The most often misspelt words in the english language

[opus10no2]

I think :

Queue

Receipt

Necessary

Definitely

Tongue



more?

[opus10no2]

Some words just don't seem to make phonetic sense, too.

Like 'Ocean' , much easier if just written as 'Oshen', perhaps.

Rhythm also, why not just rithum?

[pianowolfi]

I think these two are spelt complicated because of their Greek origin.

[Kassaa]

Of those few listed I always spelt definitely wrong (definately) .

[ahinton]

I think :

Queue

Receipt

Necessary

Definitely

Tongue



more?

At the butcher's shop I would definately not buy any tung and, even if I did, I'd not think it neccesary to que for a receit.

less?


Best,

Alistair

[nortti]

because

[nortti]

there, their, they're
your, you're

[ramseytheii]

because

I don't consider 'becos' to be a mispelling, nor do I consider 'thru' to be a mispelling!  Pianitisimo, what do you think?

Walter Ramsey

[ahinton]

I don't consider 'becos' to be a mispelling, nor do I consider 'thru' to be a mispelling!  Pianitisimo, what do you think?

Walter Ramsey

Nicely put! - knowing, as of course you do, that this forum has no member by the name or ID of "pianitisimo"...

Please don't ask what God thinks, though...

Best,

Alistair

[elspeth]

Veering slightly off topic onto forming correct plurals rather than spelling per se, one website I use has a link to its 'forums', which permanently makes me want to throw things! Having been brought up by a history teacher and an English teacher, I'm a bit obsessed with language...

[gilad]

i think the i before e except after c rule stumped me for ages.

eg

weird(so much for the rule, and exception obviously), receipt, deceive, et etc, i cant possibly think of all the words now paring i and e. But i think they are all good candidates for wrong spelling.

[ada]

As a former subeditor, I can vouch that it's seige/siege

[phil13]

recommend

Phil

[mikey6]

Some words just don't seem to make phonetic sense, too.

Like 'Ocean' , much easier if just written as 'Oshen', perhaps.

Rhythm also, why not just rithum?

'yot' has always confused me.  why not say ya-ch-t.
Spelling always seems to come out as 'speeling' when I type.

[prometheus]

If you mean a luxurious boat don't you write yacht? If not, what is a yot?

There are a few words I spelt wrongly for a significant amount of time. But I can't remember them. Once in a while I notice I misspell a word. It comes as a shock to me, I am suprised.

It's more dyslexia than lack of knowledge.

So I guess I will nominate 'dyslexia'.

[jakev2.0]

It's/Its
Grateful
Intelligence...lol

[chromatickler]

genius
sheet
dayum
*
true
respect

...etc etc, derez loadz

[nanabush]

Beautiful, professor, the

[phil13]

the

I would imagine only teh people who type quickly misspell teh word. 

Phil

[pianowolfi]

genius
sheet
dayum
*
true
respect

...etc etc, derez loadz

daz rite!

I was confused about "to practise" and "to practice". Now i see in a dictionary, that the former is British and the latter American lol

[henrah]

Separate, I usually write seperate.
Necessary took me a while to remember.

[gilad]

here have looksy at this https://www.yourdictionary.com/library/misspelled.html

Top 100 misspelled words in english. I dont know how they calculated it as such, but it seems fairly accurate.

A useful page to print out and perhaps refer to when writing i order to teach yourself better spelling.

[prometheus]

Ok, I have a lot of problems with the uou in 'presumptuous' and words that have the same 'uou'. There are also some words I used to be unable to write without the help of google.

Also, I can't find a word I never spelled right. So I guess I am ok.

[jas]

Parallel and embarrassed spring to mind.

Also, I suppose "discreet" and "discrete", since people tend to confuse them.

[ramseytheii]

For the uninitiated:
A Plan for the Improvement of English Spelling
   by Mark Twain

For example, in Year 1 that useless letter "c" would be dropped to be replased either by "k" or "s", and likewise "x" would no longer be part of the alphabet. The only kase in which "c" would be retained would be the "ch" formation, which will be dealt with later. Year 2 might reform "w" spelling, so that "which" and "one" would take the same konsonant, wile Year 3 might well abolish "y" replasing it with "i" and Iear 4 might fiks the "g/j" anomali wonse and for all. Jenerally, then, the improvement would kontinue iear bai iear with Iear 5 doing awai with useless double konsonants, and Iears 6-12 or so modifaiing vowlz and the rimeining voist and unvoist konsonants. Bai Iear 15 or sou, it wud fainali bi posibl tu meik ius ov thi ridandant letez "c", "y" and "x" -- bai now jast a memori in the maindz ov ould doderez -- tu riplais "ch", "sh", and "th" rispektivli. Fainali, xen, aafte sam 20 iers ov orxogrefkl riform, wi wud hev a lojikl, kohirnt speling in ius xrewawt xe Ingliy-spiking werld.

---
Walter Ramsey

[ahinton]

Pianistimo.

Oh, sorry: wrong langwidge...

