spelling Flashcards
(38 cards)
1
Q
A
2
Q
What is spelling?
A
Spelling is the act of forming words correctly from individual letters either through writing or saying them out correctly.
3
Q
What is a major challenge of spelling in English?
A
Most English pronunciations hardly match the way they are spelt.
4
Q
Provide examples of how the letter ‘a’ is pronounced differently in various words.
A
- fare /eə/*
- war /ɔ:/*
- hat /æ/*
- many /e/*
- lay /ei/*
- far /ɑ:/*
- human /ə/*
5
Q
What is represented by the sound /i:/ in different spellings?
A
- bee
- believe
- machine
- precede
- sea
6
Q
What are homophones?
A
Words that sound alike but are spelt differently.
7
Q
List examples of homophones.
A
- write / right
- sight / site
- meat / meet
- peace / piece
8
Q
What are some common misspelt words?
A
- privledge (privilege)
- enviroment (environment)
- mischievious (mischievous)
- Acommodation (accommodation)
9
Q
How has social media impacted spelling?
A
Users often transfer shortened forms used in social media into formal writing.
10
Q
What are some techniques to improve spelling?
A
- Learning to read extensively and intensively
- Underlining difficult words
- Using the dictionary
- Being interested in words
- Mastering correct pronunciation
- Correcting spelling errors
- Practicing spelling frequently
- Keeping a personal spelling list
- Identifying patterns in misspellings
11
Q
What are silent letters?
A
Letters that are not pronounced in certain words.
12
Q
Provide examples of words with silent ‘b’.
A
- debt
- bomb
- lamb
- comb
- subtle
13
Q
True or False: The word ‘psychology’ contains a silent letter.
A
True
14
Q
What is the plural form of ‘criterion’?
A
criteria
15
Q
What is the difference between British and American spelling for ‘honour’?
A
British: honour, American: honor
16
Q
Fill in the blank: The correct spelling is _______ (arguement).
A
argument
17
Q
What are some commonly misspelt words?
A
- believe
- environment
- separate
- necessary
- maintenance
18
Q
What is a common spelling mistake related to ‘a lot’?
A
‘alot’ is incorrect.
19
Q
Provide an example of a word with silent ‘g’.
A
- gnash
- gnat
- gnaw
20
Q
What is an example of a word with silent ‘h’?
A
- honour
- honest
- heir
21
Q
List some words that have silent ‘k’.
A
- knapsack
- knee
- knife
- know
- knock
22
Q
What are the singular and plural forms of ‘fungus’?
A
Singular: fungus, Plural: fungi
23
Q
What is the plural form of ‘datum’?
A
data
24
Q
What is the common misspelling of ‘accommodation’?
A
Acommodation
25
True or False: 'Mould' is the British spelling of 'mold'.
True
26
What is the plural form of 'chassis'?
chassis
27
Provide an example of a word with silent 'n'.
* hymn
* autumn
* solemn
28
What is the correct spelling of the word often misspelled as 'grateful'?
grateful
29
What is the British spelling of 'defense'?
defence
30
Spelling often poses a problem for most users of especially the English language because,
(i) most English pronunciations hardly match the way they are spelt. For example, the letter [a] is realised differently in the following words: fare /eə/ war /ɔ:/ hat /æ/ many /e/ lay /ei/ far /ɑ:/ human /ə/ , tally and ally are represented by /li/ and /lai) respectively among others.
(ii)A single English sound may be represented in a variety
of ways or spellings e.g. The sound /i:/ is represented
differently in bee, believe, machine, precede, sea,(iii) Similarly, many English words are written with silent letters e.g. lamb, Psychology, knife, wrote, pneumonia, mnemonic etc
(iv) Other English words may sound alike but are spelt differently. This group of words are called homophones . Examples include:
Write sight meat peace
right site meet piece
rite cite mete
(v)In the same vein , faulty pronunciation although not a major cause of misspelling is responsible for some very common spelling mistakes. Some commonly misspelt words are:
Misspelling correct spellings
privledge privilege
enviroment environment
mischievious mischievous
Acommodation accommodation
(vi) With the advent of smart phones and social media, the problem is further compounded. Users of the English language often transfer the shortened forms employed
in social media in order to maximise space into formal writings where such usages are not permitted. Examples include: u for you, ur for your, ystdy for yesterday etc.
