30 commonly misspelled words and how to remember each one

A small group of words causes a large share of spelling mistakes. Here are thirty of them, with the hard spot and a quick way to remember each one.

How to use this list

Do not try to learn all thirty at once. Pick the five you get wrong most. For each one, look at the hard spot, picture the word, cover it, and write it from memory. The method is explained in how to learn spelling.

Double-letter trouble

• necessary – one c, two ss. A shirt has one collar and two sleeves.
• accommodate – two cs and two ms. It is big enough to accommodate both pairs.
• embarrass – two rs and two ss.
• occasion – two cs, one s.
• tomorrow – one m, two rs.
• beginning – two ns in the middle: begin + n + ing.
• disappoint – dis + appoint, so one s and two ps.
• recommend – re + commend, so one c and two ms.
• address – two ds and two ss.
• until – only one l, unlike till.

Sneaky vowels

• separate – there is a rat in separate.
• definitely – it has finite inside it. No a.
• calendar – ends in ar, not er.
• grammar – ends in ar. No e.
• friend – a friend stays to the end.
• believe – never believe a lie.
• receive – ei after c.
• weird – breaks the i-before-e rule. Weird is weird.
• beautiful – starts with beau: b-e-a-u.
• because – b-e-c-au-s-e. The au is the hard spot.

Silent and hidden letters

• Wednesday – say it "Wed-nes-day".
• February – say it "Feb-ru-ary". The first r is easy to miss.
• knowledge – know + ledge.
• island – an island is land.
• rhythm – no ordinary vowel at all: r-h-y-t-h-m.
• government – it governs. Keep the n.
• environment – there is iron in environment.

Words that get mixed up

• their / there / they're – their shows owning, there is a place (it has here in it), they're means "they are".
• your / you're – you're means "you are". If "you are" does not fit, write your.
• lose / loose – you lose a game. A loose tooth has room for two os.

Make your own list

These thirty are common, but your own trouble words matter more. Each time you misspell a word, add it to a personal list and give it a hard spot and a trick of its own. More ideas are in how to improve spelling.

Common questions

What are the most commonly misspelled words in English?
Words such as separate, definitely, necessary, accommodate, receive, embarrass, occasion and Wednesday are misspelled very often, mostly because of double letters and vowels that are not clearly heard.

How do you remember hard spellings?
Find the one hard spot in the word and attach a small trick to it, such as "a rat in separate" or "one collar, two sleeves" for necessary. Then picture the word and write it from memory.