spell check

Defense vs Defence

Defence and defense are different spellings of the same word; yet belong to different forms of the English language. Defense is used in American English, and defence is used in British English, which spans Australian and Canadian English. It is important to maintain spelling consistency within a piece of writing. If you choose to use American English as your reference then you [...]

Read the full post →

Online Spelling Test

You’re never too old for a spelling test, and whether native English speaker or newbie it is time to test your skills the old fashioned way! There re 15 questions in this test, all taken from common mistakes we see in everyday writing. Learning this 15 useful spellings will enhance your writing ability and help [...]

Read the full post →

Peer vs Pier

This is another spelling mistake I have seen cropping up on websites and forums of late. Again, as we discussed last week, it is easy to incorrectly use words that sound the same but are spelt differently. Peer and pier, or indeed peers and piers, mean entirely different things. According to Merriam Webster the word [...]

Read the full post →

How To Teach Your Child To Spell

The best way to engage children is in a fun, interactive way. When it comes to spelling this means using pictures and stories to engage the imagination. For young children who are new to the alphabet, the old “A for apple  Z is for zebra” approach is perfect. By working you way through the alphabet [...]

Read the full post →

Why MS Word Spell Check Isn’t Bulletproof

“But I used spell check, it must be correct”! Oh, if I had a penny for every time I have heard someone say this. Spell checkers aren’t foolproof and here’s why. They are designed to pick up sequences of letters that don’t form a word; for example, if you type in “bdgdget” the spell checker [...]

Read the full post →

Spelling Double Letter Words

I was sent an email recently with the word dumbbell spelt “dumbbell,” which made me think I should produce a list on the site for all those difficult words that leave people confused as to whether it should be a single or double letter. The list started to grow and grow, to the point where [...]

Read the full post →

← Previous Entries

spell checker