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).
229
questions
0
votes
1answer
56 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&...
0
votes
1answer
55 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 ...
31
votes
2answers
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 ...
2
votes
0answers
46 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 ...
0
votes
0answers
19 views
Is it correct to write "ebook"? [duplicate]
E-book (in full electronic book) traditionally has been written with a hyphen between 'e' and 'book' as far as I know. But nowadays, I have been noticing, it is written in many sites as 'ebook' ...
0
votes
2answers
254 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 ...
2
votes
1answer
39 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 ...
-1
votes
1answer
52 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 ...
-2
votes
2answers
87 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", "...
0
votes
1answer
101 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 ...
0
votes
1answer
38 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.
6
votes
1answer
843 views
Why do we have pronunciation for the word “liquorice” as ‘liquorish’?
Is there any difference in pronunciation between the American and British speakers?
8
votes
2answers
784 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
...
2
votes
1answer
309 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 ...
12
votes
3answers
1k 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 ...
0
votes
1answer
54 views
Does web-related English (or "Web English") constitute a dialect of English? Should I write technical documentation using Web English?
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
1answer
39 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 ...
1
vote
2answers
81 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 ...
12
votes
3answers
3k 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 ...
2
votes
1answer
70 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 ...
4
votes
2answers
1k 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 &...
-1
votes
1answer
26 views
Visualize and Visualise national recognition? [duplicate]
Which spelling is recognized more as the proper spelling globally?
12
votes
2answers
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/
...
28
votes
1answer
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 ...
0
votes
1answer
66 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 ...
9
votes
3answers
3k 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, ...
0
votes
1answer
80 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?
4
votes
3answers
620 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 ...
25
votes
2answers
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 (...
-2
votes
2answers
169 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. ...
0
votes
0answers
60 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" = "...
31
votes
1answer
9k 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 ...
40
votes
3answers
17k 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 ...
0
votes
1answer
573 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 ...
2
votes
1answer
7k 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 ...
0
votes
1answer
275 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.
3
votes
3answers
342 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
88 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
67 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
381 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
37 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
149 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
37 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
91 views
Is the correct spelling “fulfil” or “fulfill”? [closed]
Which of the spelling is correct? “fulfil” or “fulfill”? I can find both spellings on the web, although “fulfil” is more common.
11
votes
6answers
5k 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 ...
16
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
28 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
266 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
1answer
48 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
100 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?