Spelling is a skill that can take years to master, but there are some words that can be particularly difficult. Regardless of your level of skill, reviewing a list of commonly misspelled words can help you familiarize yourself with the tricky bits of English spelling.
Fortunately, there are ways to avoid these pitfalls and to make the process of learning more straightforward. Start by practicing and focusing on the sound of a word.
Apostrophes
Apostrophes are a type of punctuation mark used to show possession, contractions, and the plural of certain words. They can be a tricky piece of punctuation so it's important to know how to spell them correctly.
Apostrophes look like a slanted mark or dot with a tail ('). They are usually placed at the top of a line of text or writing instead of at the bottom Come si scrive? , as commas are.
They can also be shaped like a straight mark and displayed by a typewriter or in word processing software, as so-called typographic apostrophes. The latter is not always correct, but it is becoming the standard in the world of digital word processing and desktop publishing.
Apostrophes are also sometimes used to indicate the omission of letters in contractions. Examples include 'bus' for omnibus, 'phone' for telephone, and 'net' for the Internet.
Sight Words
Sight words are commonly-used words that children are encouraged to memorize by sight so they instantly recognize them in a text without having to use decoding skills.
Sight word flash cards can be a great way to help your student learn these important words. They are easy to print out and practice at home or in the classroom.
When teaching students to spell sight words, make sure they are engaging in multi-sensory activities that are fun and memorable. This will increase their confidence and encourage them to learn more.
It’s also helpful to limit your student to a few new words per session. This will allow them to build their memory of these words and prevent them from becoming overwhelmed with too many new ones.
The right hemisphere of the brain is better at storing visual and photographic memories, so learning to spell sight words by using pictures and images helps them to store these memories more effectively.
Suffixes
Suffixes are letters or groups of letters that change the meaning or grammatical function of words. They can be small additions like -s and -ed or bigger ones like -ation and -ious.
A suffix changes the meaning or grammatical function of a base word to make a new word. Examples are -er and -est for adjectives, -ful for verbs, and -ment for nouns.
When adding a vowel or consonant suffix to a root word, drop the last silent -e. However, if the word ends in a vowel and the last letter before that is a consonant, double the last letter.
Suffixes can make a word plural, as in foxes, lamps and chairs. Or they can make a word possessive, as in children or parents. Practicing spelling these common suffixes will help your students spell more correctly and recognize unfamiliar words.
Mistakes
Spelling mistakes are a natural part of writing and reading, but there are some things you can do to avoid making them. For example, you can learn how to spell words that have a lot of variations.
You can also learn how to spell words that have silent letters, are spelled differently than they sound or contractions. By following these tips, you can easily avoid spelling mistakes.
Another important tip is to make sure you understand the correct spelling of each word before you start typing. This way, you won’t miss any letters and your writing will be much more professional.
Mistakes aren’t just embarrassing — they can also have a negative impact on your career. For instance, if you don’t have strong spelling skills, people may be less likely to hire you or give you promotions at work.
