Spell a Difficult Word

You may never be a spelling-bee contestant confronted with a word like “pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis,” but you probably still encounter tricky words that you need to spell accurately on a daily basis. Even though we have handy tools like spell-check these days, there’s nothing that can replace good personal spelling skills when you’re trying to communicate with others. It can mean the difference between looking informed and professional or careless and inexpert. With some practice, research, and dedication, you can figure out how to spell even the most difficult words without relying on outside aids.

Steps

Spelling Without Aids

1. Separate the word into chunks. Slowly repeat the word out loud. Sound out each part carefully, one syllable at a time. Splitting the word into manageable parts will help you focus on the spelling of each individual section, which makes it easier to put the whole thing together.
   • Try writing the word down syllable by syllable as you say it aloud. For instance, when you chunk out “aristocratic,” it becomes: “a - ris - to - cra - tic.” “Repetition” would be parsed out as “re - pe - ti - tion,” and “ridiculously” would become “ri - di - cu - lous - ly.”
2. Start from simpler forms of the word. Many words are tricky to spell because they’re compounds or derivations of less complicated words. If you think about the root of a complex word, it can give you a good starting point for figuring out the rest.
   • The easiest way to identify a word’s root is to remove any prefixes (like “un-,” “mis-,” “im-,” “re-,” “pre-,” or “inter-”) or suffixes (such as “-ly,” “-tion,” “-or,” “-ment,” “-ing,” “-like,” or “-less”) that may be attached to it.
   • For example, if you’re having trouble with “restructuring,” take away the prefix “re-” and suffix “-ing” to start from the most basic form of the word: “structure.” “Disconnection” could be simplified to the prefix “dis-” plus the root “connect” and suffix “-tion.” If "derivation" is too hard, think about how you would spell "derive," then add the suffix.
   • Keep in mind that the last letter of a word’s root is often dropped or changed when combining it with suffixes to avoid awkward, overlapping, or repeated vowels or consonants. For instance, “disconnection” does not have two “t’s,” and “restructuring” drops the “e” from the root “structure" to accommodate the suffix “-ing.”
3. Draw on common spelling rules. Even when a word is difficult to sound out, it may still follow a standard pattern of English that you can apply as a rule.
   • For instance, a common rule like “i before e except after c” can help you figure out that words with an “ee” vowel sound will most likely be spelled “shield” (i before e) and “receive” (except after c).
   • Another example of a common spelling rule is that for words ending with an “e,” you generally drop the “e” when adding a suffix that starts with a vowel (like “-ing” or “-able”) and keep it when adding a suffix that starts with a consonant (like “-ment” or “-ly”). If you draw upon this rule, you can figure out that “homeless” and “homely” will both keep the “e” at the end of “home” while “moving” and “unmovable” will both drop the “e” from “move.”
   • Exceptions to these rules exist and typically have to simply be memorized, unfortunately.

Learning the Words You Can’t Sound Out

1. Look; cover; write; check. This classic teaching method will effectively help you ingrain difficult-to-spell words in your mind. The process goes exactly as it sounds: you look at a word (for instance, in a dictionary) to see what it looks like, you hide the word from view and try to write it down from memory, and then you check to see if you got it right. Repeat this process until you can confidently and accurately reproduce the word at least three times in a row.
   • To make this an even more sensory activity that connects the pronunciation of a word with its spelling, slowly sound out the word aloud as you are writing it down. That way, you’re activating your senses of sight, hearing, and touch, which will help with your recall and all-around understanding of a word.
   • To make sure the word is ingrained in your mind, try spelling it correctly after taking a break from it. For example, practice the word the next day to see if you’ve committed it correctly to long-term memory.
2. Identify common misspellings. Because of its mix of linguistic origins, English spellings are not always consistent or rule-based. “Weird,” for instance, is a notable exception to the aforementioned “i before e” rule. That means it won’t always be possible to accurately spell difficult words just by sounding them out. Watch out for words that you consistently misspell and memorize the accurate spellings.
   • Be sure to familiarize yourself with those words that are tough for everyone. There’s a list of the most commonly misspelled words available here: http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/misspelled_words.htm
   • Try creating your own crib sheet of words that you find difficult to spell. Keep it on hand when you’re writing to look up the ones that commonly trip you up.
3. Use mnemonic devices. It’s easier to remember difficult spellings if you associate it with a vivid sentence that gives you a way to recall the right letters.
   • For example, if you have trouble spelling a word like “rhythm,” come up with a related sentence in which the beginning of each word matches the correct order of the letters: “Rhythm helps you to hear music.”
   • If you have trouble with a specific letter, think of a sentence that will help you remember the part that you frequently mess up. For instance, “separate” is one of the most commonly misspelled words, but if you associate it with a sentence like, “There’s a ‘par’ in separate,” then you’ll remember that the second vowel should be an “a,” not an “e.”
   • Word associations and abbreviations can help you create your own personal mnemonic devices that resonate with you.
4. Consider the word’s linguistic origin. Many English words are imported from other languages. If you know which language a word is derived from, it can help you make sense of surprising letter combinations that don’t match how a word sounds. The more you familiarize yourself with patterns that are common to the languages that have influenced English, like Latin, French, and German, the more likely you are to be able to figure out the spellings of words that have foreign origins.
   • For instance, words like “bureaucracy” and “connoisseur” seem like they would be spelled “burocracy” and “connosewer” in English. However, if you know their origin, you can recognize the vowel and consonant patterns as foreign spellings that are standard in French.
   • You can look up word origins in a dictionary to familiarize yourself with common patterns, roots, prefixes, and suffixes that derive from other languages. If you know that “pneu” comes from the Greek word for “breathe,” it will help you recognize that prefix in other places that it’s likely to occur, such as “pneumonia” or “pneumatic.”
   • Download an etymology app like WordBook or Etymology Explorer to help you look up the foreign roots of tough words.

Tips

• Really learning the spelling of tricky words requires repetition, especially since there are no rules that will cover every word you may need to spell.
• Be sure that you have an authoritative dictionary on hand, like the Oxford English Dictionary or Merriam-Webster’s. These are available in print form and also online.
• When all else fails, look up the word in a dictionary, or use spell-check.

Warnings

• Don't expect spell-check to catch all of your spelling errors. It frequently misidentifies words, has a limited and dialect-specific database of words, and cannot address when a word is misspelled because it is a homophone, that is, a word that sounds like another but is spelled differently and has a different meaning.

Related Articles

• Use a Dictionary
• Spell
• Use Generic Pronouns

References

See also

• Study for a Spelling Test
• Win a Spelling Bee
• Memorize Words for a Spelling Bee
• Study for a Spelling Bee
• Know the Difference Between Lose and Loose
• Use Than and Then
• Use There, Their and They're
• Use You're and Your
• Avoid Common Spelling Mistakes when Writing a wikiHow Article
• Learn to Remember Spellings of Words

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What links here

• Spell
• Learn to Remember Spellings of Words
• Make a Word Search
• Study for a Spelling Bee
• Study for a Spelling Test
• Understand the Difference Between Passive and Active Sentences
• Use a Dictionary
• Use the Word Only Correctly