Introduction
Spelling and commonly confused words are a steady source of easy marks in NTRCA and BCS papers. Some questions ask you to pick the correctly spelt word, and others test homophones. This lesson gives a list of frequently misspelt words with memory tricks, spelling rules and the most important homophones.
Frequently misspelt words
| Wrong | Correct | Memory trick |
|---|---|---|
| accomodate | accommodate | double c, double m |
| acheive | achieve | i before e |
| arguement | argument | drop the e |
| beleive | believe | lie is in believe |
| definately | definitely | comes from finite |
| embarass | embarrass | double r, double s |
| enviroment | environment | n before m |
| goverment | government | n before m |
| independant | independent | ends with -ent |
| priviledge | privilege | no d |
| recieve | receive | i before e except after c |
| seperate | separate | a rat in the middle |
| wierd | weird | an exception to i before e |
| tommorow | tomorrow | one m, two r's |
| occured | occurred | double r before -ed |
| occurence | occurrence | double c, double r |
| refered | referred | double r before -ed |
| neccessary | necessary | one c, two s |
| recomend | recommend | one c, two m |
| begining | beginning | double n before -ing |
| comming | coming | drop e, single m |
| existance | existence | ends with -ence |
| maintainance | maintenance | not maintain + ance |
| pronounciation | pronunciation | no ou in the noun |
| sucessful | successful | double c, double s |
| mischievious | mischievous | three syllables |
| writting | writing | one t |
| adress | address | double d, double s |
| foriegn | foreign | an exception to i before e |
| neighbor (BrE) | neighbour | British spelling has -our |
Spelling rules
- i before e, except after c: believe, achieve, receive, ceiling. Exceptions: weird, seize, foreign, neighbour.
- Drop the silent e before a vowel suffix: make, making; hope, hoping. Keep it before a consonant suffix: hope, hopeful; care, careful.
- Double the final consonant in a short stressed syllable: begin, beginning; stop, stopped; refer, referred.
- Change y to i after a consonant: happy, happiness; try, tries. Keep y after a vowel: play, plays; enjoy, enjoyed.
- Plurals: add -es after s, x, z, ch, sh (boxes, churches). Some words ending in -f change to -ves (leaf, leaves; wife, wives). Others do not (roof, roofs; chief, chiefs).
Irregular plurals
| Singular | Plural |
|---|---|
| child | children |
| man | men |
| tooth | teeth |
| mouse | mice |
| criterion | criteria |
| phenomenon | phenomena |
| datum | data |
| analysis | analyses |
| crisis | crises |
| formula | formulae or formulas |
British and American spellings
| British | American |
|---|---|
| colour, honour, neighbour | color, honor, neighbor |
| organise, realise | organize, realize |
| centre, theatre | center, theater |
| defence, offence | defense, offense |
| travelling, cancelled | traveling, canceled |
| programme (a plan) | program |
| cheque, grey | check, gray |
Homophones (same sound, different meaning)
| Words | Meanings |
|---|---|
| their / there / they're | of them / a place / they are |
| to / too / two | toward / also, excessively / the number 2 |
| whose / who's | of whom / who is |
| its / it's | belonging to it / it is |
| whether / weather | if / climate |
| piece / peace | a part / calm |
| write / right | to put words on paper / correct or the opposite of left |
| bare / bear | naked / to carry, or the animal |
| break / brake | to smash / a stopping device |
| course / coarse | a path or subject / rough |
| fair / fare | just / the price of a journey |
| hole / whole | a gap / complete |
| meat / meet | flesh food / to come together |
| plain / plane | simple, or flat land / an aircraft |
| sight / site / cite | vision / a place / to quote |
| steal / steel | to rob / a metal |
| wait / weight | to stay / heaviness |
| weak / week | not strong / seven days |
| hear / here | to listen / in this place |
| heir / air | one who inherits / what we breathe |
Common exam traps
- Mixing up its (possessive) and it's (it is).
- Writing alot. It is always two words: a lot.
- Forgetting the double letters in accommodate, embarrass, occurrence, necessary.
- Using American and British spellings together in one text.
Memory tips
- Make a personal list of the words you misspell and revise it weekly.
- Say the word in syllables: Wed-nes-day, Feb-ru-ary.
- Use tricks: a rat in separate, one collar and two sleeves for necessary.
Solved examples
Example 1. Choose the correct spelling: (a) Priviledge (b) Privilege (c) Privelege. Answer: Privilege.
Example 2. The ____ of the ship was heavy. Options: weight, wait. Answer: weight.
Example 3. The dog wagged ____ tail. Options: its, it's. Answer: its, a possessive.
Practice problems
- Correct the spelling: goverment, existance, writting.
- Fill in: I have ____ much work to do. (to / too / two)
- Fill in: ____ book is this? (whose / who's)
Answers: 1. government, existence, writing. 2. too. 3. whose.
Practice MCQs with solutions
Note: these are practice questions written in the style of past NTRCA/BCS preliminary papers. Please cross-check with the official question bank.
Question 1. Choose the correct spelling.
- (a) Accomodate
- (b) Accommodate
- (c) Acommodate
- (d) Accommodete
Correct answer: (b) Accommodate
Explanation: Accommodate has double c and double m.
Question 2. Choose the correct spelling.
- (a) Recieve
- (b) Receive
- (c) Receeve
- (d) Reciev
Correct answer: (b) Receive
Explanation: I before e, except after c: receive.
Question 3. Choose the correct spelling.
- (a) Seperate
- (b) Separate
- (c) Separete
- (d) Seperete
Correct answer: (b) Separate
Explanation: Remember separate has a rat in the middle.
Question 4. Choose the correct spelling.
- (a) Definately
- (b) Definitely
- (c) Definetly
- (d) Defenitely
Correct answer: (b) Definitely
Explanation: Definitely comes from finite.
Question 5. Choose the correct spelling.
- (a) Occurence
- (b) Occurrence
- (c) Ocurrence
- (d) Occurance
Correct answer: (b) Occurrence
Explanation: Occurrence has double c and double r.
Question 6. Choose the correct spelling.
- (a) Enviroment
- (b) Environment
- (c) Envirnment
- (d) Enviornment
Correct answer: (b) Environment
Explanation: Environment has n before m: environ-ment.
Question 7. Please put the books over ____.
- (a) their
- (b) there
- (c) they're
- (d) thier
Correct answer: (b) there
Explanation: There refers to a place.
Question 8. I do not know ____ he will come.
- (a) weather
- (b) whether
- (c) wether
- (d) wheather
Correct answer: (b) whether
Explanation: Whether introduces a choice; weather refers to climate.
Key takeaways
- Learn the double-letter words: accommodate, embarrass, occurrence, necessary.
- Know the rules for i before e, silent e, doubling and y to i.
- Study homophones in sentences, not lists.
- Stay consistent with British or American spelling.