt (display) floutforward foreword (in a book)forgo (do without) forego (go before)formally formerly (previously)forth (forward) fourth (after third)foul fowl (birds)future featuregenus (biological type) genius (creative intelligence)greet great grate (scrape)guided (led) guarded (protected)had heard headheat heart hateheir (inheritor) air

human humane (kind)illicit (not permitted) elicit (bring forth)illusion (unreal image) allusion (reference)immigrate emigrateindependent (adjective) independence (noun)inhabit (live in) inhibit (retard)instance (occurrence) instants (moments)intense (concentrating) intentsisle (island) aisle (to walk in)know no nowlack lakelater latter letterlath (piece of wood) lathe (machine)leave leaflead ledlessen lessonlet lateleave liveleaving livingliable (responsible) libel (legal action

lightning (from clouds) lightening (becoming lighter)lose (be unable to find) loose (not tight)mad (insane) made maid (servant)man menmartial (to do with fighting) marshalmental metalmerry marrymet meet mateminor (under age) miner (underground)mist (light fog) missedmoral (ethical) morale (spirit)mourning (after death) morningnew knewof offon ownones oncepain pane (of glass)patients (sick people) patience (ability to wait)peer (look closely) pier (wharf)perpetrate (be guilty of) perpetuate (cause to continue)

perquisite (privilege) prerequisite (requirement)personal (private) personnel (employees)perspective (vision) prospective (anticipated)poor pour (liquid) poreprecede (go before) proceed (continue)precedent presidentpresents (gifts) presence (being there)price (cost) prize (reward)principle principal (of a school)quay (wharf- pronounced key) keyquite quiet (not noisy)rein (to control animals) rain reign (of a monarchrelease (let go) realize (discover)relieve (verb) relief (noun)response (noun) responds (verb)rid rideridden writtenrise ricewrite rite (ritual) rightrod rode

rote (repetition) wrotesaved servedsaw so sewsecret sacred (holy)seam (in clothes etc.) seem (appear)scene (location) seensell (verb) sale (noun) sail (boat)senses census (population count)shed shadeshone shownshot shortsit sat setsmell smilesnake snack (small meal)soar sore (hurt)sole (single) soul (spirit)sort (type or kind) sought (looked for)stationery (paper) stationary (not moving)steal (present tense) stole (past tense)straight (not crooked) strait (of water)

striped (e.g., a zebra) stripped (uncover)suit suite (rooms for music)

sweetsuper supper (meal)suppose supposed tosympathies (noun) sympathize (verb)tale (story) tailtalk tooktap tapethan thenthey there theirthing thinkthis thesethrow threw (past tense)through thoroughtied tiredurban (in cities) urbane (sophisticated)vanish (disappear) varnishvein (to carry blood) vainvision (sight) versionwaist (your middle) waste

wait weight (heaviness)waive (give up) waveweak (not strong) weekwants onceweather (sunny, wet, etc.) whether (or not)wedding weedingwere wherewholly (completely) holy (sacred)hollywoman womenwon wornyoke (for animals) yolk (of an egg)

Other Commonly Misspelled Words

abbreviation carpentryabsence cautiousaccelerator ceilingaccident changeableaccidentally characteraccommodation chlorophyllachieve choiracknowledge chromeacquire chronologicalacquisition cigarette or cigaretacquit coincidenceacre colleagueacross coloneladdress colossaladjacent column

advertisementcommitment

affidavit committeeambulance comparativeamoeba

competitionamong competitoramount complexionanalogous conceiveanalysis condemnanxious conjunctionapparatus connoisseurapparently consensusappreciate consistentapproach controllerarchitect convenienceargument cooperationasinine

cooperativeauthor courteousauxiliary courtesybacteria creatorbasically creature

battery criticismbeautiful decisivebeginning definitebehavior deliciousbelieve

descriptionboast desirableboastful despairbreakfast despisebulletin destroyburglar developburial dieselburied differentbusiness dilemmacandidate diningCaribbean disappeardisappoint foretelldisastrous fortydiscrimination fourthdisease fulfilldisintegrate gamete

dissatisfied germinationdominate governmentdormitory grammardouble gratefuldoubtful gruesomedrunkard guaranteedrunkenness guerillasduchess guiltydue happeneddying happiesteclipse hatredeffective hectareefficient helpfuleighth humorembarrass hyenaemployee hypothesisencourage imaginaryenemy imagineenmity immigrationenormous importance

entertain indispensableenthusiasm inoculateentitle intention,

intentionalentrepreneur interruptenvironment irrelevantenzyme isoscelesepidermis itineraryepididymis jealousespecially jeopardyessential journalistexaggerate jumpexcessive junctionexcite kneelexercise knowledgeexhilaration knowledgeableexistence laboratoriesexistent laboratoryexperience languageextraordinary lazy, lazinessFahrenheit ledger

faithful leisurefaithfully liberationfault libraryfavor licensefavorite lieutenantfinancial likableforeigner liquid, liquefyliterature prescriptionlying privilegemaneuver programmarvelous properlymedicine psychiatricmedieval psychologicalmembrane punctuationmerciful pursuemermaid

questionnairemillennia reallymillennium receiptmillionaire recommendmischief referee

mischievous referencemodern regretnaked repeatnaughty repetitionnecessary repliesnecessity replyneighbor residence (place)noticeable residents (people)nuclear restaurantnucleus

revolutionaryobscene ryhmeobsolescent rhythmobsolete saddestoccasion sandalsoccasional sceneoccupy scheduleoccur scienceoccurred scissorsoccurrence screamomelet or omelette search

omit seizeourselves sensepaid separateparallel

Shakespeareanparliament shiningparty shotgunpermissible sighpermission significantperpendicular

simultaneousperseverance sincerelyphotosynthesis skillfulplayful slipperypossess sloganpossession smartpoultry solemnpredictable spaghettipregnancy speechpregnant spongyprerogative sponsorstale theatre

stingy theoreticalstomach theorystubborn titlestudious toughstudying tragedystupefy trophystupid trulysubordinate uniquesubpoena untilsubstitute vacancysubtle, subtlety vacillatesuburbs valuablesucceed vegetablesuccess, successful vehiclesue, suing vicioussummary visitorsurprised volumesurreptitious voluntarysurrounded Wednesdaysurvive welcome

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