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).
195
questions
1
vote
2answers
79 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 ...
0
votes
1answer
56 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"?
1
vote
1answer
46 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!
0
votes
2answers
80 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 ...
1
vote
0answers
33 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 ...
4
votes
1answer
127 views
Expressing potayto-potahto, tomayto-tomahto correctly in writing
There's a saying expressing that the presented concepts are distinct without a difference. It's based on the pronunciation of potato and tomato. How would one go about writing that differnece in an ...
2
votes
1answer
24 views
Do I need to make the following changes when writing an abbreviation?
In math, there is a concept called random variable, and for convenience people usually just write r.v. I have some questions regarding writing the abbreviation r.v. in a sentence.
Would a native ...
0
votes
1answer
31 views
Is the correct spelling “fulfil” or “fulfill”?
Which of the spelling is correct? “fulfil” or “fulfill”? I can find both spellings on the web, although “fulfil” is more common.
0
votes
0answers
9 views
“inflight” vs. “in-flight”
From Wikipedia
Dragon 2 In-Flight Abort Test (officially known as SpaceX In-Flight Abort Test and Crew Dragon Launch Escape Demonstration) was a test of the Crew Dragon abort system. The test was ...
10
votes
6answers
4k views
Why is there one P in “hoping” and two P's in “hopping”?
Hoping is the present participle of hope. hopping is the present participle of hop. Hoping has only one p while hopping has two. What difference does it make? Why is hoping not hopping?
Edit: I ...
15
votes
1answer
2k views
“the US.” or “the US”
When I said
"in my field, people earn triple in the US. for the same work in China."
a native speaker told me I should have got rid of that ".", is it a more modern style to refer to America?
0
votes
1answer
26 views
Is there any rule that governs whether we will use hyphen or concatenate two words like homemade?
I mean is there any rule to avoid spelling mistakes in these cases?
Why we write homemade but we cannot write readymade, and we write ready-made instead?
Also why shut down and hand over are verbs ...
0
votes
2answers
74 views
How To Spell Dates Written In Cardinal Numbers In American And British English
How do you spell the following date:
December 6 (AmE)
6 December (BrE)
Do you spell this date as 'December six' or 'December the sixth' in American English?
And in British English, do you spell it ...
0
votes
0answers
19 views
What is the difference between Enquiry and Inquiry
I was searching for the meaning of Analysis other day. I got some synonyms of Analysisin Google. Among them, enquiry and inquiry are a little bit confusing. When I searched on Google for enquiry I ...
0
votes
1answer
43 views
how to change spelling to make a silent e sound
My name is June and I am Basque (North of Spain). My name is pronounced almost like in English except for that the final e is not silent.
How do a write my name phonetics to show people how to ...
-2
votes
1answer
58 views
How should I spell websites' names?
For example,
News.Com published an article about demonstrations in Peru.
Should I capitalize 'com' as I did?
0
votes
1answer
211 views
Plural of “computer bus”
I often see the word "bus" (in the sense of interconnect layer of a computer system) to be written in plural as either "buses" or "busses". Which one is the correct form?
Wikipedia uses both on the ...
1
vote
2answers
35 views
e-commerce vs ecommerce
When using words like: ecommerce, ebanking, etc. What is the right way to write them? with dash like: e-commerce, e-banking? or as a one word: ecommerce, ebanking, etc.?
I do not want to use the long ...
0
votes
1answer
56 views
AmE vowel pronunciation dilemma
I can't figure out how to spell vowels in AmE. I generally prefer to pronounce "o" letter as "ɑ" as well as sometimes "ə". But it is done intuitively irrespective of any rule. I think there must be an ...
3
votes
1answer
64 views
A (imaginary) point or An (imaginary) point
A or An is usually decided by whether you pronounce the beginning of the following word as a consonant or not. Does a word in parentheses count as ' following'?
A (imaginary) point or An (imaginary) ...
1
vote
1answer
49 views
Is “et al.” one or two words?
I use et al. to refer to a paper with more than two authors. However, the word et got separated by a line (due to line end) and the word al. cam in the beginning of a new line.
... Authorname [end ...
0
votes
1answer
255 views
Is 'families' the correct spelling?
We will find something to suit your families needs today!
I do not know whether it should be "families", "families'" or "family's"
3
votes
1answer
599 views
correct spelling of “carruffel” (fuzz, hustle, all that jazz)
I faintly remember learning a word that means an arbitrary hubbub of things, all the to do, a minor inconvenience, etc., I'm not really sure. I thought it was ca. "carruffel", but that does not exist....
1
vote
1answer
69 views
Why is the letter “e” removed when changing some word's verb form to its noun form?
I came across a word which was encumber.
Like this verb there are many words whose noun forms don't include e in that place (before r in that word). Is there any reason behind it or is it just an ...
1
vote
1answer
24 views
Gray or grey? I'm really not sure [closed]
Pretty self-explanatory (I know this is a common question). I'm not sure. Can someone help me out?
2
votes
3answers
3k views
Which is the correct version “who's side” or “whose's side”?
Which one is correct in this case?
I need to hear both sides of the story to know who's side I'm on.
I need to hear both sides of the story to know whose side I'm on.
I have seen both ...
0
votes
3answers
87 views
What are some spelling rules for deciding if a verb is regular?
Definition of regular conjugateable verb is that it is not an irregular verb but is there some spelling rules to decide that verb is regular for students until they memorise all the irregular verbs?...
2
votes
1answer
86 views
The state of being read-only: readonlyness / readonliness
This word, spelled readonlyness, is used in the code of a project I'm working on. Readonliness seems to be a more logical spelling, as in ready - readily, beauty - beautiful, lonely - loneliness, etc. ...
