Questions tagged [spelling]
This tag is for questions which a dictionary cannot answer concerning the written representation of the English language, especially spelling and word breaks (including hyphenation).
238
questions
2
votes
2
answers
34
views
What's the comparative and superlative of shy and dry?
What's the comparative and superlative of shy and dry?
I've found you can either keep the y or change it for ier / iest.
shyer - shyest or shier- shiest
Dryer -dryest or drier - driest
Also more shy ...
- 691
-1
votes
1
answer
39
views
Is this sentence correct grammar? [closed]
Is the following sentence good grammar and proper spelling?
We are planning to organize a family dinner this weekend and you may come as well.
I'm unsure whether the highlighted elements are correct ...
0
votes
1
answer
18
views
"Culture" or "Cultures" for Proper-Noun?
What is the correct spelling for the name of a place below?
a) Asia Culture Museum
b) Asia Cultures Museum
1
vote
1
answer
30
views
How should I spell the name of the ruling: 30%-ruling or 30% ruling?
The Dutch expat tax regime is commonly referred to as: '30%-ruling'. Or should this be spelled '30% ruling' without the dash?
0
votes
2
answers
30
views
Why do some people like use in' to symbolize ing?
In some movies or songs, "in'" is used instead of "ing". For example: "Searchin' high". The "Searchin'" is "Searching". Or "Lookin' for a place ...
- 3
-1
votes
1
answer
53
views
Correct British English Usage of Words [closed]
There are multiple words that are spelt differently in British English and American English. Which of these spellings is correct for British English?
donut / doughnut
aluminum / aluminium
grey / gray
...
- 434
0
votes
2
answers
59
views
Is there an English word subset which can demonstrate almost all familiar pronunciation?
For example, the pronunciation of "tube" is [tjuːb]. If I learned "tube", I know how to spell "student" which is [ˈstjuːdnt], because "tube" and "student&...
- 101
0
votes
1
answer
24
views
How is the rule of thumb to know whether to use "-or-" or "-our-"?
For years I kept struggling with differentiating between whether a particular word is using -or- or -our-. These are some examples of words that I'm often having problems with:
Behaviour vs behavior
...
- 1,103
2
votes
1
answer
417
views
Is there a difference between "artist" and "artiste"?
While we commonly use the word "artist" (for a person who knows any art), a lot of literary publications and even some news organisations spell the word as "artiste" - with an &...
- 337
0
votes
1
answer
65
views
Old English versus Middle English [closed]
I am not English native and I just realized that some words are acceptable in different spellings. For example the word "amongst" often written as "among" or the word "towards&...
- 111
0
votes
1
answer
84
views
There are many exceptions for the mnemonic rule of thumb "i before e except after c" but have any new attempts arrived at any new rule?
Per title, there are many exceptions for the mnemonic rule of thumb "i before e except after c". Have any new attempts arrived at any new rule? For example, compile all the cases of a ...
- 111
32
votes
2
answers
4k
views
The Ö letter in "Coördinator"
I was watching some Pink Panther episodes on YouTube, and I noticed something weird.
The word COORDINATOR is written COÖRDINATOR with an Ö.
I searched for it in dictionaries and etymology references ...
- 423
0
votes
2
answers
423
views
Daily practice vs daily practise
The sentence reads:
... thorough preparation and daily practice will be essential.
In British/International English, would the word used here be "practice" or "practise"?
I ...
MarkG
4
votes
1
answer
91
views
Dangerously closely antonyms
We have a tag "pseudo-antonym" here ("flammable" vs. "inflammable", "get up" vs. "get down"), but I ask for the exact opposite.
A classic is "He ...
- 853
0
votes
2
answers
1k
views
"Pure" VS "Purer" VS "More pure" [closed]
Q.1) What's the difference between pure, purer, and more pure, and what's the correct situation to use each one?
Q.2) What should I write (pure, purer, or more pure) in the following blank?
Juice ...
- 5
2
votes
1
answer
96
views
Is it breastfeeding, breast-feeding or even breast feeding?
I’ve now seen three spellings for the same term:
The Wikipedia article is called Breastfeeding.
The Unicode standard calls the 🤱 emoji breast-feeding. Google adds “Did you mean: breastfeeding?” to ...
- 123
-1
votes
1
answer
59
views
Cancel(l)ed vs cancellation
cancel, vb., makes canceled and canceling in AmE. Yet, in cancellation the -l- is doubled (-ll-) because the accent falls on
the third syllable.
