Introduction
Spelling errors can undermine the credibility of your writing regardless of how insightful your content may be. This comprehensive cheatsheet identifies common spelling mistakes, explains the rules behind correct spelling, and provides practical tips to improve your spelling accuracy. Whether you’re writing professionally, academically, or socially, this resource will help you catch and correct the most frequent spelling errors before they reach your readers.
Most Frequently Misspelled Words
Top 50 Commonly Misspelled Words
| Incorrect | Correct | Memory Aid |
|---|---|---|
| accomodate | accommodate | accommodate (remember the double letters) |
| acheive | achieve | “i before e” exception |
| accidently | accidentally | accidental + ly |
| aquire | acquire | acquire (remember the ‘q’ needs a ‘u’) |
| agressive | aggressive | aggressive (double ‘g’, double ‘s’) |
| apparant | apparent | a + pparent |
| arguement | argument | argue + ment (drop the ‘e’) |
| beleive | believe | “i before e except after c” applies here |
| buisness | business | busy + ness |
| calender | calendar | Remember the ‘a’ in the last syllable |
| catagory | category | category |
| cemetary | cemetery | all ‘e’s except the ‘a’ in the middle |
| changeble | changeable | change + able (keep the ‘e’) |
| commited | committed | doubling rule – double the ‘t’ |
| concious | conscious | conscious (remember the ‘sc’) |
| curiousity | curiosity | curious + ity (drop the ‘o’) |
| definately | definitely | definite + ly (keep the ‘i’) |
| descreption | description | descrip + tion |
| desparate | desperate | desperate |
| dissapear | disappear | dis + appear |
| embarass | embarrass | embarrass (double ‘r’, double ‘s’) |
| enviroment | environment | environ + ment |
| existance | existence | exist + ence |
| familar | familiar | famili + ar |
| finaly | finally | final + ly (double the ‘l’) |
| foriegn | foreign | foreign |
| fourty | forty | forty has no ‘u’ |
| goverment | government | govern + ment |
| grammer | grammar | grammar |
| guarentee | guarantee | guarantee |
| harrassment | harassment | single ‘r’, double ‘s’ |
| hieght | height | “i before e” doesn’t apply here |
| hygeine | hygiene | hygiene |
| independant | independent | independent |
| liason | liaison | liaison |
| libary | library | library (like book “librarian”) |
| lightening | lightning | when referring to the weather phenomenon (no ‘e’) |
| maintainance | maintenance | maintain + ance (drop the ‘i’) |
| millenium | millennium | millennium (double ‘n’) |
| miniscule | minuscule | minuscule |
| mispell | misspell | mis + spell (keep the double ‘l’) |
| neccessary | necessary | necessary (one ‘c’, double ‘s’) |
| noticable | noticeable | notice + able (keep the ‘e’) |
| occassion | occasion | occasion (double ‘c’, single ‘s’) |
| occured | occurred | doubling rule – double the ‘r’ |
| peice | piece | “i before e except after c” exception |
| persistant | persistent | persistent |
| posession | possession | possession (double ‘s’ twice) |
| prefered | preferred | doubling rule – double the ‘r’ |
| recieve | receive | “i before e except after c” applies here |
Academic and Professional Words Frequently Misspelled
| Incorrect | Correct | Memory Aid |
|---|---|---|
| academician | academician | academician |
| acomodate | accommodate | accommodate (double ‘c’, double ‘m’) |
| amature | amateur | amateur |
| anaylsis | analysis | analysis |
| attendence | attendance | attend + ance |
| auxillary | auxiliary | auxiliary |
| bizzare | bizarre | bizarre (one ‘z’, double ‘r’) |
| beaurocracy | bureaucracy | bureau + cracy |
| calandra | calendar | calendar |
| camoflage | camouflage | camouflage |
| comittee | committee | committee (double ‘m’, double ‘t’) |
| concensus | consensus | consensus |
| connoissuer | connoisseur | connoisseur |
| concious | conscious | conscious |
| decieve | deceive | deceive (“i before e except after c”) |
| defendent | defendant | defend + ant |
| ecstacy | ecstasy | ecstasy |
