47 English Words You’ll Never Misspell Again
Did you know the word “misspell” is often misspelled?
Some word spellings in English just don’t seem to make sense.
But we have a way you can learn how to spell in English without going crazy!
Just find the patterns.
Lots of English words that seem difficult to spell actually follow clear patterns.
In this post we’ll teach you these the patterns, so you’ll know why certain words are spelled the way they are.
When you know the “why,” that reasoning can transform these 47 hard-to-spell words into words you’ll never spell wrong again!
Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)
Why Are Some English Words So Hard to Spell?
The English language is always growing and changing. It has changed pretty dramatically in a few hundred years. Just try to read this text. This is what English looked like until around the 15th century. It’s pretty different, isn’t it?
As English grew, it picked up words from other languages. Over time, the words changed into the ones we know today. That’s how you get words that are spelled strangely, like the word “night.” “Night” actually comes from the German word Nacht, but it picked up the letter “g” from French along the way.
Because of that, there aren’t many set “rules” you can use to know how to spell all words correctly. Luckily, if you dig a little you can find patterns that will help you fix many of your English misspellings.
Finding Spelling Patterns in English Words
How is a pattern different from a rule? Rules are sets of regulations that you need to follow. Patterns are repetitions that happen naturally. For example, here’s a rhyme to help you remember when to write “ie” and when to write “ei:”
“I” before “E”
Except after “C”
Or when sounding like “A”
Like in “neighbor” and “weigh”
This is a great rhyme to know, but it’s not a firm rule—it’s a pattern! There are many words that follow this pattern: “perceive,” “piece,” “eight.” But there are also many words that don’t follow it: “science,” “neither,” “weird.”
If patterns don’t always give you the correct spelling, why bother learning them? Patterns are useful because they give you somewhere to start, so that you’re not just guessing.
They can also make certain words easier to remember because you can learn them in groups. Most importantly, they give you a better understanding of the English language!
47 English Words You’ll Never Misspell Again
Words ending in “-ary” and “-ery”
We will see four different spelling patterns to watch for in this first category of words that end in “-ary” and “-ery.”
The pattern: If the root word ends in a silent “e,” just add “-ry.”
1. Bravery
Bravery (n.): Courage, fearlessness in a dangerous situation.
Look at the word before the “-ery” ending. Do you recognize it? The word “bravery” comes from the word “brave.”
“Brave” is the root word of “bravery.” It’s the most basic part of the word once you remove all prefixes (word parts you add to the beginning of a word to change its meaning) and suffixes (parts you add to the end of a word).
Since “brave” ends in an “e,” all you need to do is add the “-ry” to form “bravery.” How brave of you!
2. Forgery
Forgery (n.): A faked or copied document.
The word “forgery” comes from the word “forge.” Since “forge” ends in a silent “e,” we just add “-ry” to create the new word.
3. Scenery
Scenery (n.): A pleasing landscape or natural surroundings.
You might think the word “scenery” is a bit different since its root, “scene,” is not a verb. It ends in a silent “e,” though, so the “-ry” gets added.
The pattern: If the original word ends in “-er,” add “-y.”
4. Discovery
Discovery (n.): Finding something for the first time.
Since the word “discover” already has an “-er” ending, all it needs is the final “y.”
5. Flowery
Flowery (adj.): Something that looks or smells like flowers, or has flowers on it.
Something flowery is like a flower. By adding the “y,” you turn the noun (“flower”) into a descriptive adjective (“flowery”).
You can do this with many words, even if they don’t end in “-er,” like “sunny” (from noun “sun”) and “lemony” (from noun “lemon”).
6. Watery
Watery (adj.): Something resembling (similar to) water, or having too much water.
Like the word “flowery,” “watery” is something that is like water. Just add “y” and you’ve changed the word into a brand new adjective.
The pattern: If the root is not a full English word, add “-ary.”
7. Vocabulary
Vocabulary (n.): The words of a language. You probably already know this one!
Sometimes you’re left with nonsense when you remove the ending, like “vocabul–.” In many cases, this is a sign that you should use “-ary.”
