Learning English can be challenging, especially when it comes to spelling. Many words in English can be tricky, and it’s easy to make mistakes. In this post, we will explore the 100 most commonly misspelled words in English. We’ll look at each word, show common mistakes, and help you learn the correct spelling so you can write more confidently.
What Makes a Word Hard to Spell?
English has words from many different languages. This mix can make spelling really hard, even for people who have been speaking English all their lives! Sounds that are the same can be spelled in different ways, and the same letters can make different sounds.
Tips Before We Start
- Listen to the word: How many parts (syllables) does it have?
- Break it into parts: Can you spell one part at a time?
- Look for little words in big words: For example, “together” has “to,” “get,” and “her.”
- Use memory tricks: Connect the word to a picture or story.
100 Commonly Misspelled Words in English
Let’s look at each word, see how people often misspell it, and learn a tip to remember the right way.
1. Definitely – Often spelled as definately, definitly. Tip: Contains “finite”.
2. Separate – Often spelled as seperate. Tip: Remember, there is “a rat” in “separate”.
3. Embarrass – Often spelled as embarass. Tip: It’s so embarrassing it needs double “r” and double “s”.
4. Occurrence – Often spelled as occurrance, occurence. Tip: Occurs with double “c” and double “r”.
5. Accommodate – Often spelled as acommodate, accomodate. Tip: Accommodates double “c” and double “m”.
6. Until – Often spelled as untill. Tip: Just one “l”.
7. Occurred – Often spelled as occured. Tip: Double “c” for emphasis.
8. Independent – Often spelled as independant. Tip: Ends with “ent”.
9. Government – Often spelled as goverment. Tip: Govern with an “n” before “ment”.
10. Wednesday – Often spelled as Wensday. Tip: Remember it as “Wed-nes-day”.
11. Judgment – Often spelled as judgement. Tip: Leave out the extra “e”.
12. Weird – Often spelled as wierd. Tip: It’s weird because it’s “we” before “ir”.
13. Knowledge – Often spelled as knowlege. Tip: Know your “d”ge.
14. Library – Often spelled as libary. Tip: There are “br” in the library.
15. Lightning – Often spelled as lightening. Tip: Lightning strikes fast, no extra “e”.
16. Medicine – Often spelled as medecine. Tip: “I” before “c”.
17. Neighbor – Often spelled as neigbor. Tip: There’s a “gh” in my neighbor.
18. Occasionally – Often spelled as occassionally, occasionaly. Tip: Only one “s” in the occasion part.
19. Opportunity – Often spelled as oppurtunity. Tip: “Port” in the middle.
20. Possession – Often spelled as possession. Tip: Possess these double “s”s.
21. Really – Often spelled as realy. Tip: Really big double “l”.
22. Recommend – Often spelled as reccommend, recomend. Tip: One “c”, two “m”s.
23. Rhythm – Often spelled as rythm. Tip: Rhythm helps your hips move.
24. Schedule – Often spelled as schedual. Tip: “Sch” like school.
25. Secretary – Often spelled as secretery. Tip: Secretary runs errands.
26. Separate – Again, not seperate.
27. Sergeant – Often spelled as sargent. Tip: “Ser-ge-ant”.
28. Successful – Often spelled as succesful, successfull. Tip: Full of success.
29. Tomorrow – Often spelled as tommorrow, tommorow. Tip: One “m”, double “r”.
30. Twelfth – Often spelled as twelth. Tip: Remember the “f”.
31. Vacuum – Often spelled as vaccuum, vacum. Tip: One “c”, double “u”.
32. Weather – Often spelled as wether. Tip: Weather changes, wether does not.
33. Weird – Yes, it’s weird, not wierd.
34. Written – Often spelled as writen. Tip: Write, then add “n”.
35. Necessary – Often spelled as neccessary, necesary. Tip: One coffee, two sugars.
36. Conscience – Often spelled as conscence. Tip: Science of knowing right from wrong.
37. Restaurant – Often spelled as restuarant, restorant. Tip: Ends with “rant”.
38. Questionnaire – Often spelled as questionaire. Tip: Double “n”, ends with “aire”.
39. Receive – Often spelled as recieve. Tip: “I” before “e”, except after “c”.
40. Particularly – Often spelled as particalarly. Tip: Start with “part”, end with “ly”.
41. Millennium – Often spelled as millenium. Tip: New millennium, double “l”, double “n”.
42. Liaison – Often spelled as liason. Tip: Contains “i” before “a”.
43. Height – Often spelled as heigth. Tip: Ends with “ht”.
44. Harass – Often spelled as harrass. Tip: Don’t stress, only one “r”.
45. Grammar – Often spelled as grammer. Tip: “Grammar” has “ar” at the end.
46. Foreign – Often spelled as foriegn. Tip: “For” the “eign”.
47. Exaggerate – Often spelled as exagerate. Tip: It’s so big it needs two “g”s.