Best,

Alistair

[trunks]

recieve (for receive)
beleive (for believe)
freind (for friend)

occasion
possess
necessity
committee
cassette

mixing up "access" with "assess"
mixing up "stationary" with "stationery"
mixing up "weather" with "whether"
mixing up "principal" with "principle"

[pianowolfi]

For the uninitiated:
A Plan for the Improvement of English Spelling
   by Mark Twain

For example, in Year 1 that useless letter "c" would be dropped to be replased either by "k" or "s", and likewise "x" would no longer be part of the alphabet. The only kase in which "c" would be retained would be the "ch" formation, which will be dealt with later. Year 2 might reform "w" spelling, so that "which" and "one" would take the same konsonant, wile Year 3 might well abolish "y" replasing it with "i" and Iear 4 might fiks the "g/j" anomali wonse and for all. Jenerally, then, the improvement would kontinue iear bai iear with Iear 5 doing awai with useless double konsonants, and Iears 6-12 or so modifaiing vowlz and the rimeining voist and unvoist konsonants. Bai Iear 15 or sou, it wud fainali bi posibl tu meik ius ov thi ridandant letez "c", "y" and "x" -- bai now jast a memori in the maindz ov ould doderez -- tu riplais "ch", "sh", and "th" rispektivli. Fainali, xen, aafte sam 20 iers ov orxogrefkl riform, wi wud hev a lojikl, kohirnt speling in ius xrewawt xe Ingliy-spiking werld.

---
Walter Ramsey

Wow I think I've read something similar recently on another piano-related website.

[kelly_kelly]

I have a strange habit of misspelling length, but that's just me.

I have never figured out whether worshipped has one 'p' or two. Which is it? I don't ask anyone I know for shame (after having, by some strange twist of fate, won the school spelling bee in 7th grade) 

[kony]

i think most of the words already mentioned are often misspelt by people who don't speak the language as their major language. words like necessary are just so commonly used that anyone who's even received secondary education can spell it.

now, how about something that everyone's heard of, but don't know how to spell?

i'm talking about:

cholesterol (almost everyone says "cho-les-tral" where i live)

[wishful thinker]

I have never figured out whether worshipped has one 'p' or two. Which is it?

You have spelt it correctly.  The general rule is that the final consonant is doubled where otherwise the penultimate letter, being a vowel, would go from a short to a long sound.  i.e "mat" has a short a, whereas if you added "ed" you would get "mated" a "ay" sound, as well as a different meaning 

[pianolist]

I'm with you, WT, but many Yanks aren't. Dictionary.com, quoting Random House and the American Heritage Dictionary, gives precedence to "worshiped", although Webster's places them in the opposite order. But both versions are given as valid alternatives. Somewhere in mid-Atlantic, most Yanks need to have another 'P'.

[pianistimo]

i've ALWAYS had trouble with massachusettes.  in fact, i'm not sure it's spelled correctly even now.  can someone help me?  (i grew up in alaska)

enjoyed that mark twain diversion by ramseytheii.  i knew, from the moment i saw his first posts, he was a literary sort. 

i gain word recognition by reading.  perhaps i should read a book entitled 'massachusettes.'

[wishful thinker]

(i grew up in alaska)

aha....now it all makes sense 

[arbisley]

the one I notice all the time is definitely, as already mentioned.

I don't usually have spelling mistakes, apart from fast typing or writing. I sometimes just stumble across words when I'm speaking because of close sounds such as "sh" or "k". And there are also the odd spoonerisms which turn out to be quite hilarious.

For the uninitiated:
A Plan for the Improvement of English Spelling
 by Mark Twain

For example, in Year 1 that useless letter "c" would be dropped to be replased either by "k" or "s", and likewise "x" would no longer be part of the alphabet. The only kase in which "c" would be retained would be the "ch" formation, which will be dealt with later. Year 2 might reform "w" spelling, so that "which" and "one" would take the same konsonant, wile Year 3 might well abolish "y" replasing it with "i" and Iear 4 might fiks the "g/j" anomali wonse and for all. Jenerally, then, the improvement would kontinue iear bai iear with Iear 5 doing awai with useless double konsonants, and Iears 6-12 or so modifaiing vowlz and the rimeining voist and unvoist konsonants. Bai Iear 15 or sou, it wud fainali bi posibl tu meik ius ov thi ridandant letez "c", "y" and "x" -- bai now jast a memori in the maindz ov ould doderez -- tu riplais "ch", "sh", and "th" rispektivli. Fainali, xen, aafte sam 20 iers ov orxogrefkl riform, wi wud hev a lojikl, kohirnt speling in ius xrewawt xe Ingliy-spiking werld.

---
Walter Ramsey

I've seen something similar somewhere, someone who sent me some useless info by email, such as the longest word in the Nez Zealand dictionary, which I've forgotten by now!

There are the odd cases where I would like the spelling to be made more coherent, say the names of places like "Warwick" and "Warwickshire", or worse, "Gloucestershire".
It maybe comes from the fact that I am a germanically exact Austrian who likes everything to look moderately phonetic!

[ahinton]

i've ALWAYS had trouble with massachusettes.  in fact, i'm not sure it's spelled correctly even now.  can someone help me?  (i grew up in alaska)

Just knock out the final "e" and you'll be OK...

Best,

Alistair

[pianistimo]

thanks, alistair!  i knew it was something simple like that. 

in yoga, they have some long word i read at the dentists office (while waiting for those wisdom teeth to come out) for doing sit-ups.  wish i could remember it.  seemed to have 'anananana' at the end.