| embarass | embarrass | embarrass (double ‘r’, double ‘s’) |
| equiptment | equipment | equip + ment |
| exhileration | exhilaration | exhilaration |
| expidite | expedite | expedite |
| fasinating | fascinating | fascinating |
| firey | fiery | fire + y (drop the ‘e’) |
| flourescent | fluorescent | fluorescent |
| foreward | foreword | foreword (as in “word”) |
| fullfil | fulfill | fulfill (double ‘l’) |
| graffitti | graffiti | graffiti (one ‘t’) |
| greatful | grateful | grate + ful |
| guerilla | guerrilla | guerrilla (double ‘r’) |
| humourous | humorous | humor + ous (one ‘o’) |
| heirarchy | hierarchy | hierarchy |
| hypocrasy | hypocrisy | hypocrisy |
| innoculate | inoculate | inoculate (one ‘n’) |
| intellegent | intelligent | intelligent |
| interruption | interruption | inter + ruption |
| irresistable | irresistible | irresistible |
| liason | liaison | liaison |
| lisence | license | license |
| mediaeval | medieval | medieval |
| memento | memento | memento |
| millenium | millennium | millennium (double ‘n’) |
| nausious | nauseous | nauseous |
| negotiaion | negotiation | negotiation |
| nineth | ninth | ninth (no ‘e’) |
| obssession | obsession | obsession (double ‘s’, not triple) |
| occassionally | occasionally | occasionally (double ‘c’, single ‘s’) |
| occurance | occurrence | occur + rence |
| paralell | parallel | parallel (double ‘l’ at the end) |
| parliment | parliament | parliament |
Common Spelling Rule Errors
“I Before E Except After C” Rule and Exceptions
| Rule | Examples | Exceptions |
|---|---|---|
| I before E | believe, field, thief, relief | weird, seize, either, height |
| Except after C | receive, deceive, ceiling | science, efficient, ancient |
| When sounding like “ay” | neighbor, weigh, freight | their, heir, feisty |
Words That Break the “I Before E” Rule
- caffeine, codeine, protein
- either, neither, seize
- height, sleight, weight
- foreign, sovereign
- weird, their, heir
- leisure, seizure
- financier, species
- ancient, efficient, science
- society, anxiety
Silent Letters
| Letter | Examples of Words |
|---|---|
| B | comb, crumb, debt, doubt, lamb, limb, numb, plumb, subtle, thumb |
| C | acquire, muscle, scissors |
| D | badge, edge, handkerchief, sandwich, Wednesday |
| G | align, assign, campaign, design, foreign, sign, gnaw, gnat, gnome |
| H | character, chorus, echo, ghost, heir, honest, honor, hour, rhyme, rhythm |
| K | knee, knife, knight, knob, knock, knot, know, knowledge |
| L | calf, calm, chalk, folk, half, salmon, talk, walk, would, should |
| N | autumn, column, condemn, damn, hymn, solemn |
| P | coup, pneumonia, psalm, psychology, pterodactyl, receipt |
| S | aisle, island, debris |
| T | castle, fasten, glisten, listen, mortgage, soften, whistle |
| U | build, guard, guess, guide, guilt, guitar |
| W | answer, sword, two, who, whole, whose, wrap, wrist, wrinkle, write |
Double Consonant Rules
| Rule | Examples |
|---|---|
| After a short vowel sound in a stressed syllable | beginning, running, stopping |
| One-syllable words with a short vowel | add, egg, hill, kiss, tell |
| Some two-syllable words with stress on the second syllable | admit → admitted, occur → occurred |
| L at the end of words with one syllable | all, call, fall, tall, well, tell |
| Words ending in -y change to -i before adding -ed or -es | marry → married, reply → replied |
| Prefixes often double the consonant | illegal, immense, irregular, unnecessary |
Common Doubling Mistakes
| Incorrect | Correct |
|---|---|
| accomodate | accommodate |
| adress | address |
| alot | a lot |
| beggining | beginning |
| comitment | commitment |
| comming | coming |
| comunicate | communicate |
| dissapoint | disappoint |
| embarass | embarrass |
| ocassion | occasion |
| ocurred | occurred |
| posession | possession |
| prefered | preferred |
| tommorow | tomorrow |
| untill | until |
Adding Suffixes
| Rule | Examples |
|---|---|
| Drop final ‘e’ when adding suffixes beginning with vowels | hope → hoping, use → using, like → liking |
