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Commonly misspelled words
Introduction
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Check the list below to avoid commonly misspelled words.
Avoid the most typical spelling mistakes by studying the following frequently misspelled words:
| abbreviate |
absence |
accommodate |
| acknowledge |
acquire |
address |
| a lot |
among |
analyze |
| antebellum |
apparatus |
apparent |
| appropriate |
arctic |
athlete |
| argument |
ascend |
auxiliary |
| benefiting |
bizarre |
bourgeois |
| brochure |
bulletin |
bureau |
| calendar |
candidate |
cannot |
| career |
Caribbean |
carriage |
| category |
cemetery |
chronological |
| column |
commencement |
commitment |
| committee |
conqueror |
continuous |
| courteous |
dealt |
definitely |
| despair |
develop |
dilemma |
| dinosaur |
eighth |
embarrass |
| environment |
erroneous |
ethnicity |
| exaggerate |
exhaust |
explain |
| explanation |
extraordinary |
extreme |
| February |
foreign |
forty |
| fourth |
gauge |
gesture |
| government |
graduation |
grammar |
| guard |
harass |
hierarchy |
| humorous |
hypocrite |
immediate |
| incident |
independence |
interesting |
| knowledge |
laboratory |
lasagna |
| laser |
license |
lieutenant |
| lightning |
lonely |
loneliness |
| maintenance |
manageable |
maneuver |
| marriage |
medieval |
melancholy |
| mischievous |
mortgage |
nevertheless |
| ninety |
ninth |
noticeable |
| occurred |
outrageous |
pamphlet |
| parallel |
paralyze |
pastime |
| peculiar |
permanent |
persevere |
| phenomenon |
picnic |
picnicking |
| pizzazz |
pneumonia |
precede |
| prejudice |
privilege |
proceed |
| professor |
prominent |
recognize |
| recommend |
repetition |
restaurant |
| rhythm |
sandwich |
schedule |
| secretary |
sergeant |
separate |
| sincerely |
solemn |
soliloquy |
| sophomore |
subtle, subtly |
succeed |
| succinct |
surgery |
therefore |
| thorough |
through |
tragedy |
| truly |
vacuum |
vehicle |
| vengeance |
Wednesday |
weird |
Here's how to catch and correct misspellings.
If you are using a word-processing program, run a spell-checker on your paper before you turn it in. (Note: It's a good idea to save your file before running the spell-check. Then save the file again after you've made any corrections.)
Note that a spell-checker will not catch the incorrect usage of a correctly spelled word (e.g., there instead of their). Conversely, a spell-checker will flag any word that it does not recognize—even if the word is a correctly spelled proper name (e.g., Paltrow), technical term (e.g., paraphasia), or recently introduced word (e.g., chatroom).
If you are not using a word-processing program, you'll need to proofread extra carefully and check your paper for any words that appear in the list in Chapter 31. You may also want to start you own list of words that you misspell frequently. You can do this by looking over your graded papers and keeping a log of misspelled or confusing words.
Be extra vigilant about words with an "uh" sound in one of the syllables, since this can be spelled several ways (e.g., superintendent, vigilant). Also be careful about words with double letters (e.g., bizarre, accommodate) and words with sequences of vowels in the spelling (gauge, manageable).
Remember: A spell-checker is an aid to proofreading, but not a substitute for it.
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