This usually happens because the words are based on old Latin words, which end in “-a” or -“arius.” In this case, the original Latin word is vocabularis.
8. Culinary
Culinary (adj.): Dealing with cooking.
Culina is the Latin for kitchen, so it makes sense to add “-ary” since it already ends in an “a.” Even if you didn’t know that, you might realize that “culin” doesn’t look like an English word.
9. Solitary
Solitary (adj.): Alone.
“Solit” is not an English word, but solitarius is the original Latin. Add that “-ary” to the end, and you have the right spelling of “solitary.”
The pattern: If the root word is a full English word that doesn’t end in a silent “e,” use “-ary.”
10. Dictionary
Dictionary (n.): A resource that lists all the words in a language and their definitions.
Remove the “-ary” and you’re left with the word “diction.” This is a full English word with no silent “e” ending, so it uses the “-ary” ending.
11. Cautionary
Cautionary (adj.): A warning tale.
The word “caution” means to be careful, and doesn’t end in a silent “e.” That gives it the “-ary” ending.
12. Visionary
Visionary (n./adj.): Someone who has big ideas for the future. / Used to describe big ideas, which often aren’t practical.
If you’re a visionary, you have vision for the future. “Vision” doesn’t end in a silent “e,” so we add the “-ary” suffix here.
Some exceptions:
- “Imaginary” comes from the word “imagine,” but it ends in “-ary.” (Remember: “imagination” uses an “a”!)
- “Surgery” doesn’t have a full English word when you remove the suffix, but it still uses “-ery.” (Remember: “surgeon” uses an “e”!)
- “Stationary” and “stationery” are both! Something that is stationary doesn’t move (it uses the word “station,” so it ends in “-ary”).
A “stationer” is someone who sells materials used in writing, and since it’s an “-er” word, it uses “-ery.” The noun “stationery” is writing paper.
Words ending in “-ily” and “-ally”
In this next section we’ll see two different patterns you can look for when spelling words that end in “-ily” and “-ally.”
The pattern: If the root word ends in an “l,” add “-ly.”
13. Actually
Actually (adv.): Having to do with the truth or facts of a situation.
The word “actual” already ends in an “l,” so you need to add “-ly” to the end. This creates a double “l” in the “-ally” ending.
14. Equally
Equally (adv.): In a similar way.
“Equal” is another word that ends in an “l.” By adding “-ly,” you turn it into an adverb.
15. Totally
Totally (adv.): Completely, absolutely.
Once again, all you have to do is add the “-ly” and you’re left with a new word.
The pattern: If the root word ends in a “y,” remove the “y” and add “-ily.”
16. Readily
Readily (adv.): Without hesitation.
When adding a suffix to a word ending in “-y,” that “y” is usually dropped and replaced. That’s why the word “ready” turns into “readily.”
17. Noisily
Noisily (adv.): Making a lot of sounds.
Drop the “-y” from the word “noisy,” then add “-ily” to get this adverb.
Some exceptions:
- “Tragically” doesn’t come from the word “tragical” but it still uses “-ally.” (Remember: It doesn’t end in an “l” or a “y,” so it’s a special case).
- “Drily” is an odd word because it can be spelled both “drily” and “dryly.”
Words ending in “-ful”
Our next section involves words ending in “-ful,” which tend to be adjectives.
The pattern: The word “full” as a suffix only uses one “l”: “-ful.”
18. Beautiful
Beautiful (adj.): Pleasant to look at.
Someone beautiful is someone who is full of beauty. When you put the two words together, drop the second “l”! Out of all the words that end in “ful,” only the word “full” has two l’s.
19. Thankful
Thankful (adj.): Pleased and grateful.
When you’re full of thanks, remember that “thankful” ends in “-ful.”
20. Careful
Careful (adj.): Done with caution.
When you’re careful, you’re full of care. Here, again, the word ends in just one “l.”
Some exceptions:
The words “overfull,” “brimfull” and “topfull” are the only words besides “full” that end in a double “l.” (And the last two can be spelled either way, actually. They’re rarely used, so don’t worry about them!)
