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Companion Website
Compact Oxford English Dictionary for Students
Common Spelling Errors
This list contains many of the most common English words which people find tricky to spell, together with short notes to help you remember the right spelling.
As most people find that they have trouble when spelling particular words, you might find it helpful to create your own list of words, together with ways to memorize the correct spellings: here's a worksheet for you to download.
You can also test yourself with our online spelling test.
All the words below follow the standard British English spelling.
| abscess | sc in the middle, two s's at the end |
| abseil | ends with -seil (not -sail) |
| accommodate, accommodation, etc. | two cs, two ms (often misspelled with only one m) |
| accumulate, accumulation, etc. | two cs, one m |
| achieve | i before e |
| acquaint, acquire, acquit, etc. | remember the c before the q |
| address | two ds |
| aggressive, aggression, etc. | two g's, two s's |
| all right | two words (not alright) |
| a lot | two words (not alot) |
| amateur | ends with -eur (not -uer) |
| anaesthetic | -ae- after the n |
| Antarctic | remember the c after the r |
| apartment | only one p |
| apparent | ends with -ent (not -ant) |
| aqueduct | e after the u (not aqua-) |
| archaeology | -ae- after the h |
| Arctic | remember the c after the r |
| argument | no e after the u |
| artefact | arte- (arti- is the US spelling) |
| asterisk | ends with -isk (Asterix is a cartoon character) |
| attach | ends with -ach (no t) |
| beautiful, beauty, etc. | remember the u (not beat-) |
| belief, believe | i before e |
| benighted | no k in the middle |
| besiege | i before e |
| biased | only one s |
| bigoted | only one t |
| blatant | ends with -ant (not -ent) |
| brief | i before e |
| broccoli | two cs, one l |
| buoy, buoyant | u before the o |
| cappuccino | two ps, two cs |
| Caribbean | one r, two bs |
| ceiling | e before i |
| cemetery | 3 vowels, all es |
| civilian | only one l |
| coconut | -co- in the middle (no a) |
| commemorate | two ms, then single m |
| commitment | two ms, one t in the middle |
| committee | two ms, two ts |
| comparative | -rative (not -ritive) |
| compatible | -tible (not -table) |
| competent | ends with -ent (not -ant) |
| conceive | e before i |
| consensus | -sensus (not -census) |
| contemporary | ends with -porary (not -pory) |
| correspondence | ends with -ence (not -ance) |
| cursor | ends with -or (not -er) |
| deceive | e before i |
| definite | -ite (not -ate) |
| descendant | ends with -ant (not -ent) |
| despair | begins with des- (not dis-) |
| desperate | -per- in the middle (not -par-) |
| detach | ends with -ach (no t) |
| diarrhoea | two rs, ends with -hoea |
| disappear | one s, two ps |
| disappoint | one s, two ps |
| disastrous | ends with -trous (not -terous) |
| discipline | remember the c after the s |
| dissect | two s's |
| ecstasy | ecs- (not x), ends with -asy |
| eighth | two hs, ends with -hth |
| embarrass, embarrassment, etc. | two rs, two s's |
| environment | remember the n before the m |
| espresso | begins with es- (not ex-) |
| estuary | -tuary (not -taury) |
| exaggerate, exaggeration | two gs, one r |
| except | remember the c after the x |
| exhilarate | -lar- in the middle (not -ler-) |
| existence | ends with -ence (not -ance) |
| extraordinary | begins with extraor- (not extror-) |
| extrovert | begins with extro- (not extra-) |
| familiar | only one l |
| fascinate, fascination | remember the c after the s |
| February | two rs (-ruary not -uary) |
| fierce | i before e |
| fluorescent | fluor- (not flour-) |
| foreign | e before i |
| forty | begins with for- (no u) |
| friend | i before e |
| fulfil, fulfilment | two single ls |
| gauge | -au- (not -ua-) |
| glamorous, glamorize | -mor- in the middle (no u) |
| government | remember the n before the m |
| graffiti | two fs, one t |
| grammar | ends with -ar (not -er) |
| grateful | begins with grate- (not great-) |
| grief, grieve | i before e |
| guarantee | -ua- (not -au-) |
| guard, guardian, etc. | -ua- (not -au-) |
| hamster | ham-, (not hamp-) |
| handkerchief | remember the d |
| harass, harassment, etc. | one r, two s's |
| hers | no apostrophe |
| hierarchy | i before e, ends with -archy |