It's etymology is
Can·ce(l)·la·tion Mid-16th c. Latin ...
- 715
-2
votes
2
answers
94
views
final letter "y", following a vowel, yet representing another syllable
Is there a word in English, in which the final letter "y", while following a vowel, would represent another syllable?
For example, in the words "worry", "story", "...
- 3,793
0
votes
1
answer
3k
views
Pre-school or preschool?
When I check my various dictionaries (Longman; Cambridge; Merriam-Webster and a bilingual dictionary), preschool is spelt without a hyphen. Still, when I google it, I get a fair number of hits for ...
- 1,060
0
votes
1
answer
56
views
Cannonical or canonical? [closed]
I found spelling "cannonical" in this answer:
https://dba.stackexchange.com/a/133641
My text editor marks it with red line as word error. Please tell me which form is correct, I have doubts.
- 103
6
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Why do we have pronunciation for the word “liquorice” as ‘liquorish’?
Is there any difference in pronunciation between the American and British speakers?
- 340
8
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Irreproducible, unreproducible, non-reproducible or not reproducible, which one to use?
I was going to add a tag for issues of my GitHub repository, to describe an issue that would not be able to be reproduced.
Here are the four versions of this word I can think of:
Irreproducible
...
- 753
2
votes
1
answer
409
views
Which is (most) correct: "permille" or "per mille"?
The spelling "percent" (one word) is generally accepted, I think. Thus I presumed that "permille" (one word) would be correct, but the Cambridge Dictionary only mentions "per ...
- 131
12
votes
3
answers
2k
views
How do I decide if an "i" is pronounced long or short?
I am an English teacher who has never really learned the complex rules of teaching pronunciation. Many learners here in Spain have difficulties deciding whether an "i" in a word is long or ...
- 129
1
vote
1
answer
83
views
When writing documentation for web-technologies that use American spelling, should the text also use American spelling?
As we know, English exists in many dialects.
In another life, over 20 years ago, I spent a year and a half in Japan, teaching English. I was under no obligation to teach standard American English but ...
0
votes
1
answer
46
views
Demonopolise or de monopolise?
I'm preparing for academic IELTS by writing some essays and then correcting those using a grammar correction app.
In the following sentence,
If governments will find ways to effectively minimise ...
- 367
1
vote
2
answers
91
views
Is ”Physical”'s IPA spelling not unique?
Could you come up with an explanation why the same adjective "physical" has two IPA renderings of the same pronunciation?
Oxford Learners Dictionary: /ˈfɪzɪkl/ (that is the /ə/ is missed in ...
- 125
12
votes
3
answers
4k
views
Why are "LOse" and "LOOse" pronounced differently?
I know that both the words are pronounced and used differently. I also found another question on this site: "Use of loose and lose [closed]", but that is about the usage of the word. My ...
user128441
2
votes
1
answer
145
views
Pronunciation of adjectives ending with "-ate" [closed]
Legitimate
How should I pronounce it?
It's confusing me. There are so many vocabularies of adjectives ending with "ate"
as in meet or as in "it" : like "tim -it"
as in ...
- 2,715
4
votes
2
answers
3k
views
Why does "wind" have two different pronunciations?
The word "wind" seems to be problematic (with almost all other English words that behave strangely). When it is used as a noun to mean the movement of air, it is pronounced to rhyme with &...
user128248
-1
votes
1
answer
43
views
Visualize and Visualise national recognition? [duplicate]
Which spelling is recognized more as the proper spelling globally?
12
votes
2
answers
3k
views
Why is the <th> in "posthumous" pronounced as <ch> (/tʃ/)?
I have always pronounced the th in "posthumous" as if it was the "th" in think (/θ/), but when I searched itd it was actually the ch /tʃ/:
UK: /ˈpɒs.tʃə.məs/
US: /ˈpɑːs.tʃə.məs/
...
user119042
30
votes
1
answer
6k
views
Was "twelve" pronounced as "TPELF"?
I came across this piece of text and I for the life of me can't understand why "twelve" is written tpelf. I have encircled other numbers that are strange.
My friend who lives in New York ...
user127738
0
votes
1
answer
115
views
Any there other pairs similar to "advise/advice" and "devise/device"?