| Keep final ‘e’ when adding suffixes beginning with consonants | care → careful, hope → hopeful, state → statement |
| Keep final ‘e’ after ‘c’ or ‘g’ to maintain soft sound | notice → noticeable, manage → manageable |
| Words ending in ‘y’ preceded by consonant, change ‘y’ to ‘i’ | happy → happiness, try → tries, dry → dried |
| Words ending in ‘y’ preceded by vowel, keep the ‘y’ | play → played, enjoy → enjoying, boy → boyish |
Common Suffix Mistakes
| Incorrect | Correct |
|---|---|
| argueing | arguing |
| changable | changeable |
| definately | definitely |
| forceing | forcing |
| hopeing | hoping |
| juicey | juicy |
| noticable | noticeable |
| payed | paid |
| truely | truly |
| useing | using |
Homophones (Words That Sound Alike)
Common Homophone Pairs
| Word | Meaning | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| accept | to receive | except | excluding |
| affect | to influence | effect | result, consequence |
| aisle | passage between rows | isle | island |
| allowed | permitted | aloud | out loud |
| altar | sacred table | alter | to change |
| bare | naked | bear | animal, to carry |
| brake | to stop | break | to shatter |
| buy | to purchase | by | near, through |
| capital | city, money, uppercase | capitol | government building |
| complement | to complete | compliment | praise |
| council | governing body | counsel | advice, to advise |
| desert | arid land | dessert | sweet course |
| discreet | tactful, prudent | discrete | separate, distinct |
| elicit | to draw out | illicit | illegal |
| fair | just, carnival | fare | transportation fee |
| flour | baking ingredient | flower | plant blossom |
| hear | to perceive sound | here | in this place |
| heel | back of foot | heal | to cure |
| hole | opening | whole | entire |
| knew | past tense of know | new | not old |
| know | to understand | no | negative |
| lead | to guide, metal | led | past tense of lead |
| lose | to misplace | loose | not tight |
| letters, parcels | male | masculine | |
| main | principal | mane | hair on lion’s neck |
| meat | animal flesh | meet | to encounter |
| passed | moved past | past | gone by |
| peace | tranquility | piece | a part |
| plain | simple, clear | plane | aircraft, flat surface |
| principal | main, head of school | principle | fundamental truth |
| right | correct, direction | write | to inscribe |
| road | street | rode | past tense of ride |
| scene | setting | seen | past participle of see |
| stationary | not moving | stationery | writing materials |
| than | comparison | then | at that time |
| their | belonging to them | there | in that place |
| to | toward | too | also, excessive |
| weather | atmospheric conditions | whether | if |
| who’s | who is | whose | belonging to whom |
| your | belonging to you | you’re | you are |
Commonly Confused Word Triplets
| Word | Meaning | Word | Meaning | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| their | belonging to them | there | in that place | they’re | they are |
| to | toward | too | also, excessive | two | the number 2 |
| your | belonging to you | you’re | you are | yore | long ago |
| where | at what place | wear | to have on | ware | merchandise |
| right | correct, direction | write | to inscribe | rite | ceremony |
| cite | to quote | site | location | sight | vision |
British vs. American Spelling Differences
Patterns in British/American Spelling
| Pattern | British | American | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| -our vs. -or | colour, flavour, humour | color, flavor, humor | Also: honour/honor, labour/labor |
| -re vs. -er | centre, fibre, theatre | center, fiber, theater | Also: litre/liter, metre/meter |
| -ise vs. -ize | organise, realise | organize, realize | Also: apologise/apologize |
| -yse vs. -yze | analyse, paralyse | analyze, paralyze | Also: catalyse/catalyze |
| -ogue vs. -og | analogue, catalogue | analog, catalog | Also: dialogue/dialog |
| -ae-/-oe- vs. -e- | anaemia, oestrogen | anemia, estrogen | Also: encyclopaedia/encyclopedia |
| -ence vs. -ense | defence, licence, offence | defense, license, offense | Also: pretence/pretense |
