Download Spelling - University of Hull

Spelling
Including commonly misspelled words and plurals checklist
From the Skills Team, University of Hull
English spelling is notoriously illogical. There are historical reasons for this. It is not
very useful to offer 'rules' for correct spelling simply because English is so inconsistent
that there would be very few of them and they may not always apply. The one example
is the rule we were all taught at school: 'i' before 'e' (friend, believe) except after 'c'
(receive). This rule, however, refers to the long 'ee' sound. Note examples of words
where the 'i before e except after c' does not apply: science, concierge and efficient.
One might just as well learn words by heart since any 'rule' one devises will have at
least some exceptions. This can partly be achieved (note the position of the 'i' and the
'e') by being much more aware of how words are spelt as you read; read for the
medium as well as for the message.
Proofreading
Many spelling errors remain in a document because it has not been properly proofread
- or not at all. It is essential that you do this before handing in any assignment but do
NOT rely on your computer's (grammar and) spellchecker to do this for you. It is
unreliable and often wrong. It will miss some errors and occasionally suggest
something is wrong when it is not. One of the simple principles it relies on is "that
word is in my dictionary, so it's OK", which clearly does not always work. A typing
error may not be picked up by spellcheckers since the word exists, such as "form" for
"from"; "fiend" or "fried" for "friend"; "three" for "there" or "apologies" for "apologise".
You must also ensure that any document written in Word is set to English (UK), not
(US) for all work you submit for any qualification in a British higher education
institution. You can make it your default setting.
Do make use of a good dictionary to check your spelling; that is one reason we have them.
A study guide, Proofreading, can be found on the Skills website
http://libguides.hull.ac.uk/skills (use the A to Z tab) and an online
course on proofreading is available in eBridge as a joinable site.
Types of error
Spelling errors could be placed into one of four categories:




omissions (e.g. buton)
additions (e.g. hopefull)
substitutions (e.g. attendence)
inversions (e.g. tabel)
This might be useful to know when typing or checking spellings. (After Wing &
Baddeley 1980 in Crystal 1987: 213)
Web: www.hull.ac.uk/skills
Email: [email protected]
Commonly misspelt words
In addition to homophones (below), there is a small set of words which are commonly
misspelt. It is interesting to identify which category of error (above) each one falls
into. The following sites give lists of commonly misspelt words:
http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/page/spellingcommonmisp (A
quick reference guide to the top misspellings according to the
Oxford English Corpus, which is an electronic collection of over 2
billion words of real English that helps us to see how people are using
the language and also shows us the mistakes that are most often
made).
http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/quiznet/pdfs/
80_misspelled_words.pdf (A quiz on commonly misspelled words
from BBC Learning English)
Aids to memory
Many people have spelling 'blind spots' - they find that there are certain words which
they always need to check or always hesitate over (is that '-ite' or '-ate'? 'ei' or 'ie'?).
Try writing each one of these on its own Post-it note and stick them in places where
you will see them during the day. Highlight the correct letter(s). Or simply compile a
list of these words as you go.
If you search the internet you will find lots of little clever ways (mnemonics) of
remembering difficult spellings e.g. separate = never separate a para from his chute.
You may also like to compile a list of your own common misspellings to aid checking,
especially to bear in mind in exams when you are writing by hand.
Commonly confused words (known as Homophones)
A homophone is a word that sounds like another word but it is spelled differently and,
importantly, also has a different meaning. Knowing which one to use often needs a
knowledge of grammar or parts of speech (e.g. if it is a noun, adjective or verb), plus
the use of a dictionary. The following is a short list of such words:
to, too, two
compliment, complement
there, their, they're
practice, practise
its, it's
affect, effect
your, you're
straight, strait
where, were, we're
discrete, discreet
principal, principle
stationary, stationery
past, passed
dependent, dependant
accept, except
whose, who's
ensure, insure, assure
enquire, inquire
here, hear
aloud, allowed
licence, license
advice, advise
2
These are a few of the pairs that are often used wrongly:
Compliment or complement?
