How to Avoid Spelling Errors

Many aspiring writers have unique and superb ideas. Their writing style also is lucid and engaging. Most of the writers write grammatically correct sentences also. But sometimes wrong spellings ruin the impression of their otherwise excellent writing. Using the spell-check is not completely fool-proof, and we all know it.

Writing correct spellings of words is mostly not that difficult. Most of the time following the correct pronunciation of the word correctly is sufficient.

However, in English, there are many exceptions to the rule cited above. So we need to be careful.

Same Letter Pronounced Differently

Words are formed using letters. What if these letters itself are pronounced differently? The classic example of ‘but’ and ‘put’ is a case in point.

The letter, ‘c’ is used in the word, ‘cycle’ twice and is pronounced in two different ways.

The sound of the first ‘c’ in ‘cycle’ gets a totally different spelling, i.e., ‘psy’ in the word, ‘psychology’ and the sound of the second ‘c’ in ‘cycle’ is spelled as ‘ch’ in the same word, ‘psychology’.

Silent Letters

There are words whose spellings have silent letters.

The letter, ‘b’ in the word, ‘debt’ is silent. Similarly, in the word, ‘sign’ the letter ‘g’ is not pronounced. It is silent.

The Case of Redundant Letters

If the word, ‘T-shirt’ is okay, why do we spell ‘tea’ with, ‘ea’ in the end? Similarly, in the word, ‘queue’ the last four letters or at least the last two letters are redundant.

In all the above cases, the only way out is to recognize and memorize such special words. There are plenty of them.

Yes, homonyms are one major source of errors if the writer is not careful. It is not exactly a case of spelling errors. It is more like confusion errors. Homonyms are similar sounding words with different spellings and different meanings too. So, the author unknowingly ends up writing as given below.

You should right with your write hand.

Both the underlined words are correctly spelled. The error occurs because of the wrong usage of the words that are pronounced in the same way.

I know the above is an extreme example that probably never happened. But mistakes of this type are very common.

Take the test to test your ‘Spelling Skills’ or I should say, 'Homonyms"

1. sole, soul

a. Mother Theresa is a noble_____.

b. He was the _____ winner present.

c. Get the ____ of the shoe repaired.

2. week, weak

a. Last _____, he joined painting classes.

b. There will be a special class for _____students later.

3. site, sight

a. The supervisor leaves the construction ____ after every one else has left.

b. My eyesight is poor but I could _____ the red car easily.

4. carrier, career

a. He enjoyed a long and fruitful ____ as a teacher.

b. She carried the baby in the seat _____.

5. sale, sail

a. He bought this from the offseason ___.

b. The ship will ____ next week.

6. waste, waist

a. It is a bad idea to _____ food.

b. She has a very slim _____.

7. deer, dear

a. My ____ friend, Arun lives in Singapore.

b. This place is full of antelopes and _____.

8. peace, piece

a. This cake _____ is very small. I want a bigger one.

b. The neighbors live in _____.

9. seen, scene

a. I have not ____ your gold ring.

b. Do not create a _____ here.

10. peel, peal

a. I will ____ the orange.

b. A _____ of laughter rose in the class.

c. The banana _____ is golden yellow.

d. The ____ of the temple bell was very loud.

Answers

1 a. soul b. sole c. sole 2 a. week b. weak 3 a. site b. sight

4 a. career b. carrier 5 a. sale b. sail 6 a. waste b. waist

7 a. dear b. deer 8 a. piece b. peace 9 a. seen b. scene

10 a. peel b. peal c. peel d. peal

1.week, weak

I hope you are confident to take this test too. Look for the homonyms in your memory.

1 a. I have bought _____ storybooks yesterday.

b. No one ____ burgers at the party.

2 a. I was feeling _____ in his company.

b. There is a _____meeting at 3:00 p.m. today.

3. a. I said ____ to my parents.

b. They will ____ a new house soon.

4. a. Will you _____ the carrots?

b. My mother is a _____ person.

5. a. The hospital _____ is cleaned thrice daily.

b. Refined _____ is not good for health.

6. a. The monkey scratched ___ head.

b. ___ raining cats and dogs.

7. a. I sang a very old _____.

b. I like _____very much.

8. a. I wake up before ___ rise every morning.

b. His only _____ lives in Australia.

9. a. Everyone wished each other _____ Christmas.

b. He does not wish to _____ so soon.

10. a. India ___ the match last night.

b. The police could catch only ____ thief.

Answers

1 a. ate b. eight 2 a. bored b. board 3 a. bye b. buy 4 a. grate b. great

5 a. floor b. flour 6 a. its b. it’s 7 a. hymn b.him 8. a. sun b.son

9. a. merry b.marry 10 a. won b.one

We must realize that the above is not an exhaustive list. To know more about the topic we need to check out on grammar sites frequently and also be more careful when we read to know the correct spellings and also how homonyms have been used.

So, the ball is now in your court. I hope you will sincerely do your part, now that I have done mine.

Happy learning and happy writing, all!