Words people keep spelling wrong

believe

Not beleive! I before E except after C applies here.

definitely

Not definately! Think of 'finite'. De-finite-ly.

fascism

Not facism! It's pronounced "fash-iz-'m", not "face-iz-'m", so don't spell it like "racism".

lose

Not loose! Loose is an adjective, as in "My brains have been shaken loose"! It has a different pronunciation and meaning!

maybe

Not mabye, or mabey, or anything like that... look closely at it: it's may + be, as in "Maybe you're an idiot", which is equivalent to "It may be that you're an idiot". See, that's where the word comes from, and it makes perfect sense!

must have
would have
should have

These should use have, not of. "I have been asleep." "I must have been asleep." Nobody ever says "I of been asleep."

official

Not offical! Remember that c is pronounced like k before a or o. So this would sound like "offikal"!

weird

Not wierd! I before E except after C does not apply here. Remember, weird is a weird word. Other exceptions to the rule: Weird Keith leisurely drank a protein drink.

tongue

Not tounge! That would be pronounced so as to rhyme with lounge!

villain

Not vaude-villian!

rogue

If you spell this rouge, it means a kind of makeup, not a villian! :}

tomorrow

Why do so many people spell this with an A (tomarrow) ? That looks like it would rhyme with arrow! Spelling tip: think of Rob Morrow, which is not spelled the same as bone marrow.

etc.

People seem to think this abbreviation should be spelled ect., probably because they think it's pronounced "ec cetera". It's not. It's "et cetera", which is Latin for "and the others". Oh yes, and since "et" means and, do NOT write and etc.!

ridiculous

Not rediculous. I guess people think this word begins with the prefix "re-", meaning "again", but actually the "rid-" part of the word comes from the Latin "ridere", meaning to laugh, and can be seen in the word deride.

misspell

You may have noticed that the name of this webpage is itself a misspelling of misspell, a very common error. But logically, mispell would mean "to pell wrongly".

Words people keep mixing up

they're, their, there

They're = they are. Their = belonging to them. There = not here.

it's, its

It's = it is. Its = belonging to it. "The puppy landed on it's head" means "The puppy landed on it is head." See, that makes so no sense!

than, then

I'm smarter than you. Do your homework, then you can go out and play.

your, you're

You're = you are. Your = belonging to you. "Your going to die" means you own a "going to die", whatever that is. "Put you're pants on" means "Put you are pants on." Put I am pants on??? The hell??

i.e., e.g.

These are Latin abbreviations, but they're not hard. i.e. (id est) = "that is". e.g. (exempli gratia) = "for example" (literally, "for the sake of example").

formerly, formally

These are adverbial forms of the words former and formal. Nobody ever says "former dress party" or "formal President", so why the confusion once -ly is added? Why say "The artist formally known as Prince"?

add, ad

Advertisement only has one d. Therefore, so does its abbreviation, ad. Simple, no? So why am I often told to "mention this add"?

breath, breathe

The noun form has no 'e' at the end and rhymes with 'Beth'. Example: I'm out of breath. The verb form has an 'e' and rhymes with, well, with 'these' if you have a lithp. Example: Because I am so out of breath, I can't breathe.

loath, loathe

Similar situation to breath and breathe, but these words both have the same vowel sound. The verb form has an 'e' and rhymes with 'clothe'. Example: I loathe you. The adjective form has no 'e' and rhymes with 'both'. Example: I am loath to ask why you loathe me.

phase, faze

Yes indeed, it's actually spelled faze when it means to perturb, as in "Spelling errors don't faze me."

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