Words ending in “-ence” and “-ance”
The following five patterns involve words that end in “-ence” and “-ance.”
The pattern: If the root word ends in “-ear,” “-y” or “-ure,” use “-ance.”
21. Appearance
Appearance (n.): What someone looks like.
If you remove the suffix, you’re left with the root word “appear.” Words that end in “-ear” usually use the “-ance” ending.
23. Appliance
Appliance (n.): A piece of equipment used at home, like a refrigerator or a dishwasher.
The word “appliance” actually comes from the word “apply” (because appliances have specific applications!). When you add “-ance,” you need to replace the “y” with an “i” to keep the same sound.
24. Endurance
Endurance (n.): The ability to continue going even when things are difficult.
Endurance is when you endure something, and since the word “endure” ends in “-ure,” it uses the suffix “-ance.” (Notice we had to drop the silent “e” from “endure.”)
The pattern: If the root word ends in a hard “g” or “c” sound, use “-ance.”
If it ends in a soft “g” or “c” sound, use “-ence.”
Root words that end in “c” and “g” sounds will be pronounced softly when followed by the letter “e.” Here’s a nice intro to soft and hard “c” and “g” sounds, if this is a new concept for you.
25. Licence
License (n.): A permit or ID card that gives you permission to do something, like a driver’s licence.
The word “licence” must be spelled with “-ence” because the first “c” has a soft sound (like an “s”).
26. Innocence
Innocence (n.): Purity, not guilty.
The first “c” in “innocence” needs a soft sound, so this word ends in “-ence.” This is also why you spell “innocent” with an “-ent” ending (and not “-ant”).
27. Intelligence
Intelligence (n.): Having wisdom and smarts.
“Intelligence” and “intelligent” both use suffixes with the letter “e.” And that’s because the word needs the soft “g” sound.
The pattern: If the root word is a verb ending in “-ate,” use “-ance.”
28. Tolerance
Tolerance (n.): The ability to accept ideas and situations even if you don’t agree with or like them.
You’ll need to tolerate (allow) all these rules. The verb “tolerate” ends in “-ate,” so the ending of “tolerance” will be “-ance.”
29. Dominance
Dominance (n.): Having power over other people.
The word “dominance” comes from the verb “dominate,” which ends in “-ate.”
The pattern: If the original word ends in “-ere,” “-er” or “-ist,” use “-ence.”
30. Interference
Interference (n.): The act of preventing or interrupting something.
“Interference” comes from the word “interfere,” which ends in “-ere.” So to make it end in “-ence,” we just add “interfere + nce” together and you’re done!
31. Insistence
Insistence (n.): To keep saying that something should be done.
The original word, “insist” ends in “-ist,” so when adding a suffix, choose “-ence.”
32. Preference
Preference (n.): Liking one thing over another.
This is a word that prefers the “-ence” ending, because it comes from the word “prefer,” which ends in “-er.”
The pattern: If the word contains “-cid-,” “-fid-,” “-sid-” or “-vid-,” use “-ence.”
33. Coincidence
Coincidence (n.): When something happens that seems connected but is not.
It’s no coincidence that the word uses the “-ence” ending, since it has the letters “-cid-” in the middle.
34. Evidence
Evidence (n.): Proof that something happened.
The word “evidence” has the letters “-vid-” in it, so it ends in “-ence.”
Some exceptions:
“Sentence” and “balance,” and a number of other words, don’t seem to follow any of these patterns. Sometimes this happens! Whenever you find words like this, look at their origin for some help.
- “Sentence” comes from the Latin sententia.
- “Balance” comes from the Latin bilanx.
Now it makes sense!
Most of the time, words that end in “-ence” can be changed into “-ent” words (i.e. “innocence” → “innocent”). And words that end in “-ance” can usually be changed into “-ant” words (i.e. “significance” → “significant”)
Words that use the letter “q”
Our next category deals with words that have the letter “q.”
The pattern: If a word has the letter “q,” follow it with a “u” and then another vowel.