A compliment, or a complimentary remark, is something you pay someone when
you want to be nice: "What a nice dress!" "That's very clever." "You played very
well." Sometimes complimentary means 'free': e.g. complimentary tickets.
A complement, or a complementary thing, is something that completes
something: e.g. a ship's complement is her crew; her assignment has a
complementary guide to experimental techniques; yin is complementary
to yang.
Principle or principal?
A principle is an underlying idea, or a moral belief. A principal is either a
Head (e.g. a Head-teacher); or an adjective describing the most important
thing, "The principal point in this lecture is…"
Principal Skinner
Practice or practise?
A practice is a noun - something that you do: "There is a football practice
tonight." "I did 5 hours' piano practice yesterday." "It is good practice to
reference all sources in your work”, “She is in general practice.” (If you
can say "a" or "the" before the word 'practice' in your sentence, then it is
practice.)
To practise is a verb - to do something, e.g. "I practised my vocabulary last night."
"He practised his speech in front of a mirror."
Affect or effect?
To affect is a verb - to do something, e.g. "She was affected deeply by the death of her
husband." "To raise taxes affects everyone."
An effect is a noun - a thing, or result. Cause and effect are
opposites, e.g. "The effects of the war were…" “The butterfly effect
suggests that....”. Sometimes 'effects' means 'possessions': "Carry your
personal effects with you."
Lie or lay - or laid?
To lie is an intransitive verb - i.e. it has no object. You lie down.
To lay is a transitive verb - i.e. it has an object. Hens lay eggs. You lay
something down.
Confusingly, the past tense of to lie is lay: "She lay down for a moment at three
o'clock." The past tense of to lay is laid: "They laid down their weapons."
3
Plurals - a checklist
Although nearly all nouns (=names of things) form their plurals by adding an 's', the
spelling of some plural words can cause difficulty. There is often no rule to help you
predict or work out the correct form of plural. You have to learn particular words
and their plurals one by one. Below is a list of most of the irregular plurals and other
plural forms.
Note that this is not an exhaustive list but illustrates the plurals of those words which
often occur in academic writing.
English words – regular plurals
Most nouns in English form their plurals by adding an 's' or ‘es’
singular form
plural form
table
tables
bus
buses
Words ending in '-y' change to '-ies'
singular form
plural form
party
parties
melody
melodies
quantity
quantities
Words ending with a vowel before the 'y' end with 's'
singular form
plural form
key
keys
delay
delays
toy
toys
buy
buys
English words – irregular plurals
singular form
plural form
child
children
man
men
woman
women
fish
fish
sheep
sheep
species
species
series
series
die
dice
goose
geese
4
Some Latin plurals commonly used in academic English
singular form
plural form
criterion
criteria
phenomenon
phenomena
curriculum
curricula
medium
media
stadium
stadia
bacterium
bacteria
referendum
referenda
stimulus
stimuli
syllabus
syllabi
fungus
fungi
analysis
analyses
axis
axes
appendix
appendices
hypothesis
hypotheses
thesis
theses
crisis
crises
emphasis
emphases
References & further reading
Arscott, D. (n.d.) Good English: the witty, in-a-nutshell language guide, Lewes, Sussex:
Pomegranate Press - A brilliant little book, very readable and highly recommended.
Available to buy at http://www.pomegranate-press.co.uk/practicals/index.html
Crystal, D. (1987) The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language, Cambridge: CUP - The
authority on English, for use as a reference on any aspect of the language.
Peck, J. & Coyle, M. (2005) The Student's Guide to Writing, 2nd edn. Basingstoke:
Palgrave - A very good guide on writing. Part 2 chapter 6 is on spelling.
By Phil Farrar, updated by Maureen Eastwood and Jacqui Bartram
All web addresses in this leaflet were correct at the time of publication.
The information in this leaflet can be made available in an alternative format on request
- email [email protected].
5