Quick and easy guide to common spelling errors.

Quick and easy guide to common spelling errors.

One of the main problems in using written English revolves around the misuse or misspelling of words which sound the same but have different meanings. Sometimes such words are from the same ‘family’, but correct spelling depends on their function within the sentence.

Authors and writers often allow computer auto-correct devices to change the spelling of words considered by the machine to be incorrect. Sometimes, however, as with any automated system, misunderstandings in context can lead to errors, so the suggested correction should also be checked for meaning with a trusty Thesaurus.

In this blog, I shall offer some of the most common examples of misspelling I have come across, give general meanings, and provide examples to support their use. Also, I shall consider words of a similar nature which have subtle differences in meaning.

Aloud - out loud.    Allowed - permitted.

She was allowed to read her story aloud to the class.

Assure - to promise, to guarantee.   Ensure – to make certain/sure.    Insure- to guarantee/protect against risk or loss.

I assure you the management will ensure that you are insured for accidents at work.

Bare - naked/unclothed/simple/plain.     Bear - an animal/to support/hold up/ tolerate /endure.

The bear could no longer bear his hunger.  The trees were bare.

Board - piece of flat timber/group of people.    Bored – uninterested.

The children were bored playing board games.

Coarse – rough, crude.  Course – a class or path.

The interruptions from a very coarse student spoilt the writers’ course.

Complement - to complete/ add to something.     Compliment - praise/admiration.

The inspectors wished to compliment the school for managing to attract a full complement of staff.

Confidant  - a male  in whom private matters are confided.  Confident - to show certainty/trust.

He was confident his confidant would understand his problems.

Desperate - in despair/ lost all hope.      Disparate - utterly different in kind.

The disparate bunch of visitors were desperate to leave the dirty hotel.

Discreet – careful/confidential/ unobtrusive.   Discrete – individual/distinct /separate /detached.

There was a discrete hotel room where the lovers could conduct their discreet affair.

Elicit - to bring about/evoke/extract/ draw out.     Illicit  - forbidden/ disapproved of/illegal.

The police officer wanted to elicit any information to suggest there had been an illicit entry.

E.g. -  for example.         i.e.  - in other words.

Mail - post /letters/ packages.    Male – boy/ man/ riveted, metal armour.

In times gone by, only a male was permitted to deliver the mail.

Principal - first in importance/rank /head of an educational institution/ leading person.            Principle - moral rule guiding personal conduct.

The Principal would not allow principle to get in the way of punishment.

Rein - bit/harness to control horse/ ( rein in) to control/restrict.  Reign - period in which a monarch rules.

During his reign, Louis XIV tried to rein in revolutionary opposition.

Stationary - not moving/static.     Stationery  - writing materials, etc.

She snatched her stationery from the stationary car.

Threw  -  past tense of to throw.   Through - in one end, out the other/ during /finished.

Consumed with rage, he threw an apple through the tunnel. He was through with girls, having suffered nothing but jealousy through the entire holiday.

Amount - quantity/used for things that cannot be counted.      Number - used for things that can be counted.

No amount of help from his considerable number of supporters could save him.

Childish  -  immature/silly.      Childlike -  innocent /trustful /like a child.

The old man’s childish behaviour reflected none of the childlike qualities of his grandchildren.

Empathy - ability to sense/understand the feelings of others as if they were one’s own.

Sympathy - to feel compassion/ sadness for the plight of others.

His father had died the week before, so he could empathise with the bereaved family who received many messages of sympathy from neighbours.

Though by no means exhaustive, hopefully some of the examples above may prove useful for self-publishers or scholars of the English language when distinguishing between spellings and meanings which require quick clarification.