I was wondering if there are other similar pairs for "advise/advice" and "devise/device"?
Updarte: I found this useful tip here
(b) remember that 'ice' is a noun and therefore the ...
- 2,011
9
votes
3
answers
4k
views
"Backyard" vs "Front yard" - same but different
Not really a serious English question, more like a curiosity.
I am wondering, why "backyard" is written as one word but "front yard" is written as two separate words. Equivalently, ...
- 9,924
0
votes
1
answer
91
views
Why does "don't be" sometimes sound like "dombe"?
Why does "don't be" sometimes become "DOMBE"? There is no M in the spelling then why?
user127417
4
votes
3
answers
963
views
Why the K is silent in "know" and "knowledge"? [duplicate]
Why is the K silent in "knowledge" and "know"? I have heard many non-natives pronounce the K but not natives. In dictionaries there is no K in the pronunciation but there is a K in ...
user127417
26
votes
2
answers
3k
views
Why is there a 'p' in "assumption" but not in "assume"?
I know a little bit about the suffix -tion. It is usually added to verbs.
Examples:
-domination (from dominate),
-admiration (admire),
-deviation (deviate),
-ejection (eject).
"Exemption (...
user127220
-2
votes
2
answers
178
views
Reason or rule for pronunciations [closed]
I am not a native English speaker and I am learning English.
Sometimes I will get baffled by the pronunciations used in English. It is very difficult to pronounce something just by looking at it. ...
- 123
0
votes
0
answers
61
views
Why "admit" with T but "admissible" with SS?
I just noticed that when the suffix -ible is added to "admit", it becomes "admissible" rather than "admittible".
There are few other examples:
"omit" = "...
user119042
32
votes
1
answer
11k
views
Why is the W silent in "sword" but not in "swore"?
The word "sword" is pronounced /sɔːd/ (AmE: /sɔrd/) while "swore" is pronounced /swɔː/ (AmE: /swɔr/). The W in "sword" is silent because of the following round vowel; the ...
user119042
42
votes
3
answers
26k
views
Why is "iron" pronounced "EYE-URN" but not "EYE-RUN"?
I just noticed that the word iron is pronounced EYE-URN in standard Englishes instead of what the spelling suggests. I have always been pronouncing it "EYE-RUN" but I just checked its ...
user119042
0
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Is it "glowed" or "glown" when conjugating "glow"?
I want to say he's glown with brilliance but the spell checker barks at me for misspelling, like if it prefers glowed.
This resource commands the latter, while this one the exact opposite. I've also ...
- 4,111
2
votes
1
answer
10k
views
Is 'resetted' a word?
Link 1
Link 2
I entered "resetted" and for the spell check, I searched and got the first link. I thought it is correct because (I thought all words are not included in a spell checker)1 and ...
- 123
0
votes
1
answer
577
views
Capitalization and hyphenation in words like 'southeastern' [closed]
Is it
South-Eastern Ukraine,
Southeastern Ukraine, or
South Eastern Ukraine
? What about capitalization? I saw various spellings. Which one is the most advisable? Don't close the question.
- 2,784
3
votes
3
answers
437
views
The silent "u": "forty" and "fourteen"
We all know that the cardinal and ordinal numbers 4 and 4th are spelled ‘four’ and “fourth” respectively. Then we have 14 and 14th which are spelled “fourteen” and “fourteenth”. Yet the numbers 40 and ...
- 22.9k
0
votes
1
answer
98
views
Why "Acquire" instead of "Aquire"?
What does the "c" add to the word "aquire" when it already sounds correct meaning the verb "to gain; to possess"?
- 24.5k
1
vote
1
answer
81
views
General spelling rule: no double (repeated) consonant after another consonant?
Is it correct to tell ESL students that there aren't any words in English that have a double repeated consonant after another consonant?
For example:
Sttrugle
Inffection
dispposal
Thanks!
- 141
0
votes
2
answers
656
views
How many vowels in each syllable?
I'm trying to improve my spelling, and I came across this article, which states that "Every syllable has one vowel'.
How can this be true while words like room, pain, eat, grow, etc. Have one ...
- 21
1
vote
0
answers
38
views
What is the effective way to practice spelling for new words
I'm learning GRE vocab and they are quite a lot. Roughly in the range of 1000-3000 words. Reading, probably, is the most effective way to gain new words and reinforce them but I'm facing an issue with ...
- 567