31
Guide to Good Spelling
Although complete correctness in spelling is not easy to achieve in English, there are a variety of techniques one can employ to overcome common spelling problems and reduce the number of errors usually made. These techniques include:
Learning to read extensively and intensively.
Underlining difficult words as you read and practice such spellings again and again.
Using the dictionary rather than guessing the spelling of words as you may guess wrongly.
Being interested in words and taking time to know their spellings and pronunciations
Mastering the correct pronunciation of words as wrong pronunciation often leads to wrong spellings.
Correcting every spelling error that is brought to your attention.
Practicing spelling of words often.
Keeping a personal spelling list of words which you have misspelt and corrected.
Looking for patterns of your misspellings. Try to identify what kind of words typically give you problems. You may discover that you have a consistent difficulty with spelling plurals, words ending in [cede, -ceed or –sede] or words with double consonants e.g. Parallel, exaggerate, embarrass etc.
32
spelling mistakes can be avoided by Paying close attention to words with silent letters such as those highlighted below:
Silent ‘c’: scene, scent, science etc
Silent ‘b’: debt, bomb, lamb, comb, subtle etc
Silent ‘d’: bridge, judge, badge, handkerchief etc
Silent ‘g’: Diaphragm, foreign, reign, sing etc
silent ‘gh’: bought, fight, sought, caught, right
Silent ‘h’: exhaust, exhibit, vehicle, khaki etc
Silent ‘k’: knapsack, knee, knife, know, knock etc
Silent ‘l’: alms, balm, would, folk, half, yolk etc
viii. Silent ‘n’: hymn, autumn, solemn, condemn etc
ix. Silent ‘r’: border, cord, cargo, dirt, dark, farm, germ etc.
x. Silent ‘g’: gnash, gnat, gnaw etc
xi. Silent ‘h’: heir, honest, honour etc
xi. Silent ‘p’ psalm, pneumonia, psychology etc
xii. Silent ‘w’: wrap, wrinkle, wretched, wrath etc
33
Homophones
Homophones: These are words that have exactly the same sound but different spellings and different meanings. Examples include the following pairs:
Air heir their there
Board bored son sun
Mail male knot not
Feet feat heard herd
Lone loan groan grown
One won for four
Father farther flair flare etc
Cue queue Dam damn
Eye I Hour our
Knew new Stair stare
34
Taking note of the spelling of English words with foreign origin including their singular and plural forms:
34
Taking note of the spelling of English words with foreign origin including their singular and plural forms:
35
Differences in British and American Spelling: - American is always simpler
British American
Labour labor
Honour honor
Centre center
Behaviour behavior
Practise (verb) practice (verb)
Cancelled canceled
Aesthetics esthetics
Pretense pretence
Encyclopeadia encyclopedia
36
Differences in British and American Spelling: - American is always simpler
British Spelling American spelling
Anaemia anemia
Mould mold
Sulphur sulfur
Kilogramme kilogram
Enrolment enrollment
Fulfil fulfill
Skilful skillful
Enquire inquire
Whisky whiskey
Defence defense etc
37
ome examples of commonly misspelt words:
Correct
Argument arguement
Athletics atheletics
Accommodation accomodation
Believe beleive
Enmity enimity
Grateful greatful
Clarify clearify
Environment envroment
A lot alot
Maintenance maintainance
Grievous grievious
Occasion occassion
Pronunciation pronounciation
Peculiar perculiar
Necessary neccessary
Sandwich sandwitch
Separate seperate