6
votes
2answers
713 views
What's the correct spelling of 'shmare'?
I've heard this expression several times in TV shows, but I couldn't find it anywhere. Is it like a small "piece" of some spread? Can I say for example:
"Shmare me some Nutella"?
Or
Can I have ...
0
votes
1answer
162 views
Low-down vs lowdown as noun vs adjective
In an online CPE mock test I was given this question:
The princess's nanny's autobiography really gives the ____ on the life among the royals.
The correct answer was "low-down" which I did choose.
...
0
votes
2answers
3k views
What is the past tense of learn? [duplicate]
What is the past tense of learn? Is it learned or learnt?
I've seen people use "learnt" in articles I've read on the internet and I didn't or haven't seen crazy words like this when I was in jr high ...
0
votes
1answer
55 views
debitum - dette - debt
I would like to know if there is an explanation for presence of "b" in the word "debt" in the contemporary English. Google says that in Middle English this word was written as "dette". Why then "b" ...
2
votes
3answers
518 views
Why fiancé? Why “É”?
You usually use "fiancé" with "é" and not "e" as "fiance". Why?
I know "É" is a letter of the Latin alphabet, and the word "fiancé" refers to mid 19th century: from French, past participle of ...
2
votes
1answer
106 views
rule of adding suffix -ing [duplicate]
Today I went through a link in Oxford stating
https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/spelling/verb-tenses-adding-ed-and-ing
If the verb has only one syllable and ends with a single vowel plus a ...
16
votes
6answers
6k views
Spelling/pronunciation of “gross” different from “moss”,“floss”, “loss”, “toss” etc
I am puzzled by the spelling of "gross". I always heard it pronounced as a diphthong, and my dictionaries confirm this. Now my English teachers always taught me that while a repeated consonant in ...
1
vote
1answer
556 views
“Swim lane” or “swimlane”?
Most books use the term "swim lane", but some articles use the term "swimlane" (for example, https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Add-swimlanes-to-a-flowchart-D794B112-8AA3-4360-8F12-E38BC62AD558)....
0
votes
1answer
494 views
The spelling rule of -ment
It seems to add -ment suffix does not generally change the spelling of the base word: "mange" -> "management".
However, I've just noticed that this is not the case for "argue"->"argument". I wonder ...
1
vote
1answer
124 views
Submission of an article from the XXX Medical 'Center' to a journal that requires British spelling
I am editing a scientific paper that specifies British spelling. But the name of the author's research institute is The XXX Center for Medical Research.
Should I change this to Centre?
0
votes
1answer
100 views
The placement of an intensifier put between the syllables of a three- or more syllable word for emphasis
Playing an online lexicogrammar game, I met the word "unbelievable" written with a swear word "f_cking" inserted between the first and second syllables:
"un-f_cking-believable".
I understand that ...
2
votes
4answers
653 views
Since English is not spelled as pronounced, who decides on how to write it when a new word has been created?
I have been thinking about it for some time and really wonder.
It is the spelling in the English language. Since English is not spelled as pronounced or vice versa(not pronounced as spelled), I ...
0
votes
1answer
443 views
Why “annoying” uses double N but “anointed” uses single N?
I kept mixing and confusing these two usage of N. Sometimes I spell "anoying", sometimes I spell "annointed". This is probably a silly question, and the answer is probably as simple as "that's the way ...
1
vote
1answer
64 views
How to better translate “et voilá” from french?
In English, there is an expression that sound's like Ta-Da or Ta-Taan or Ta-Daaan
It's is the same meaning as the French expression as et-voilá?
If yes how do you correctly spell it?
If not what ...
1
vote
1answer
3k views
Should names of types of wood species be capitalized?
Should the names of species of wood be capitalized when used within a sentence?
Examples:
Bocote
Cocobolo
Which is correct:
The pool cue's forearm was made from Cocobolo wood.
...or,
The ...
4
votes
1answer
1k views
Verb to Adjective “inviteable” or “invitable”?
I really wonder what's the right way to make a verb to adjective?
"inviteable" or "invitable"?
"closeable" or "closable"?
Are there rules about these or it's just my decision which one to use?
3
votes
2answers
144 views
How to cure bad spelling? [closed]
A friend who is a lawyer and reads a lot spells badly and it's affecting her practice. Spellcheckers are ok but they don't work in all cases, for instance when there are two words that sound the same ...
1
vote
2answers
661 views
What is the difference between grey and gray? [duplicate]
What is the difference between grey and gray? I've seen both used and I'm wondering which I should use when talking about the color. Why are there two spelling's for the same word and is there a ...
1
vote
2answers
2k views
In US English, which is the appropriate spelling: leveled a look or levelled a look?
Could you please tell me which spelling conforms to US English?
Jane levelled/leveled a look at her mom, making it clear she wasn't in a mood to listen.
The Dictionary lists both as acceptable, so ...
0
votes
3answers
657 views
When does the letter “e” get to have a long sound before a consonant?
When does the letter 'e' have a long sound before a consonant? For example:
senior
venal
menial
-melia
penal
Venus
Pelias
And in the case of Pelias, why can 'e' have both a short sound and a long ...
-1
votes
1answer
174 views
Contramot or contramote
There is a term in Russian (the noun контрамот) made up of Latin соntra (against) and motio (motion). Means something like "moving in the opposite direction". How would it be spelled in English - ...
1
vote
1answer
283 views
Why it's surveys not surveies?
Sometimes I need to change y to ies but for survey, it's not. So far as I know there are some other cases too.
Is there any "formula" I can follow for the plural form of words with -y?
