I’m working on making up some grammar guide ebooks to hand out for free, and I’m trying to get my notes organized. Since there’s no plot to be spoiled, and language learning is good all the time, I don’t see a problem with putting this up on the blog ahead of time. This is mostly for my benefit. Here is a list of words that people frequently misspell; I’m trying to force some order onto it.
There is no A (at least not where you think it is)
Independent
Definitely
Category
Cemetery
Collectible
Competent
Existence
Experience
Intelligence
Occurrence
Consistent
Violence
Kernel
Deductible
Inadvertent
Chauvanism
Irresistible
There is no E (or not where you’ve been putting it)
Argument
Judgment
Library
Grammar
Truly
Ridiculous
Actually, there is an A
Acceptable
Ignorance
Indispensable
Miniature
Defendant
Vigilant
Remember the Double Letters
Accommodate
Embarrass
Exceed
Millennium
Misspell
Occasionally
Possession
Recommend
Skittish
There are no Double Letters
Inoculate
Harass
Precede
Until
That Consonant is Not What You Think It Is
Equipment (you think “equiptment” is a word?)
License
Maintenance
Privilege
Expense
Allege
Prerogative
Refrigerator
Influential
Utmost
Voluptuous
That Vowel is Not What You Think It Is
Atheist
Weird
Calendar
Equivalent
Gauge
Leisure
Liaison
Maneuver
Medieval
Separate
Analysis
Camouflage
Courteous
Desperate
Fluorescent
Therefore
Villain
Amateur
Because
Chaos
Cantaloupe
Foresee
Grateful
Hierarchy
Monastery
Unfortunately
Flotation
Chauvinism
Minuscule
Presumptuous
Appalled
Exhilarate
Motherlode
Niece
Naive
Nuptial
Parliament
Two Words, Not One
A lot
No one
Stop Getting These Mixed Up
Except and Expect
Woman and Women
Marital and Martial
Rogue and Rouge
Apart and A Part
Randomness
Clothes
Hypocrisy
Believe
Bellwether
Foreign
Column
Discipline
Fiery
Guarantee
Jewelry
Neighbor
Noticeable
Perseverance
Playwright
Pronunciation
Publicly
Questionnaire
Twelfth
Desirable
Despair
Especially
Allegiance
Regardless (as in, there is no such word as “irregardless”)
Necessary
Campaign
Casualties
Ecstasy
Kindergarten
Legible
Misogyny
Tongue
Academia
Accidentally
Rendezvous
***
There. I think that’s everything I have on my list. That’s just barely scratching the surface of, say, false homophones and other commonly confused words. Using all these in sentences will be another project.
#1 by mamamara on August 15, 2012 - 7:55 AM
Personally, I suck at all those words that involve double letters :)
I should note, though, that “judgement” is an acceptable alternative spelling. It’s not incredibly common, but it’s not a misspelled word. (It’s actually my preferred spelling in my own writing.)
#2 by alysonmiers on August 15, 2012 - 8:20 AM
Hrm. Perhaps I should leave “judg(e)ment” out of the ebook.
#3 by Lumiere on August 15, 2012 - 7:14 PM
What about There/Their/They’re? I suppose that’s ‘That word doesn’t mean what you think it means’ rather than, ‘You’ve misspelled that.’
#4 by alysonmiers on August 15, 2012 - 7:22 PM
That’ll go under Homophones, which is another ebook.
#5 by Tommy on August 18, 2012 - 2:15 PM
If I was told I could save the world from destruction by spelling “restaurant”, “prejudice or “vacuum” the right way, I don’t think there would be much hope for mankind.