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Commonly misspelled words

The term "commonly misspelled words"[1][2] (or sometimes, "common misspelled words") is about words in English that are often spelled wrongly.

In writing, some words are often misspelled, such as the wrong spelling "concensus"[3] for "consensus" [4] found in many webpages on the Internet.[3] Other common misspellings include "equiptment" (for "equipment"),[3][5] "independant" (for "independent"),[3][6] "readible" (for readable),[7][8] or "usible" (for usable).[3][7][9][10][11][12]

Documented list of common misspellings

This list of about 350 words, is based on documented lists[3][10] of the top 100, 200, or 400[7] most commonly misspelled words, rather than listing every misspelled word. Each word is followed by examples of misspellings:

A–B

  • absence – absense, absance[7][10]
  • acceptable – acceptible [3]
  • accidentally/accidently – accidentaly [3]
  • accommodate – accomodate, acommodate[3][7]
  • achieve – acheive[7]
  • acknowledge – acknowlege, aknowledge[7]
  • acquaintance – acquaintence, aquaintance[7]
  • acquire – aquire, adquire [3]
  • acquit – aquit [3]
  • acreage – acrage, acerage[7]
  • across – accross
  • address – adress[7]
  • adultery – adultary[7]
  • advertise – advertize
  • advisable – adviseable, advizable[7]
  • affect – effect[7]
  • aggression – agression, aggresion[1]
  • alcohol – alchohol[1]
  • allege – alege, allage[1]
  • allegiance – allegaince, allegience, alegiance[7]
  • almost – allmost[7]
  • a lot – alot (must be 2 words)[3]
  • amateur – amatuer, amature [3]
  • amend – ammend[1]
  • among – amung
  • annually – anually, annualy[7]
  • apparent – apparant, aparent [3]
  • arctic – artic[7]
  • argument – arguement[1][3]
  • atheist – athiest[3][7]
  • athlete – athelete
  • average – avrage, averege[1]
  • awful – awfull, aweful[7]
  • balance – ballance, balence
  • basically – basicly
  • because – becuase[7]
  • becoming – becomeing[7]
  • before – befor
  • beginning – begining[7]
  • believe – beleive [3]
  • bellwether – bellweather[3][7]
  • benefit – benifit
  • buoy/buoyant – bouy/bouyant[7]
  • breathe – breath, brethe
  • brilliant – briliant
  • burglar – burgler[1]
  • business – bisness,[1] bussiness,
    bizness, buisness

C–D

  • calendar – calender[3][7]
  • camouflage – camoflage, camoflague[7]
  • capitol – capital[7]
  • career – carrer
  • careful – carefull
  • Caribbean – Carribean[7]
  • category – catagory[3][7]
  • caught – cauhgt, caugt[7]
  • ceiling – cieling
  • cemetery – cemetary,[1] cematery[7]
  • certain – certin
  • changeable – changable[3][7]
  • chief – cheif[7]
  • citizen – citezen
  • colleague – collaegue, collegue[7]
  • collectible – collectable[3][7]
  • column – colum [3]
  • comfortable - confortable
  • coming – comming[7]
  • committed – commited, comitted[3][7]
  • competition – compitition
  • concede – conceed[7]
  • congratulate – congradulate[7]
  • conscientious – consciencious [3][7]
  • conscious – concious, consious [3]
  • consensus – concensus[1][3][7]
  • controversy – contraversy[1]
  • convenience – conveniance
  • coolly – cooly[7]
  • criticize – critecize, critisize
  • daiquiri – dacquiri, daquiri [3]
  • deceive – decieve[1][7]
  • decide – dicide
  • definite – definate,[1] definit[3]
  • definitely – definitly,[3] definately, defiantly
  • deposit – deposite
  • describe - discribe
  • desperate – desparate[1][7]
  • develop – develope
  • difference – diffrence[7]
  • dilemma – dilema[7]
  • disappear – disapear, dissapear
  • disappoint – disapoint[1]
  • disastrous – disasterous[7]
  • discipline – disipline
  • doable - dooable
  • does – deos, dose
  • drunkenness – drunkeness [3]
  • dumbbell – dumbell [3]
  • during – durring

