Unit 1 — The unheard vowel
A vowel in an unstressed syllable reduces to almost nothing in speech.
All ages
Commonly misspelled words
Eighty words that go wrong at every age, grouped not by level but by why each is hard — because the reason is the thing that has to be taught.
All ages 80 words 8 units
Take a unit
Unit 2 — Doubled, with no warning
A doubled consonant you cannot hear is a spelling you have to know.
Unit 3 — i before e, and the exceptions
The rule is real, and so are the words that break it.
Unit 4 — Borrowed spellings
Words that follow another language’s rules, not English ones.
Unit 5 — The silent letter
A letter written and not said.
Unit 6 — Endings that sound alike
Choosing between -ent and -ant, -able and -ible.
Unit 7 — Two words or one
Where the space matters as much as the letters.
Unit 8 — The ones adults miss
Every list of spelling errors ever compiled has these on it.
The words
WordSentence read after it
separate
Keep the wet clothes separate.
definitely
She was definitely there.
desperate
He was desperate to finish.
literacy
The school has a literacy hour.
temperature
Take your temperature if you feel hot.
different
Every snowflake is different.
interest
He showed no interest in the game.
general
The general idea is easy to follow.
category
Which category does a whale belong to?
business
Her family runs a small business.
Unit 2
necessary
A pencil is necessary for the test.
accommodate
The hall can accommodate two hundred.
embarrass
I did not mean to embarrass anyone.
occurrence
It was a rare occurrence.
recommend
I would recommend the earlier train.
occasion
He wore it on one occasion only.
possess
They possess a very old map.
address
Write your address on the back of the envelope.
committee
The committee meets on Thursday.
parallel
Draw two parallel lines.
Unit 3
receive
You will receive a letter next week.
believe
I believe you left it on the bus.
achieve
She worked hard to achieve it.
weird
That is a weird colour for a door.
neither
Neither answer was right.
foreign
He learned a foreign language at school.
seize
Seize the rope with both hands.
science
We do science in the lab.
ancient
They found an ancient coin.
height
Measure the height of the door.
Unit 4
restaurant
We booked a table at the restaurant.
rhythm
Clap the rhythm of the song.
bureau
The papers are in the bureau.
liaison
She is the liaison between the two teams.
manoeuvre
The manoeuvre took three attempts.
questionnaire
Everyone filled in a questionnaire.
silhouette
His silhouette showed in the window.
yacht
A yacht was moored in the bay.
queue
The queue went round the corner.
gauge
The fuel gauge was broken.
Unit 5
knowledge
Her knowledge of birds surprised us.
wednesday
Band practice is on Wednesday.
February
February is the shortest month.
government
The government announced new rules.
environment
Litter harms the environment.
column
Add the numbers in the left column.
subtle
There was a subtle difference between them.
doubt
I doubt he will come.
receipt
Keep the receipt in case it breaks.
muscle
He pulled a muscle in his leg.
Unit 6
independent
She is an independent reader now.
relevant
Keep your notes relevant to the topic.
existence
Nobody doubted its existence.
persistent
He was persistent about it.
noticeable
The change was noticeable at once.
responsible
You are responsible for the key.
available
No seats were available.
sensible
Wear sensible shoes for the walk.
apparent
It became apparent that he was lost.
consistent
Her work is consistent.
Unit 7
a lot
There is a lot of it left.
everyday
These are my everyday shoes.
maybe
Maybe we should wait.
already
They had already gone.
altogether
That is altogether too much.
nevertheless
It rained; nevertheless we went.
whereas
He walks, whereas she cycles.
meanwhile
Meanwhile, the kettle boiled.
therefore
It rained, therefore we stayed in.
furthermore
Furthermore, it was late.
Unit 8
privilege
It was a privilege to be asked.
conscience
Her conscience troubled her all evening.
maintenance
The lift is closed for maintenance.
perseverance
It took real perseverance.
grateful
We were grateful for the lift.
argument
They had a long argument about it.
judgment
I trust her judgment.
publicly
He apologised publicly.
twelfth
This is the twelfth time.
vacuum
Please vacuum the hall.
Sheets you can print
Tick what you need. The packet prints in this order, one sheet per page, with nothing else on the paper.
Three things make a word hard to spell
The first is a vowel in an unstressed syllable, which in ordinary speech reduces to almost nothing. Nobody says the a in separate, so nobody writes it; the word comes out seperate because that is what it sounds like. The second is a doubled consonant with no audible cue — accommodate and embarrass give you no signal at all about how many c, m, r or s belong there.
The third is a borrowed spelling that follows another language’s rules. Restaurant, rhythm and yacht are not irregular English; they are regular French, Greek and Dutch, sitting in an English sentence. None of the three is fixable by sounding out, which is exactly why these words need to be seen rather than heard.
Why the exact misspelling matters
Neccessary and necesary are different errors. The first is a child who knows a double is in there and has put it in the wrong place; the second is one who does not know there is a double at all. They need different corrections, and a score out of ten hides which you are looking at.
That is the argument for a mark that shows letters rather than a number. On this site the review puts what was typed against the word with the differing letters called out, so the next thing you teach is the letter that actually went wrong rather than the whole word again.
The trick that genuinely works
Say the word wrongly, on purpose, the way it is spelled. Sep-A-rate. Def-in-ITE-ly. Ac-COM-mo-date. Wed-NES-day. It is a memory hook rather than a pronunciation, and it survives long after a mnemonic sentence has been forgotten, because it attaches to the act of writing the word rather than to a separate thing you have to remember first.
The other reliable move is circulation. One word from this list dropped into every later test, all year, costs a minute a week. That is the difference between passing a word once and knowing it.
Which of these suit a child
The first two units suit upper primary onward: separate, definitely, necessary and receive are all words a ten-year-old meets in their own writing. The later units are genuinely adult vocabulary — liaison and manoeuvre are not year 5 words, and putting them in front of a child produces failure without teaching anything.
For a younger child, a grade list is the better starting point. Come back here when the pattern lists are secure and the errors that remain are these particular, stubborn, unpatterned ones.
Common questions
Why is definitely on every list of this kind?
Because the second vowel is unstressed and sounds like nothing, so people write what they hear — definately. By most counts it is the single most misspelled word in English.
Is this list suitable for children?
The first two units are. The later ones are adult vocabulary; start a younger child on a grade list instead.
Should I teach the rule or the word?
For these, the word. There is no rule that generates rhythm or yacht, and time spent looking for one is time not spent learning them.
How many should I take at once?
Eight to ten. They are hard, and a long sitting of hard words is how somebody stops turning up.