A

acceptable - Several words made the list because of the suffix pronounced -bl but sometimes spelled -ible, sometimes -able. Just remember to accept any table offered to you and you will spell this word OK. accidentally - It is no accident that the test for adverbs on -ly is whether they come from an ad ective on -al !"accidental" in this case#. If so, the -al has to be in the spellin$. %o publical, then publicly. accommodate - &emember, this word is lar$e enou$h to accommodate both a double "c" '%( a double "m." ac)uire - *ry to ac)uire the +nowled$e that this word and the next be$an with the prefix ad- but the ,d- converts to ,c- before ,)-. ac)uit - See the previous discussion. a lot - *wo words. /opefully, you won0t have to allot a lot of time to this problem. amateur - 'mateurs need not be mature1 this word ends on the 2rench suffix -eur !the e)uivalent of 3n$lish -er#. apparent - ' parent need not be apparent but "apparent" must pay the rent, so remember this word always has the rent. ar$ument - 4et0s not ar$ue about the loss of this verb0s silent ,e- before the suffix -ment. atheist - 4ord help you remember that this word comprises the prefix a- "not" 5 the "$od" !also in the-olo$y# 5 -ist "one who believes." believe - 6ou must believe that ,i- usually comes before ,e- except after ,c- or when it is pronounced li+e "a" as "nei$hbor" and "wei$h" or "e" as in "their" and "heir." 'lso ta+e a loo+ at "forei$n" below. !*he "i-before-e" rule has more exceptions than words it applies to.# bellwether - Often misspelled "bellweather." ' wether is a $elded ram, chosen to lead the herd !thus his bell# due to the $reater li+elihood that he will remain at all times ahead of the ewes. calendar - *his word has an ,e- between two ,a-s. *he last vowel is ,a-. cate$ory - *his word is not in a cate$ory with "catastrophe" even if it sounds li+e it1 the middle letter is ,e-. cemetery - (on0t let this one bury you1 it ends on -ery nary an -ary in it. 6ou already +now it starts on ,c-, of course. chan$eable - *he verb "chan$e" +eeps its ,e- here to indicate that the ,$- is soft, not hard. !*hat is also why " ud$ement" is the correct spellin$ of this word, no matter what anyone says.# collectible - 'nother -ible word. 6ou ust have to remember. column - Silent final ,e- is commonplace in 3n$lish but a silent final ,n- is not uncommon, especially after ,m-.

committed - If you are committed to correct spellin$, you will remember that this word doubles its final ,t- from "commit" to "committed." conscience - (on0t let misspellin$ this word wei$h on your conscience1 ,chspelled "sc" is unusual but le$itimate. conscientious - 7or+ on your spellin$ conscientiously and remember this word with ,ch- spelled two different ways1 "sc" and "ti." 3n$lish spellin$. conscious - *ry to be conscious of the "sc" ,ch- sound and all the vowels in this word0s endin$ and i-o-u a note of con$ratulations. consensus - *he census does not re)uire a consensus, since they are not related. dai)uiri - (on0t ma+e yourself another dai)uiri until you learn how to spell this funny word-the name of a 8uban villa$e. definite !ly# - *his word definitely sounds as thou$h it ends only on -it, but it carries a silent "e" everywhere it $oes. discipline - ' little discipline, spelled with the ,s- and the ,c- will $et you to the correct spellin$ of this one. drun+enness - 6ou would be surprised how many sober people omit one of the ,n-s in this one. dumbbell - 3ven smart people for$et one of the ,b-s in this one. !So be careful who you call one when you write.# embarrass !ment# - *his one won0t embarrass you if you remember it is lar$e enou$h for a double ,r- '%( a double ,s-. e)uipment - *his word is misspelled "e)uiptment" 99,:;9 times on the web ri$ht now. exhilarate - &ememberin$ that ,h- when you spell this word will lift your spirits and if you remember both ,a-s, it will be exhilaratin$. exceed - &emember that this one is -ceed, not -cede. !*o exceed all expectations, master the spellin$s of this word, "precede" and "supersede" below.# existence - %o word li+e this one spelled with an ,a- is in existence. *his word is a mena$e a )uatre of one ,i- with three ,e-s. experience - (on0t experience the same problem many have with "existence" above in this word1 -ence. fiery - *he silent "e" on "fire" is also cowardly1 it retreats inside the word rather than face the suffix -y. forei$n - /ere is one of several words that violate the i-before-e rule. !See "believe" above.#