| Double L vs. Single L | travelling, cancelled | traveling, canceled | Also: fuelling/fueling |
| -mme vs. -m | programme | program | Exception: British retains “program” for computer programs |
Common British/American Word Pairs
| British | American |
|---|---|
| aluminium | aluminum |
| cheque | check |
| grey | gray |
| jewellery | jewelry |
| kerb | curb |
| mobile phone | cell phone |
| petrol | gas, gasoline |
| pyjamas | pajamas |
| sulphur | sulfur |
| tyre | tire |
Common Spelling Challenges
Words with Easily Confused Vowels
| Correct Spelling | Common Error | Correct Spelling | Common Error |
|---|---|---|---|
| calendar | calender | definite | definate |
| embarrass | embarass | grammar | grammer |
| independent | independant | irrelevant | irrelevent |
| privilege | priviledge | restaurant | restaraunt |
| separate | seperate | similar | similiar |
Words with Confusing Consonants
| Correct Spelling | Common Error | Correct Spelling | Common Error |
|---|---|---|---|
| acknowledge | acknowlege | category | catagory |
| committee | comittee | conscious | concious |
| discipline | disipline | environment | enviroment |
| fluorescent | florescent | familiar | familar |
| government | goverment | lightning | lightening |
| maintenance | maintainance | necessary | neccessary |
| occurrence | occurence | recommend | recomend |
| threshold | threshhold | vacuum | vaccum |
Easily Confused Word Endings
| Correct Ending | Examples | Common Errors |
|---|---|---|
| -able/-ible | adorable, comprehensible | adoreible, comprehensable |
| -ant/-ent | assistant, persistent | assistent, persistant |
| -ary/-ery/-ory | necessary, cemetery, laboratory | necesary, cemetary, labratory |
| -ceed/-sede/-cede | proceed, supersede, precede | procede, supercede, preceed |
| -tion/-sion | attention, tension | attension, tention |
Spelling Improvement Strategies
Memory Techniques for Better Spelling
- Visualization: Picture the word in your mind
- Mnemonics: Create memory aids (e.g., “Necessary = one Collar, two Sleeves”)
- Chunking: Break words into manageable parts (e.g., Wed-nes-day)
- Word families: Learn groups of related words together
- Etymology: Understanding word origins can help remember spelling
- Trace, Copy, Recall: Write the word, copy it from memory, check, and repeat
Practical Tips for Avoiding Spelling Errors
- Use spell-check, but don’t rely on it exclusively
- Keep a personal list of words you frequently misspell
- Read extensively to expose yourself to correct spelling
- Proofread backwards to focus on individual words
- Look up words you’re unsure about
- Learn common spelling rules and patterns
- Practice with word games like Scrabble, crosswords, or spelling apps
- Say difficult words aloud phonetically while spelling them
- Use a dictionary app for quick reference
- Ask someone else to proofread important documents
Resources for Further Learning
Online Tools and References
- Merriam-Webster Dictionary (merriam-webster.com)
- Oxford English Dictionary (oed.com)
- Grammarly (grammarly.com) – Spelling and grammar checking
- Hemingway Editor (hemingwayapp.com) – Highlights complex sentences and common errors
- Wordnik (wordnik.com) – Word information, usage examples
Spelling Practice Apps
- Spelling City
- Spelling Monster
- Spelling Bee
- Spellosaur
- Word Dynamo
Books on Improving Spelling
- “Spell It Out: The Singular Story of English Spelling” by David Crystal
- “English Spelling (Language Workbooks)” by Edward Carney
- “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Spelling” by Laurie Rozakis
- “The Only Grammar & Style Workbook You’ll Ever Need” by Susan Thurman
Remember that good spelling is a skill that improves with practice and awareness. Even professional writers make spelling mistakes, but they develop the habit of checking their work and learning from their errors. This cheatsheet serves as a reference, but regular reading, writing, and attention to detail are the best ways to improve your spelling over time.