Spelling Including commonly misspelled words and plurals checklist

Transcription

1 Spelling Including commonly misspelled words and plurals checklist From the Skills Team, University of Hull English spelling is notoriously illogical. There are historical reasons for this. It is not very useful to offer 'rules' for correct spelling simply because English is so inconsistent that there would be very few of them and they may not always apply. The one example is the rule we were all taught at school: 'i' before 'e' (friend, believe) except after 'c' (receive). This rule, however, refers to the long 'ee' sound. Note examples of words where the 'i before e except after c' does not apply: science, concierge and efficient. One might just as well learn words by heart since any 'rule' one devises will have at least some exceptions. This can partly be achieved (note the position of the 'i' and the 'e') by being much more aware of how words are spelt as you read; read for the medium as well as for the message. Proofreading Many spelling errors remain in a document because it has not been properly proofread - or not at all. It is essential that you do this before handing in any assignment but do NOT rely on your computer's (grammar and) spellchecker to do this for you. It is unreliable and often wrong. It will miss some errors and occasionally suggest something is wrong when it is not. One of the simple principles it relies on is "that word is in my dictionary, so it's OK", which clearly does not always work. A typing error may not be picked up by spellcheckers since the word exists, such as "form" for "from"; "fiend" or "fried" for "friend"; "three" for "there" or "apologies" for "apologise". You must also ensure that any document written in Word is set to English (UK), not (US) for all work you submit for any qualification in a British higher education institution. You can make it your default setting. Do make use of a good dictionary to check your spelling; that is one reason we have them. A study guide, Proofreading, can be found on the Skills website (use the A to Z tab) and an online course on proofreading is available in ebridge as a joinable site. Types of error Spelling errors could be placed into one of four categories: omissions (e.g. buton) additions (e.g. hopefull) substitutions (e.g. attendence) inversions (e.g. tabel) This might be useful to know when typing or checking spellings. (After Wing & Baddeley 1980 in Crystal 1987: 213) Web: skills@hull.ac.uk

2 Commonly misspelt words In addition to homophones (below), there is a small set of words which are commonly misspelt. It is interesting to identify which category of error (above) each one falls into. The following sites give lists of commonly misspelt words: (A quick reference guide to the top misspellings according to the Oxford English Corpus, which is an electronic collection of over 2 billion words of real English that helps us to see how people are using the language and also shows us the mistakes that are most often made). 80_misspelled_words.pdf (A quiz on commonly misspelled words from BBC Learning English) Aids to memory Many people have spelling 'blind spots' - they find that there are certain words which they always need to check or always hesitate over (is that '-ite' or '-ate'? 'ei' or 'ie'?). Try writing each one of these on its own Post-it note and stick them in places where you will see them during the day. Highlight the correct letter(s). Or simply compile a list of these words as you go. If you search the internet you will find lots of little clever ways (mnemonics) of remembering difficult spellings e.g. separate = never separate a para from his chute. You may also like to compile a list of your own common misspellings to aid checking, especially to bear in mind in exams when you are writing by hand. Commonly confused words (known as Homophones) A homophone is a word that sounds like another word but it is spelled differently and, importantly, also has a different meaning. Knowing which one to use often needs a knowledge of grammar or parts of speech (e.g. if it is a noun, adjective or verb), plus the use of a dictionary. The following is a short list of such words: to, too, two there, their, they're its, it's your, you're where, were, we're principal, principle past, passed accept, except ensure, insure, assure here, hear licence, license compliment, complement practice, practise affect, effect straight, strait discrete, discreet stationary, stationery dependent, dependant whose, who's enquire, inquire aloud, allowed advice, advise 2

3 These are a few of the pairs that are often used wrongly: Compliment or complement? A compliment, or a complimentary remark, is something you pay someone when you want to be nice: "What a nice dress!" "That's very clever." "You played very well." Sometimes complimentary means 'free': e.g. complimentary tickets. A complement, or a complementary thing, is something that completes something: e.g. a ship's complement is her crew; her assignment has a complementary guide to experimental techniques; yin is complementary to yang. Principle or principal? A principle is an underlying idea, or a moral belief. A principal is either a Head (e.g. a Head-teacher); or an adjective describing the most important thing, "The principal point in this lecture is " Principal Skinner Practice or practise? A practice is a noun - something that you do: "There is a football practice tonight." "I did 5 hours' piano practice yesterday." "It is good practice to reference all sources in your work, She is in general practice. (If you can say "a" or "the" before the word 'practice' in your sentence, then it is practice.) To practise is a verb - to do something, e.g. "I practised my vocabulary last night." "He practised his speech in front of a mirror." Affect or effect? To affect is a verb - to do something, e.g. "She was affected deeply by the death of her husband." "To raise taxes affects everyone." An effect is a noun - a thing, or result. Cause and effect are opposites, e.g. "The effects of the war were " The butterfly effect suggests that.... Sometimes 'effects' means 'possessions': "Carry your personal effects with you." Lie or lay - or laid? To lie is an intransitive verb - i.e. it has no object. You lie down. To lay is a transitive verb - i.e. it has an object. Hens lay eggs. You lay something down. Confusingly, the past tense of to lie is lay: "She lay down for a moment at three o'clock." The past tense of to lay is laid: "They laid down their weapons." 3

4 Plurals - a checklist Although nearly all nouns (=names of things) form their plurals by adding an 's', the spelling of some plural words can cause difficulty. There is often no rule to help you predict or work out the correct form of plural. You have to learn particular words and their plurals one by one. Below is a list of most of the irregular plurals and other s. Note that this is not an exhaustive list but illustrates the plurals of those words which often occur in academic writing. English words regular plurals Most nouns in English form their plurals by adding an 's' or es table bus tables buses Words ending in '-y' change to '-ies' party melody quantity parties melodies quantities Words ending with a vowel before the 'y' end with 's' key delay toy buy keys delays toys buys English words irregular plurals child man woman fish sheep species series die goose children men women fish sheep species series dice geese 4

5 Some Latin plurals commonly used in academic English criterion phenomenon curriculum medium stadium bacterium referendum stimulus syllabus fungus analysis axis appendix hypothesis thesis crisis emphasis criteria phenomena curricula media stadia bacteria referenda stimuli syllabi fungi analyses axes appendices hypotheses theses crises emphases References & further reading Arscott, D. (n.d.) Good English: the witty, in-a-nutshell language guide, Lewes, Sussex: Pomegranate Press - A brilliant little book, very readable and highly recommended. Available to buy at Crystal, D. (1987) The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language, Cambridge: CUP - The authority on English, for use as a reference on any aspect of the language. Peck, J. & Coyle, M. (2005) The Student's Guide to Writing, 2nd edn. Basingstoke: Palgrave - A very good guide on writing. Part 2 chapter 6 is on spelling. By Phil Farrar, updated by Maureen Eastwood and Jacqui Bartram All web addresses in this leaflet were correct at the time of publication. The information in this leaflet can be made available in an alternative format on request - skills@hull.ac.uk. 5