240 Common Spelling Mistakes in English

English spelling can be tricky, even for English speakers! That’s because English is not 100% phonetic and also because there are so many exceptions. Study the 240 most commonly misspelled words below. Then, try the free spelling test at the end to check how well you’re doing.
Jump to a letter: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

A

• absence
• acceptable
• accessible
• accommodation
• accomplish
• achievement
• acquire
• address
• advertisement
• advice – (noun)
• advise – (verb)
• amateur
• apartment
• appearance
• argument
• athletic
• attendance

B

• basically
• beginning
• belief – indicating the noun
• believe – indicating the verb
• beneficial
• business

C

• calendar
• campaign
• category
• cemetery
• challenge
• characteristic
• cigarette
• clothes
• column
• committee
• commitment
• completely
• condemn
• conscience
• conscientious
• conscious
• controversy
• convenient
• correspondence
• criticism

D

• deceive
• definitely
• definition
• department
• describe
• despair
• desperate
• development
• difference
• difficult
• disappointed
• discipline
• disease

E

• easily
• effect
• eighth
• either
• embarrass
• encouragement
• enemy
• entirely
• environment
• especially
• exaggerate
• excellent
• existence
• experience
• experiment

F

• familiar
• February
• finally
• financial
• foreign
• foreigner
• formerly
• forty
• fourth

G

• general
• generally
• genius
• government
• grammar
• grateful
• guarantee
• guidance

H

• happily
• height
• heroes
• humorous
• hypocrite

I

• ideally
• imaginary
• immediate
• incredible
• independent
• influential
• insurance
• intelligent
• interference
• interrupt
• introduce
• island
• its – for possession
• it’s – for “it is” or “it has”

J

• jealous
• jealousy

K

• kneel
• knowledge

L

• later
• legitimate
• length
• library
• lightning
• likely
• loneliness
• lose (verb)
• loose (adjective)
• lovely
• luxurious

M

• maintain
• maintenance
• manageable
• management
• manufacture
• marriage
• married
• millionaire
• misspell
• mischievous
• money
• mortgage
• muscle
• mysterious

N

• naturally
• necessary
• neighbor / neighbour
• ninety
• noticeable
• nowadays

O

• obedient
• obstacle
• occasional
• occurred
• official
• opinion
• opportunity
• opposition
• ordinary
• originally

P

• particular
• peculiar
• perceive
• performance
• permanent
• personal
• personnel
• physical
• physician
• piece
• pleasant
• possession
• possible
• possibility
• potatoes
• practically
• prefer
• privilege
• professor
• professional
• pronounce / pronunciation
• psychology
• psychological

Q

• quantity
• quality
• questionnaire
• queue
• quizzes

R

• realistic
• realize
• really
• receipt
• receive
• recognize
• recommend
• religion
• religious
• remember
• representative
• restaurant
• rhythm
• ridiculous
• roommate

S

• sacrifice
• safety
• scared
• scenery
• schedule
• secretary
• sentence
• separate
• similar
• sincerely
• strength
• surprise
• suspicious
• success
• successful

T

• technical
• technique
• temperature
• temporary
• their (possessed by them)
• there (not here)
• they’re (contraction of “they are”)
• themselves – not themself

U

• undoubtedly
• unforgettable
• unique
• until

V

• valuable
• village
• violence
• violent
• vision
• volume

W

• weather – indicating climate – The weather is nice today.
• Wednesday
• weird
• whether – (indicating if)
• which
• woman – (singular)
• women – (plural)
• worthwhile
• width
• writing

X Y Z

• yacht
• young