$au$e - 6ou must learn to $au$e the positionin$ of the ,a- and ,u- in this word. &emember, they are in alphabetical order !thou$h not the ,e-#. $rateful - 6ou should be $rateful to +now that +eepin$ "$reat" out of "$rateful" is $reat. $uarantee - *his word is not spelled li+e "warranty" even thou$h they are synonyms. harass - *his word is too small for two double letters but don0t let it harass you, ust +eep the ,r-s down to one. hei$ht - 3n$lish reaches the hei$ht !not hei$hth.# of absurdity when it spells "hei$ht" and "width" so differently. hierarchy - *he i-before-e rule wor+s here, so what is the problem< humorous - /umor us and spell this word "humorous"1 the ,r- is so wea+, it needs an ,o- on both sides to hold it up. i$norance - (on0t show your i$norance by spellin$ this word -ence. immediate - *he immediate thin$ to remember is that this word has a prefix, in- "not" which becomes ,m- before ,m- !or ,b- or ,p-#. "%ot mediate" means direct which is why "immediately" means "directly." independent - =lease be independent but not in your spellin$ of this word. It ends on -ent. indispensable - Knowin$ that this word ends on -able is indispensable to $ood writin$. inoculate - *his one sounds li+e a shot in the eye. One ,n- the eye is enou$h. intelli$ence - >sin$ two ,l-s in this word and endin$ it on -ence rather than -ance are mar+s of . . . you $uessed it. its?it0s - *he apostrophe mar+s a contraction of "it is." Somethin$ that belon$s to it is "its." ewelry - Sure, sure, it is made by a eweler but the last ,e- in this case flees the scene li+e a ewel thief. /owever, if you prefer @ritish spellin$, remember to double the ,l-1 " eweller," " ewellery." ud$ment - *raditionally, the word has been spelled ud$ment in all forms of the 3n$lish lan$ua$e. /owever, the spellin$ ud$ement !with e added# lar$ely replaced ud$ment in the >nited Kin$dom in a non-le$al context. In the context of the law, however, ud$ment is preferred. *his spellin$ chan$e contrasts with other similar spellin$ chan$es made in 'merican 3n$lish, which were re ected in the >K. In the >S at least, ud$ment is still preferred and ud$ement is considered incorrect by many 'merican style $uides.

+ernel !colonel# - *here is more than a +ernel of truth in the claim that all the vowels in this word are ,e-s. So why is the military ran+ !colonel# pronounced identically< leisure - 6et another violator of the i-before-e rule. 6ou can be sure of the spellin$ of the last syllable but not of the pronunciation. liaison - 'nother 2rench word throwin$ us an ortho$raphical curve1 a spare ,i-, ust in case. *hat0s an ,s-, too, that sounds li+e a ,A-. library - It may be as en oyable as a berry patch but that isn0t the way it is spelled. *hat first ,r- should be pronounced, too. license - 7here does 3n$lish $et the license to use both its letters for the sound ,s- in one word< maintenance - *he main tenants of this word are "main" and "tenance" even thou$h it comes from the verb "maintain." maneuver - Ban, the price you pay for borrowin$ from 2rench is hi$h. *his one $oes bac+ to 2rench main 5 oeuvre "hand-wor+," a spellin$ better retained in the @ritish spellin$, "manoeuvre." medieval - *he medieval ortho$raphy of 3n$lish even lays traps for you1 everythin$ about the BI(dle '$es is B3(ieval or, as the @ritish would write, mediaeval. memento - 7hy would somethin$ to remind of you of a moment be spelled "memento<" 7ell, it is. millennium - /ere is another bi$ word, lar$e enou$h to hold two double consonants, double ,l- and double ,n-. miniature - Since that ,a- is seldom pronounced, it is seldom included in the spellin$. *his one is a "mini atureC" remember that. minuscule - Since somethin$ minuscule is smaller than a miniature, shouldn0t they be spelled similarly< 4ess than cool, or "minus cule." mischievous - *his mischievous word holds two traps1 ,i- before ,e- and ,obefore ,u-. 2our of the five vowels in 3n$lish reside here. misspell - 7hat is more embarrassin$ than to misspell the name of the problem< Just remember that it is mis 5 spell and that will spell you the worry about spellin$ "misspell." nei$hbor - *he word "nei$hbor" invo+es the silent "$h" as well as "ei" sounded as "a" rule. *his is frau$ht with error potential. If you use @ritish spellin$, it will cost you another ,u-1 "nei$hbour." noticeable - *he ,e- is noticeably retained in this word to indicate the ,c- is "soft," pronounced li+e ,s-. 7ithout the ,e-, it would be pronounced "hard," li+e ,+-, as in "applicable."