48. Embarrass – Often spelled as embarass. Tip: So embarrassing it needs double “r” and double “s”.
49. Dumbbell – Often spelled as dumbell. Tip: So heavy it needs double “b”.
50. Desperate – Often spelled as desparate. Tip: Desperate times call for correct spelling.
51. Definitely – Often spelled as definately, definitly. Tip: The finite element is definitely in there.
52. Discipline – Often spelled as disipline. Tip: Discipline keeps “ci”.
53. Drunkenness – Often spelled as drunkeness. Tip: Double “n” when you’re that drunk.
54. Ecstasy – Often spelled as extasy. Tip: Ecstasy starts with “ec”.
55. Embarrassment – Often spelled as embarassment. Tip: Embarrassment gets double “r” and double “s”.
56. Fluorescent – Often spelled as flourescent. Tip: Fluorescent lights up with “u” after “fl”.
57. Foreigner – Often spelled as foriegner. Tip: Foreigner travels with “e” before “i”.
58. Gauge – Often spelled as guage. Tip: Gauge measures with “au”.
59. Grateful – Often spelled as greatful. Tip: Grateful feels “ate”, not “eat”.
60. Guarantee – Often spelled as garantee, garentee. Tip: Guaranteed with “ua”.
61. Harassment – Often spelled as harrassment. Tip: Harass with one “r”, add “ment”.
62. Hierarchy – Often spelled as heirarchy. Tip: Hierarchy, not heir-archy.
63. Humorous – Often spelled as humerous. Tip: Humor us with “ous”.
64. Idiosyncrasy – Often spelled as ideosyncrasy. Tip: Idiosyncrasy has “idio”.
65. Ignorance – Often spelled as ignorence. Tip: Ignore the wrong “e”.
66. Immediately – Often spelled as imediately. Tip: Immediate action required.
67. Incidentally – Often spelled as incidently. Tip: Incidentally adds an “al”.
68. Independent – Often spelled as independant. Tip: Ends with “ent”.
69. Indispensable – Often spelled as indispensible. Tip: Dispense with “able”.
70. Inoculate – Often spelled as innoculate. Tip: Inoculate with one “n”.
71. Irresistible – Often spelled as irresistable. Tip: Resist the “able”, it’s “ible”.
72. Knowledge – Often spelled as knowlege. Tip: Know your “d”ge.
73. Liaise – Often spelled as liase. Tip: Liaise has an extra “i”.
74. License – Often spelled as licence. Tip: License to drive, “se” in the US, “ce” in the UK.
75. Maintenance – Often spelled as maintainance. Tip: Main ten ants, no extra “a”.
76. Maneuver – Often spelled as manouver, manuever. Tip: Maneuver through “eu”.
77. Medieval – Often spelled as medeval, medevil. Tip: In the middle ages, it’s “ieval”.
78. Memento – Often spelled as momento. Tip: Remember memento, not “moment”.
79. Millennium – Often spelled as millenium. Tip: Two “n”s in a new millennium.
80. Miniature – Often spelled as miniture. Tip: Miniature but not tiny spelling.
81. Mischievous – Often spelled as mischievious. Tip: Mischievous kids have no “i” after the “v”.
82. Misspell – Often spelled as mispell. Tip: Misspell includes double “s”.
83. Neanderthal – Often spelled as Neandertal. Tip: “H” in the cave with Neanderthal.
84. Necessary – Often spelled as neccessary. Tip: One “c” and double “s”.
85. Nickel – Often spelled as nickle. Tip: Nickel, like the coin, not “nickle”.
86. Occasionally – Often spelled as occassionally. Tip: Occasional spelling, one “s”.
87. Occurrence – Often spelled as occurrance. Tip: Occur again with “rence”.
88. Perseverance – Often spelled as perseverence. Tip: Persevere to the end, “ance”.
89. Personnel – Often spelled as personel. Tip: Personnel includes everyone.
90. Playwright – Often spelled as playwrite. Tip: A wright writes plays, not “write”.
91. Possession – Often spelled as posession. Tip: Possession is 9/10ths of the law, double “s”.
92. Principal – Often spelled as principle. Tip: The school principal is your “pal”.
93. Privilege – Often spelled as priviledge, privelege. Tip: Privilege without “d”.
94. Pronunciation – Often spelled as pronounciation. Tip: No “ounce”, it’s “nunce”.
95. Publicly – Often spelled as publically. Tip: Public-ly, no extra “a”.
96. Questionnaire – Again, as questionaire.
97. Receive – “i” before “e” except after “c”.
98. Recommend – Needs one “c”, but double “m”.
99. Referable – Often spelled as referible. Tip: Referral comes from referable.
100. Reimbursement – Often spelled as reimbursment. Tip: It’s about the “burse”, not “burs”.
English words can be tricky with its spellings! Each word has its peculiarities, and learning them is key to mastering the language.
In conclusion, learning the correct spelling of these commonly misspelled English words will greatly improve your writing and help you communicate more effectively. Keep practicing, keep learning, and remember, even native speakers struggle with many of these English words!
