The spelling tag features posts related to English language spelling such as tests, quizzes and spelling rules. Some posts may refer to spelling in other languages, though.
How's your spelling? Good? Superhero Level? Let's put that to the test then! We've put together some of the most misspelled words in English. Can you fill in the blanks with the correct words. Let's see just how good your command of English spelling is.
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Go-on, you know you want to.
We’re continuing our Better English blog with the Magic E. Also known as a silent E. This important and popular vowel can change the sound of other vowels, thus lengthening the sound of a word.
If a word ends with a vowel and then a consonant, adding the letter E at then end can change the sound of the previous vowel. The Magic E changes the sound and meaning of a word, yet remains silent. For instance: by changing the sound from short: tap, to a long vowel sound: tape.
We’ve got some examples of words ending with E.
| WORD | ENDING WITH E |
|---|---|
| On | One |
| Hat | Hate |
| Bit | Bite |
| Cub | Cube |
| Breath | Breathe |
| Tap | Tape |
| Cod | Code |
| Slim | Slime |
| Win | Wine |
| Sit | Site |
| Quit | Quite |
Academics refer to the silent E as a marker, which means it doesn’t represent a sound but tells us the sounds of the other letters in the word. A marker makes the nearest vowel to it say its name — its alphabet name — A E I O U.
But there are always exceptions to every rule, especially in the English language.
It would seems like the academics who added the Magic E to lengthen the sound forgot about the old words above.
If you think we’ve left any words out of our lists, or just want to show us how much you know, then let us know in the comments below.
The STAR Team
Q is one of the trickier letters to learn about in English spelling, as it’s often confused with C and K in phonetics. Here are the Q spelling rules to help you use it correctly and improve your spelling in the English language.
The letter Q is always followed by the letter U; at the start of a word, or after an S; it makes a sound like KW…
Some words end with QUE — these words with QU make a K like sound.
These examples come from our Spelling Rules game, which helps improve your spelling skills. It was designed to help people with dyslexia improve their spelling in English. The game Spelling Rules created by Claire McNelis as part of her Master’s thesis in Digital Media at NUI, Galway. She wanted to create an application that would teach spelling rules in a way that was simple and accessible for dyslexic people.
Play the game for free by selecting the letter Q at the beginning. There are other games available too.
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A great competition we came across this week is being run by Eason. Eason is challenging schools in every county across Ireland to have fun and improve their spelling in a competition to find the Eason Spelling Bee champion schools.
In each county, a county Spelling Bee will offer to all schools the chance to enter and compete. The best speller from each county will go to the provincial finals. Finally, the four provincial winners will then compete for the Eason All-Ireland Spelling Bee title on Tubridy on 2FM on the 22nd of June in RTÉ studios.
The first prize constitutes a book library to the value of €7,500 and every entrant wins a book!
All the county Bee winners who will be taking part in the provincial finals are listed as follows:
Good luck to all of them! Have fun and do the best you can!
We also have an online Spelling Rules Game should you wish to test your English language spelling. The Spelling Rules Game is an app that teaches spelling rules in a dyslexia-friendly way.
The STAR Team
Updated: 11th May 2015
The dreaded contraction! Fear not. The solution is a simple one to memorize the difference between it’s and its in your writing.
It’s is a contraction of it is or it has. Simple.
Example: It is always a pleasure to help you or it’s always a pleasure to help you.
Its is a possessive determiner.
Examples: John is ready to help the company grow its business; a baby in its mother’s womb.
Perhaps the easiest way to ensure you are using the correct word is to separate them; if you can say it is, then it’s [as a contraction] is the one to use.
The STAR Team
Other references:Oxford English Dictionary: its or it’s
What are the different meanings of similar words?
We reviewed an e-commerce website that claimed, “Our site has been built on the pretense that customer service is our priority.”
The marketing team obviously meant premise, i.e. the basis for the company’s devotion to customers.
Pretence is synonymous with faking; make-believe; insincere. This is certainly the last thing the marketing team wanted to imply.
Spelling checks don’t pick up on these errors as they’re contextual; so remember to always have your new copy proofread.
The STAR Team
Source: Oxford English Dictionary
Writing clear English is always hard but spelling can also be a challenge. Some words are particularly tough to spell. Improve your spelling skills with our quiz.
Here’s a quick test for you.
Choose the right word in each set of parentheses
The STAR Team
Below is a useful list of letter-related words for communicating a complex code, name or string over the phone. The standard is officially used internationally by radio operators and communicators.
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