occasionally - 7riters occasionally tire of doublin$ so many consonants and omit one, usually one of the ,l-s. (on0t you ever do it. occurrence - &emember not only the occurrence of double double consonants in this word, but that the suffix is -ence, not -ance. %o reason, ust the 3n$lish lan$ua$e +eepin$ us on our toes. pastime - Since a pastime is somethin$ you do to pass the time, you would expect a double ,s- here. 7ell, there is only one. *he second ,s- was slipped throu$h the crac+s in 3n$lish ortho$raphy lon$ a$o. perseverance - 'll it ta+es is perseverance and you, too, can be a !near-# perfect speller. *he suffix is -ance for no reason at all. personnel - 2unny Story1 *he assistant Dice-=resident of =ersonnel notices that his superior, the D= himself, upon arrivin$ at his des+ in the mornin$ opens a small, loc+ed box, smiles, and loc+s it bac+ a$ain. Some years later when he advanced to that position !inheritin$ the +ey#, he came to wor+ early one mornin$ to be assured of privacy. 3xpectantly, he opened the box. In it was a sin$le piece of paper which said1 "*wo %s, one 4." playwri$ht - *hose who play ri$ht are ri$ht-players, not playwri$hts. 7ell, since they write plays, they should be "play-writes," wri$ht ri$ht< &on$ 7ron$. &emember that a play writer in Old 3n$lish was called a "play wor+er" and "wri$ht" is from an old form of "wor+" !wrou$ht iron, etc.# possession - =ossession possesses more ,s-s than a sna+e. precede - 7hat follows, succeeds, so what $oes before should, what< %o, no, no, you are usin$ lo$ic. %othin$ confuses 3n$lish spellin$ more than common sense. "Succeed" but "precede." =recede combines the 4atin words "pre" and "cedere" which means to $o before. principal?principle - *he spellin$ principle to remember here is that the school principal is a prince and a pal !despite appearances#--and the same applies to anythin$ of foremost importance, such as a principal principle. ' "principle" is a rule. !*han+ you, Be$han 8ope, for help on this one.# privile$e - 'ccordin$ to the pronunciation !not "pronounciation".# of this word, that middle vowel could be anythin$. &emember1 two ,i-s 5 two ,e-s in that order. pronunciation - %ouns often differ from the verbs they are derived from. *his is one of those. In this case, the pronunciation is different, too, an important clue. publicly - 4et me publicly declare the rule !a$ain#1 if the adverb comes from an ad ective endin$ on -al, you include that endin$ in the adverbC if not, as here, you don0t. )uestionnaire - *he 2rench doin$ it to us a$ain. (ouble up on the ,n-s in this word and don0t for$et the silent ,e-. Baybe someday we will spell it the 3n$lish way.

receive?receipt - I hope you have received the messa$e by now1 ,i- before ,eexcept after . . . . recommend - I would recommend you thin+ of this word as the e)uivalent of commendin$ all over a$ain1 re5commend. *hat would be recommendable. referred - 2inal consonants are often doubled before suffixes !remit1 remitted, remittin$#. /owever, this rule applies only to accented syllables endin$ on ,l- and ,r-, e.$. "rebelled," "referred" but "traveled," "buffered" and not containin$ a diphthon$, e.$. "prevailed," "coiled." reference - &efer to the last mentioned word and also remember to add -ence to the end for the noun. relevant - *he relevant factor here is that the word is not "revelant," "revelent," or even "relevent." ,l- before ,v- and the suffix -ant. restaurant - 03y, you. &emember, these two words when you spell "restaurant." *hey are in the middle of it. rhyme - 'ctually, "rime" was the correct spellin$ until EFGH. 'fter that, e$$heads be$an spellin$ it li+e "rhythm." 7hy< %o rhyme nor reason other than to ma+e it loo+ li+e "rhythm." rhythm - *his one was borrowed from Iree+ !and conveniently never returned# so it is spelled the way we spell words borrowed from Iree+ and conveniently never returned. schedule - If perfectin$ your spellin$ is on your schedule, remember the ,s+- is spelled as in "school." !If you use @ritish or 8anadian pronunciation, why do you pronounce this word ,shedyul- but "school," ,s+ul-< *hat has always puAAled me.# separate - /ow do you separate the ,e-s from the ,a-s in this word< Simple1 the ,e-s surround the ,a-s. ser$eant - *he ,a- needed in both syllables of this word has been pushed to the bac+ of the line. &emember that, and the fact that ,e- is used in both syllables, and you can write your ser$eant without fear of misspellin$ his ran+. supersede - *his word supersedes all others in perversity. *his is the only 3n$lish word based on this stem spelled -sede. Supersede combines the 4atin words "super" and "sedere" which means to sit above. their?they0re?there - *hey0re all pronounced the same but spelled differently. =ossessive is "their" and the contraction of "they are" is "they0re." 3verywhere else, it is "there." threshold - *his one can push you over the threshold. It loo+s li+e a compound "thresh 5 hold" but it isn0t. *wo ,h-s are enou$h. twelfth - 3ven if you omit the ,f- in your pronunciation of this word !which you shouldn0t do#, it is retained in the spellin$. tyranny - If you are still resistin$ the tyranny of 3n$lish ortho$raphy at this point, you must face the problem of ,y- inside this word, where it shouldn0t be.

*he $uy is a "tyrant" and his problem is "tyranny." !(on0t for$et to double up on the ,n-s, too.# U

until - I will never stop harpin$ on this until this word is spelled with an extra ,lfor the last time. vacuum - If your head is not a vacuum, remember that the silent ,e- on this one married the ,u- and oined him inside the word where they are livin$ happily ever since. 7ell, the evidence is su$$estive but not conclusive. 'nyway, spell this word with two ,u-s and not li+e "volume." weather - 7hether you li+e the weather or not, you have to write the ,a- after the ,e- when you spell it. weird - *his word is an exception to the rule about ,i- before ,e- except after...< So, rules can be bro+en.

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