E–H

  • easily – easely
  • eight – eigth
  • eighth - eigth
  • either – iehter, ether
  • embarrass – embarass[1][3]
  • environment – enviroment
  • equipped – equiped
  • equipment – equiptment (wrong in numerous webpages)[3]
  • exaggerate – exagerate
  • exceed – excede [3]
  • excellent – exellent, excelent
  • except – exsept
  • exercise – exercize, exersize
  • exhausted - exausted
  • exhilarate – exilerate [3]
  • existence – existance [3]
  • expect - exspect
  • experience – experiance [3]
  • experiment – experament
  • explanation – explaination
  • extension - extention [13]
  • extreme – extreem [1]
  • familiar – familier
  • fascinating – facinating,[1] fasinating
  • fiery – firey [3]
  • finally – finaly
  • fluorescent – flourescent[1]
  • foreign – foriegn [3]
  • forty – fourty
  • forward – foreward
  • friend – freind[1]
  • fulfil – fullfil (American: fulfill)[1]
  • fundamental – fundemental
  • gauge – guage[1][3]
  • generally – generaly, genrally
  • government – goverment
  • grammar – grammer
  • grateful – gratefull, greatful[1][3]
  • guarantee – garantee, garentee, garanty[1][3][10]
  • guidance – guidence [11]
  • happiness – happyness
  • harass – harrass[1][3]
  • height – heighth, heigth [3]
  • heroes – heros
  • hierarchy – heirarchy [3]
  • hors d'oeuvres – hors derves, ordeurves[7]
  • humorous – humerous [3]
  • hygiene – hygene, hygine, higeine, hygeine[7]
  • hypocrisy/hypocrite – hipocrit[1][7]

I–K

  • identity – idenity, identidy
  • ignorance – ignorence [3]
  • imaginary – imaginery
  • imitate – immitate[7]
  • imitation – immitation, imitashun
  • immediately – imediately[1][3]
  • incidentally – incidently
  • independent – independant [3][6]
  • indispensable – indispensible [3]
  • inoculate – innoculate [3]
  • intelligence – inteligence, intelligance [3]
  • interesting – intresting
  • interfere
  • interpretation
  • interruption – interuption
  • invitation
  • irrelevant – irrelevent
  • irritable – irritible
  • island – iland
  • jealous – jellous
  • jewelry (UK: jewellery) – jewelery [3]
  • judgment – judgement (issue in the U.S.)[3]
  • kernel – kernal, distinct from homophone colonel[3]
  • knowledge – knowlege

L–O

  • laboratory – labratory
  • leisure – liesure [3]
  • length – lenght
  • lesson – leson
  • liaison – liason[1][3]
  • library – libary, liberry [3]
  • license – lisence[3] (US always license, UK noun licence)[1]
  • lightning – lightening [3]
  • loneliness – lonelyness
  • lose – loose
  • losing – loosing, loseing
  • lying – lieing
  • maintenance – maintenence, maintnance[1]
  • maneuver – manuever, manuver (UK: manoeuvre)
  • marriage – marrige
  • mathematics – mathmatics
  • medicine – medcine[source?]
  • medieval – medeval, medevil, mideval [3]
  • memento – momento [3]
  • millennium – millenium, milennium[1][3]
  • miniature – miniture[1][3]
  • minuscule – miniscule[1][3]
  • minute – minite
  • mischievous – mischevous, mischevious [3]
  • misspell – mispell, misspel[1][3]
  • mysterious – misterius,[source?] misterious
  • naturally – naturaly
  • necessary – neccessary, necessery[1]
  • niece – neice[1]
  • neighbour – nieghbour, and neighbor – nieghbor [3]
  • neither – niether
  • noticeable – noticable [3]
  • occasion – occassion[1]
  • occasionally – occasionaly, occassionally [3]
  • occurrence – occurrance, occurence [3]
  • occurred – occured[1]
  • official – oficial
  • often – offen
  • omission – ommision, omision[1]
  • operate – oprate
  • opportunity – oppurtunity
  • optimism – optimisim
  • original – orignal[1]
  • ought
  • outrageous – outragous[1]