35. Quiet
Quiet (adj.): Not making any noise.
The letter “q” can be tricky. It’s not used that often, and when it does it’s almost always followed by the letter “u” and then another vowel, like in “quiet.”
36. Question
Question (n.): A statement that asks something.
“Question” begins with “que” (if you speak Spanish, you can use that to remember the spelling!) because the letter “q” can’t stand alone in a word.
Some exceptions:
The only words that have the letter “q” on its own are foreign words like “faqir” and “burqa,“ and are not often used.
Many “q” words are borrowed from French, and to mimic the French pronunciation they are spelled with “cq.” The words “acquire” and “racquet” are examples of this. There are not that many of them, so they’re easy to memorize (here’s a list).
Words beginning in “per-” and “pre-“
Our second to last category has two patterns for words starting with “per-” and “pre-.”
The pattern: If a word’s meaning involves “very,” “completely” or “around,” it probably is spelled “per-.”
37. Perfect
Perfect (adj.): Something complete.
The prefix “per-” can be used to mean “completely,” “through” or “around.” The word “perfect” means something that is complete, so it uses “per-.”
38. Perimeter
Perimeter (n.): The area around a space.
The definition of the word “perimeter” hints at the “per-” prefix since it means “around.”
39. Perform
Perform (v.): To play something for an audience.
This one is not as obvious: “to perform” means to play something through to completion. Since the definition includes something going “through,” it uses the “per-” prefix.
The pattern: If a word’s meaning involves “before,” it probably uses “pre-.”
40. Prefix
Prefix (n.): The part added to the beginning of a word.
The prefix “pre-” means “before” or “first.” Now you know why “prefix” is spelled with “pre-“!
41. Prepare
Prepare (v.): To get something ready.
This word uses the “pre-” prefix because when you prepare something, you get it ready before you can use it.
42. Preview
Preview (v.): To see something before it’s available.
Movie trailers let you preview a movie before you go watch it in theaters. You are literally viewing something before (“pre-“).
Some exceptions:
In the word “percent,” the “per-” is a prefix that means “for every part.” The word can be split into two parts: per cent, meaning “for every 100.”
Some words, like “person” and “present,“ do not use “per-” or “pre-” as a prefix. The spellings of those words just have to be memorized!
Double “r” words
In our last section we’ll look at two patterns that involve double “r” words.
The pattern: If the vowel before the “r” says its own name, use one “r.”
If it makes a different sound, use two r’s.
43. Embarrass
Embarrass (v.): To make someone feel self-conscious or ashamed.
The trick to knowing where to double your “r” is in the vowels. In the pattern “vowel-consonant-vowel,” the first vowel usually says its name. If we left off the second “r” in “embarrass” (i.e. embarass) the pronunciation would change to “em-bae-rass,” which isn’t correct.
Since that first “a” does not say its own name, we double the “r”: embarrass.
44. Arrow
Arrow (n.): A pointed stick used with a bow, or a sign that shows direction.
Since the “a” in “arrow” is not saying its name, the two “r”s are necessary.
45. Interrupt
Interrupt (v.): To stop or pause something before it’s finished.
As before, listen to the sound of the “e” before the “r” in “interrupt.” It isn’t saying its name “ee,” so there must be two “r”s separating it from the next vowel.
The pattern: If a verb ends in “-r,” its past tense uses “-rred.”
46. Occurred
Occurred (v.): Something that has happened.
Many words that end in “-r” use a double “r” in the past tense. So “occur” turns into “occurred.”
47. Blurred
Blurred (v.): Made something fuzzy and unclear.
To turn the word “blur” into past tense, add another “r” and then the usual “-ed.”
Some exceptions:
Words like “harass” and “apparent” don’t follow the rule. Sometimes you just have to memorize them!
Look out for more patterns in your vocabulary words as you learn to spell. Some spellings might start to make more sense when you look at a few words as a group.
What other patterns can you find in English spelling? Write them down and remember them, and you’ll become a better speller!
Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)
And One More Thing...
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If you want to watch it, the FluentU app has probably got it.
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