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The 24 most misspelled words

If you only learn a handful of spellings this year, make it these. Each card shows the correct word, the slip people usually make and a short trick that makes the right version stick.

  1. #1

    Definitely

    not definately, definitly, definatly

    It contains the word finite: de-FINITE-ly.

  2. #2

    Separate

    not seperate, seprate

    There is "a rat" in separate: sep-A-RAT-e.

  3. #3

    Accommodate

    not accomodate, acommodate

    The word is big enough to accommodate two Cs and two Ms.

  4. #4

    Receive

    not recieve, receeve

    I before E, except after C: re-C-EI-ve.

  5. #5

    A lot

    not alot

    "A lot" is two words, just like "a little" and "a bit".

  6. #6

    Necessary

    not neccessary, necessery, neccesary

    A shirt has one collar and two sleeves: one C and two Ss.

  7. #7

    Occurred

    not occured, ocurred

    Double C and double R: occur + r + ed, because the stress is on -CUR.

  8. #8

    Embarrass

    not embarass, embarras, embaress

    Two Rs and two Ss: you turn Really Red and Smile Shyly.

  9. #9

    Weird

    not wierd, werid

    Weird breaks the rule: E before I.

  10. #10

    Believe

    not beleive

    Never believe a LIE: be-LIE-ve.

  11. #11

    Calendar

    not calander, calandar

    The last vowel is A: cal-EN-DAR. Think of the "dar" in radar.

  12. #12

    Conscious

    not concious, consious

    Con + scious: it contains "sci", as in science.

  13. #13

    Government

    not goverment, govenment

    Govern + ment: keep the N.

  14. #14

    Privilege

    not priviledge, privelege, privilage

    No D, two Is and then two Es: pr-I-v-I-l-E-g-E.

  15. #15

    Rhythm

    not rythm, rhythym, rythym

    Rhythm Helps Your Two Hips Move: R-H-Y-T-H-M.

  16. #16

    Until

    not untill

    Until has only one L at the end, even though till has two.

  17. #17

    Tomorrow

    not tommorow, tommorrow, tomorow

    One M and two Rs: to-M-o-RR-ow.

  18. #18

    Beginning

    not begining, beggining, begginning

    Double N: begin + n + ing, because the stress falls on -GIN.

  19. #19

    Restaurant

    not restaraunt, resturant, restuarant

    Rest + au + rant: rest-AU-rant.

  20. #20

    Occasion

    not occassion, ocasion, ocassion

    Double C, single S: o-CC-a-S-ion.

  21. #21

    Acquire

    not aquire, adquire

    A silent C hides before the Q, as in acquit and acquaint: ac-quire.

  22. #22

    Millennium

    not millenium, milennium

    Double L and double N, from Latin mille (thousand) and annus (year).

  23. #23

    Pronunciation

    not pronounciation

    Pronounce loses its O: pro-NUN-ciation.

  24. #24

    Existence

    not existance, existense

    Exist + ence: after the X the vowels are I and then E, never A.

Browse all 1,231 misspellings, A to ZCheck a spelling

Why these words are so hard

Almost every word on this page breaks the link between sound and spelling in one of three ways. Some double a letter you never hear (accommodate, millennium). Some bury a vowel in an unstressed syllable, where A, E and I all sound like the same soft "uh" (separate, definitely). And some fall into the "i before e" trap (receive, weird).

Once you know which trap a word sets, you know where to look. That is why each tip points at the exact letters that cause the trouble rather than asking you to memorize the whole word.

Frequently asked questions

How did you choose these misspellings?
They are the words people get wrong most often in everyday writing: the ones that turn up again and again in spelling surveys, search queries and editors’ correction lists. Most of them hide a double letter, an unstressed vowel or an "ie/ei" pair that you cannot hear when the word is spoken.
What is the best way to learn them?
Read the tip on each card, then cover it and write the word from memory. Come back a day later and test yourself again. Spaced repetition beats rereading: the second, third and fourth recall are what make a spelling automatic.
Is a spell checker not enough?
Spell checkers catch words that do not exist, but they miss real words used by mistake, and they are no help in a handwritten exam or a word game. Knowing why a word is spelled the way it is also helps with its relatives: learn necessary and necessity comes for free.