P–Q

  • paid – payed
  • parallel – parrallel, parellel
  • parliament – parliment[1]
  • particularly – particurly
  • pastime – passtime, pasttime [3]
  • peculiar – peculier
  • perceive – percieve[1]
  • perform – preform
  • permanent – pernament
  • perseverance – perseverence [3]
  • personally – personaly
  • personnel – personell, personel[3]
  • persuade – persaude
  • picture – pichure, pitcher
  • piece – peice
  • planning – planing
  • plagiarize – plagerize[7]
  • playwright – playright, playwrite[3]
  • pleasant – plesant
  • political – pollitical
  • possession – posession, possesion[1][3]
  • possible
  • potatoes – potatos[1]
  • practical – practicle
  • precede – preceed [3]
  • prefer
  • prejudice – predjudice
  • presence – presance[1]
  • principle – principal [3]
  • privilege – privelege, priviledge[1][3]
  • probably – probly
  • professional – proffesional
  • professor – professer[7]
  • promise – promiss [11]
  • pronunciation – pronounciation [3]
  • proof – prufe [12]
  • prophecy (as noun) – prophesy (valid as verb)[7]
  • psychology – psycology
  • publicly – publically[3]
  • quantity – quanity
  • quarantine – quarentine[7]
  • quarter - korter
  • queue – que (from Bar-B-Que)[7]
  • questionnaire – questionaire, questionnair[1]
  • quite – distinct from quiet

R–S

  • readable – readible [8]
  • realize – relize
  • really – realy[1]
  • receive – recieve[1][3]
  • receipt – reciept [3]
  • recognize – reconize, reckonize
  • recommend – recomend, reccommend[1][3]
  • referred – refered [3]
  • reference – referance, refrence [3]
  • relevant – relevent, revelant[3][7]
  • religious – religous, religius[12]
  • repetition – repitition[12]
  • restaurant – restarant [3]
  • rhyme – rime, ryme [3]
  • rhythm – rythm, rythem[1][3]
  • ridiculous – rediculous, ridicolous
  • sacrifice – sacrefice
  • safety – saftey, safty
  • scissors – sissors
  • secretary – secratary, secretery[1]
  • seize – sieze[1]
  • separate – seperate[1][3]
  • sergeant – sargent [3]
  • shining – shineing
  • similar – similer,[1] simmilar, simular
  • sincerely – sinceerly
  • skilful – skilfull (American: skillful)[1]
  • soldier – solider
  • speech – speach, speeche (archaic)[12]
  • stopping – stoping
  • strength – strenght
  • studying
  • succeed – succede
  • successful – succesful, successfull, sucessful[1]
  • supersede - supercede [3]
  • surely – surelly
  • surprise – suprise, surprize[1]

T–Z

  • temperature – temperture
  • temporary – temprary
  • their – they're [3]
  • through – thru
  • tomatoes – tomatos[1]
  • tomorrow – tommorrow[1]
  • tongue – tounge
  • toward
  • tries – trys
  • truly – truely, trully
  • twelfth – twelth [3]
  • tyranny – tyrany [3]
  • underrate – underate[3]
  • until – untill [3]
  • unusual – unuseual
  • upholstery – upholstry[3]
  • usable/useable – usible [9]
  • using – useing
  • usually – usualy
  • vacuum – vaccuum, vacume [3]
  • vegetarian – vegatarian[1]
  • vehicle – vehical[1]
  • vicious – visious[1]
  • village – villege
  • weather – wether [3]
  • weird – wierd[1][3]
  • welcome – wellcome
  • welfare – wellfare, welfair[7]
  • whether – wether[7]
  • wilful – wilfull (American: willful)[1]
  • withhold – withold[1]
  • writing – writting, writeing [12]

Common causes of those misspellings

Mispronunciation

Mispronunciation is one of the most common causes of misspelling.[14]

Typing errors

Some spelling errors are because people's typing is not perfect, such as

  • letters are doubled or tripled, such as "careeer" and "betweeen"
  • letters are singled, such as "betwen"
  • keys are transposed, so "because" becomes "becuase".

Foreign words

A misspelling in English might be a legitimate spelling in another language; for example, the word "address" is spelled in German as "adress" (one letter "d"). "immigrate" can be written "inmigrate" by speakers of Spanish.