| hindrance | ends with -drance (not -derance) |
| homogeneous | the ending is -eous, with an e |
| honorary | -nor- in the middle (no u) |
| humorous, humorist | -mor- in the middle (no u) |
| hygiene, hygienic | i before e |
| idiosyncrasy | ends with -asy (not -acy) |
| imaginary | ends with -ary (not -ery) |
| immediately | ends with -ately (not -atly) |
| inadvertent | ends with -ent (not -ant) |
| independent | ends with -ent (not -ant) |
| inoculate | one n, one c |
| insistent | ends with -ent (not -ant) |
| instalment | one l |
| interrupt, interruption | two rs |
| introvert | begins with intro- (not intra-) |
| irrelevant | two rs, ends with -ant |
| itinerary | ends with -ary (not -ery) |
| jocular | ends with -ar (not -er) |
| judgement | use judgement in general contexts, judgment in legal use |
| kernel | ends with -el (not -al) |
| knowledge | remember the d |
| language | -guage (not -gauge) |
| liaise, liaison | remember the second i: liais- |
| library | two rs (-rary) |
| lightning | lightn- (no e) |
| liquefy | -efy (not -ify) |
| maintenance | -ten- (not -tain-), ends with -ance |
| manoeuvre | -oeu- in the middle, ends with -vre |
| medicine | begins with medi- (not mede-) |
| Mediterranean | one d, one t, two rs |
| millennium | two ls, two ns |
| millionaire | two ls, one n |
| miniature | remember the a after the i : minia- |
| minuscule | -uscule (not -iscule) |
| mischievous | i before e, ends with -vous (not -vious) |
| misspell | two s's |
| moreover | remember the middle e |
| necessary, necessity, etc. | one c, two s's |
| negotiate | ends with -tiate (not -ciate) |
| niece | i before e |
| noticeable | remember the middle e |
| occasion | two cs, one s |
| occur | two cs, one r |
| occurrence | two cs, two rs |
| omission, omit | one m |
| opportunity | two ps |
| ours | no apostrophe |
| parallel | two ls in the middle, ends with one l |
| parliament | -lia- in the middle |
| pejorative | begins with pej- (not perj-) |
| perceive | e before i |
| permanent | ends with -ent (not -ant) |
| persistent | ends with -ent (not -ant) |
| pharaoh | ends with -aoh (not -oah) |
| pigeon | no d before the g |
| Portuguese | ends with -guese (remember the 2nd u) |
| possess, possession, etc. | two s's in the middle and two at the end |
| potato | no e at the end of the singular (but add -es to make the plural) |
| privilege | ends with -lege (not -ledge) |
| pronunciation | -nunc- in the middle (no o) |
| propaganda | begins with propa- (not propo-) |
| protein | e before i |
| publicly | ends with -cly (not -cally) |
| pursue, pursuit | begins with pur- (not per-) |
| questionnaire | two ns, one r |
| rarefied | rare- (not rari-) |
| receive | e before i |
| recommend, recommendation, etc. | one c, two ms |
| refrigerator | no d |
| relevant | ends with -ant (not -ent) |
| relief, relieve | i before e |
| religious | ends with -gious (not -gous) |
| restaurateur | no n: -rateur |
| resuscitate | -susc- in the middle (not -suss-) |
| rhythm | begins with rhy-, ends with -thm |
| rigorous | -gor- in the middle (no u) |
| risotto | one s, two ts |
| sacrilege | -rilege (not -relige) |
| Scandinavian | -din- in the middle (not -dan-) |
| seize | e before i |
| separate | -par- in the middle (not -per-) |
| siege | i before e |
| sieve | i before e |
| skilful | two single ls |
| success, successful, etc. | two cs, two s's |
| supersede | -sede (not -cede) |
| suppress | two ps |
| surprise | begins with sur- (not sup-) |
| tariff | one r, two fs |
| temperature | -pera- in the middle |
| theirs | no apostrophe |
| thief | i before e |
| threshold | one h in the middle |
| tomato | no e at the end of the singular (but add -es to make the plural) |
| tomorrow | one m, two rs |
| truly | no e |
| underrate | two rs in the middle |
| unforeseen | remember the e after the r |
| until | just one l at the end |
| unwieldy | i before e |
| usage | just one e, at the end |
| vaccinate | two cs |
| vegetable | vege- (not vega-) |
| veterinary | -er- in the middle; -ary at the end |
| vulnerable | remember the l before the n |
| Wednesday | remember the d before the n |
| weird | e before i |
| wield | i before e |
| wilful | two single ls |
| withhold | two hs in the middle |
| yield | i before e |
| yours | no apostrophe |
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