13 Common Spelling Mistakes - And How To Avoid Them

As a whole, English makes absolutely no sense. That becomes particularly evident in spelling.

Consider the fictitious word "ghoti," an often cited example of English's confusing sounds. "Ghoti" technically spells "fish." Use the "gh" sound in "tough"; the "o" sound from "women"; and the "ti" sound from "nation."

While English spelling includes many exceptions, we compiled a basic guide, based on the Oxford Online Dictionary's American component, to help you avoid the most common mistakes.

1. Using "ei" vs. "ie"

Almost everyone knows the rhyme: "i" before "e" except after "c."

This rule has some value, but only if you remember all the exceptions.

First of all, the "c" rule only holds for "e/i" combinations that sound like "ee," as in "ceiling." When the "e/i" combination after "c" makes a different sound, the "i" usually goes first, as in "science" or "efficient."

Second, many times the "e" goes before "i," such as when the vowel combination sounds like "ay," as in "feign" or "vein." Many words don't fit the rules at all, such as "their" and "weird."

In short, "i" goes before "e" except when they come after "c" and sound like "ee" or when they sound like "ay" - with many exceptions.

2. Spelling words with "q"

The letter "u" will always follow the letter "q." (Exceptions to this rule exist but often as Anglicized versions of foreign words - such as the favorite Scrabble word "qi.")

3. Using "-ible" vs. "-able"

Usually, a word that takes the suffix "-able" can stand alone as a word itself, like "understandable." The same still goes for dropped "e's" and double consonants, like "advisable" (stem: advise) and "stoppable" (stem: stop).

Words with "-ible" almost never function as words on their own, like "audible." Also, words with a hard "c" (pronounced like "k") and a hard "g" (as in "gig") usually take "-ible."

When in doubt, choose "able." The Oxford Online Dictionary lists more than 1,000 adjectives that take "-able" compared to only 180 with "-ible."

If you can recognize whether a word has a Latin root, it's helpful to know that "-ible" usually accompanies words from Latin, like the word audible.

4. Pluralizing

Let's start with the most basic rule: Just add "s" to the ends of words to pluralize them.

Now, the exceptions:

First, when a word ends in "ch," "sh," "s," "x," "z," just add "-es." But if "ch" makes a hard "k" sound, just add an "s."

Second, when a word ends in "f" or "fe," change the "f" or "fe" to "ves." If the word ends in a vowel and then an "f," however, like "chief," just add "s."

Lastly, if the word ends in a consonant and a "y," likes "spy," remove the "y" and add "-ies." So "spy" becomes "spies."

5. Using "-ful" vs. "-fully"

Don't use "-full" at the end of an adjective. Words like "beautiful," "careful," and "spiteful" only require one "l." "Fully," however often ends adverbs, like "beautifully."

6. Adding "-ed" and "-ing" to verbs

To create the present participle and past tense of a verb, you need to add "-ing" or "-ed," respectively, to its infinitive, like "to dream." (Present participle refers to an action happening in that moment, like "I am running.")

If the verb ends in an unpronounced "e," like "bake" or "smile," drop the "e" and add the "-ed" or "-ing" (i.e. baked, baking). In some rare cases, you'll keep the final "e" to differentiate between words. For example, "singeing" (to burn) would look like "singing" if you dropped the "e." For that reason, "sing" becomes "sang" in the past tense, so it doesn't look like singed (burned).

If the verb only has one syllable, or ends with a stressed syllable, containing one vowel and a consonant, like "stop" and "refer," then you need to double the final consonant before adding "-ed" and "-ing." For example, "stop" becomes "stopping" and "stopped" while "refer" changes to "referred" and "referring."

If the verb ends in a "c," like "traffic" or "panic," add a "k" before adding the ending. "Traffic" becomes "trafficked."

7. Using "-ance" vs. "-ence" (also "-ancy" vs. "-ency" and "-ant" vs. "-ent")

Added onto the end of a word, these suffixes form nouns from verbs or adjectives.

If the verb ends in a "y," "ure," or "ear," you'll add "-ance." For example, "ally," "reassure," and "clear" become "alliance," "reassurance," and " clearance." If the verb ends in "ate," like "tolerate," you'll also likely add "-ance," though not always.

But if the verb contains "ere" at the end, like "revere" and "adhere," you'll need "-ence," as in "reverence" and "adherence."

The endings "-ancy" and "-ency" work the same way. For example, since "vacate" ends in "-ate," the noun is "vacancy."

Now, to turn the noun version into an adjective, add "-ant" or -"ent." The same rules apply, only in the reverse order. If a noun ends in "-ancy," you'll usually add "-ant." If a noun ends in "-ency," it normally takes "ence."

8. Using "-acy" vs. "-asy"

Certain nouns ends in "-acy" or "-asy." But only four in English end in "-asy": apostasy, fantasy, ecstasy, and idiosyncrasy.

9. Using "-ary," "-ory," and "-ery"

If the part of the word before the ending can't stand alone as a complete word, you'll usually add "-ary," as in "library."

Many adjectives or nouns that take "-ory" relate to words with "or" already included. For example, "contributor" becomes "contributory." They also often stem from a noun that ends in "ion." Consider that "introduction" becomes "introductory."

Words that take "-ery," often relate to nouns with "er" already included. For example, "brewer," "bluster," and "shiver." Also, if the part of the word before the ending is a recognizable word, you'll usually add "ery."

10. Using -efy vs. -ify

Certain verbs end in "-efy" or "-ify." But only four common ones end with "-efy": liquefy, putrefy, stupefy, and rarefy.

11. Using -tion, -cion, and -sion

Pronunciation comes into play here. If you pronounce the end of the word "zun," like "confusion," you'll use -sion. The suffix -sion will also usually follow a final "-l," "-n," or "-r" regardless of pronunciation. (Keep in mind the verb forms of words like "exertion" and "invention" actually end in "t," as in "exert" and "invent").

If you pronounce the end of the word "shun, " like "station," you'll usually use "-tion." Also, "-tion" will usually follow any letter other than "-l," "-n," or "-r."

12. Using "fore-" vs. "for-"

This difference doesn't actually apply to spelling rules. The prefix "fore-" means "before" or "in front of," while "for" generally conveys banning or neglect.

For example, "forefront" means "before the front." And "forbid" means "refuse to allow."

13. Forming adverbs

Adverbs usually stem from adjectives and describe how or when an event occurred.

Using the basic rule, you just add "-ly" to the end of an adjective.

But if the adjective contains two syllables and ends in "y," like happy, you need to replace the final "y" with "-ily." For example, "happy" becomes "happily."

If the adjective ends with a consonant followed by an "e," like terrible, drop the "e" and add "ly" - as in "terribly."

People often change adjectives that already end in "ly," such as "friendly" or "lively," into adverbs, like "friendlily." But adjectives that end in "ly" can't form adverbs. You'll need to write, "in a friendly way" instead.