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 1.19 1.20 1.21 1.22 1.23 1.24 1.25 1.26 1.27 1.28 1.29 1.30 1.31 1.32 1.33 1.34 1.35 1.36 1.37 1.38 1.39 1.40 1.41 1.42 1.43 1.44 1.45 1.46 1.47 1.48 1.49 1.50 1.51 1.52 1.53 1.54 1.55 1.56 1.57 1.58 1.59 1.60 1.61 1.62 1.63 1.64 1.65 1.66 1.67 "AskOxford: Commonly Misspelled Words", Oxford University Press, 2009, webpage: Ask-spell Archived 2008-10-25 at the Wayback Machine.
  2. ↑ "Canadian, British and American Spelling", LukeMastin.com, December 2008, webpage: LM-spelling.
  3. ↑ 3.000 3.001 3.002 3.003 3.004 3.005 3.006 3.007 3.008 3.009 3.010 3.011 3.012 3.013 3.014 3.015 3.016 3.017 3.018 3.019 3.020 3.021 3.022 3.023 3.024 3.025 3.026 3.027 3.028 3.029 3.030 3.031 3.032 3.033 3.034 3.035 3.036 3.037 3.038 3.039 3.040 3.041 3.042 3.043 3.044 3.045 3.046 3.047 3.048 3.049 3.050 3.051 3.052 3.053 3.054 3.055 3.056 3.057 3.058 3.059 3.060 3.061 3.062 3.063 3.064 3.065 3.066 3.067 3.068 3.069 3.070 3.071 3.072 3.073 3.074 3.075 3.076 3.077 3.078 3.079 3.080 3.081 3.082 3.083 3.084 3.085 3.086 3.087 3.088 3.089 3.090 3.091 3.092 3.093 3.094 3.095 3.096 3.097 3.098 3.099 3.100 3.101 3.102 "100 Most Often Misspelled Words in English", LoveToKnow, Corp., December 2008, webpage: YDict Archived 2010-03-13 at the Wayback Machine.
  4. ↑ "Merriam-Webster Online" (results for misspelling as "concensus"), Merriam-Webster, 2008, webpage: MW-concensus.
  5. ↑ "Merriam-Webster Online" (results for misspelling as "equiptment"), Merriam-Webster, December 2008, webpage: MW-equiptment.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Merriam-Webster Online" (results for misspelling as "independant"), Merriam-Webster, December 2008, webpage: MW-independant.
  7. ↑ 7.00 7.01 7.02 7.03 7.04 7.05 7.06 7.07 7.08 7.09 7.10 7.11 7.12 7.13 7.14 7.15 7.16 7.17 7.18 7.19 7.20 7.21 7.22 7.23 7.24 7.25 7.26 7.27 7.28 7.29 7.30 7.31 7.32 7.33 7.34 7.35 7.36 7.37 7.38 7.39 7.40 7.41 7.42 7.43 7.44 7.45 7.46 7.47 7.48 7.49 7.50 7.51 7.52 7.53 7.54 7.55 7.56 7.57 7.58 "Canadian, British and American Spelling – Some Commonly Misspelled Words", LukeMastin.com, December 2008, webpage: LM-misspelled.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Merriam-Webster Online" (results for misspelling as "readible"), Merriam-Webster, December 2008, webpage: MW-readible.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 "Merriam-Webster Online" (results for misspelling as "usible"), Merriam-Webster, December 2008, webpage: MW-usible.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 "200 Most Commonly Misspelled Words (Part 1)", Richard Nordquist (see below: References).
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 "200 Most Commonly Misspelled Words (Part 2)", Richard Nordquist (see below: References).
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 12.5 "200 Most Commonly Misspelled Words (Part 3)", Richard Nordquist (see below: References).
  13. ↑ "Difference Between Extension and Extention". Compare the Difference Between Similar Terms. Retrieved 2021-01-19.
  14. ↑ "How to Prepare for the Canadian GED High School Equivalency Exam", Murray Rockowitz, Dale Shuttleworth, et al., 2002, ISBN 0764117890, p.177, Google Books webpage: GoogleB-9LU.

References

Other websites

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