GORY SPELLING--2017

  • English/english
  • There is never a good reason to spell the word Englishwith a lowercase e when you are writing something for an English class (unless you are referring to the backspin of a ball).
  • I fed an English muffin to my English setter while asking my English teacher a question about the English language.
  • I scratched because I didn’t put enough english on the ball.
  • e.g./i.e.
  • e.g. = for example (exempli gratia)
  • i.e. = in other words (id est = that is)
  • Shakespeare wrote many wonderful comedies (e.g., The Tempest, Measure for Measure, A Midsummer Night’s Dream).
  • The two Shakespeare plays that feature Mark Antony (i.e., Julius Caesar and Antony and Cleopatra) will be performed tomorrow.
  • woman/women

WARNING: This is the spelling error that drives Mr. Bailey the most insane.

  • My mother is a beautiful woman. (Only one female person)
  • Halle Berry, Penelope Cruz and Shakira are beautiful women. (More than one female person.
  • I/I’m
  • The word I should always be capitalized, as should any contraction that starts with the pronoun I.
  • The contraction of “I am” is I’m. It is not i’m. Nor is it im.
  • Gonna/Kinda/Sorta
  • These are not formal words. They are informal versions of the following
  • Going to=Gonna
  • Kind of= Kinda
  • Sort of=Sorta
  • their/there/they’re
  • We wanted to see their new car.
  • There is an answer. We went there yesterday.
  • They’re leaving tomorrow. (They’re=They are)
  • to/too/two
  • I like to sleep. We went to Chile.
  • She is too bossy. We should go too.
  • I have two ears.
  • your/you’re/Ur
  • I like your shoes.
  • You’re a good person (You’re = You are)
  • Ur was a city in ancient Sumer, quite possibly the birthplace of Abraham.
  • affect/effect
  • NOTE: This is probably the trickiest one on this whole sheet. I will be including this in lots and lots of spelling quizzes throughout the year. Your understanding of these two words will probably have a significant effect on your grade.
  • If something affects you, then it has an effect on you.
  • The senator was trying to effect change.
  • were/we’re
  • They were annoying me.
  • We’re going to Seattle this summer.
  • it’s/its
  • It’s a nice day (It’s=It is)
  • One of its legs is too short.
  • then/than
  • We were much hungrier then. We then went bowling.
  • I would rather watch Mad Men than Two and a Half Men.
  • lose/loose
  • I hope we don’t lose the game. We were losing until the last minute.
  • My shoelace is loose.
  • should’ve/should of, could’ve/could of, would’ve/would of
  • Should of, Could of and Would of should NEVER be used. The reason that they are written so often is that they sound exactly like Should’ve, Could’ve and Would’ve.
  • He should’ve known better. (Or you could write, “He should have known better.”)
  • clothes/cloths
  • I needed some new clothes to wear to school.
  • I found some silk cloths that I am going to use to make a new dress.
  • he’s/his
  • He’s a big star. (He’s=He is)
  • Where are his parents?
  • that/who
  • Use “who” when writing about people; use “that” when writing about things that are not people.
  • The ballerinas who performed last night were amazing.
  • The costumes that the ballerinas wore were beautiful.
  • who/whom
  • “Who” is used as a subject. “Whom” is used as an object.
  • Who is going eat the sandwich?
  • Whom did you give the sandwich to?
  • You gave the sandwich to whom?
  • definitely/defiantly
  • I definitely prefer chocolate.
  • The kid defiantly screamed in class that all spelling tests were stupid.
  • beginning/begging
  • The beginning of the movie was too long.
  • My friend was begging me for a slice of pizza.
  • bury, buried, burial
  • Antigone wanted to bury her brother.
  • Antigone buried her brother.
  • Antigone wanted a proper burial for her brother.
  • whose/who
  • Whose jacket is this?
  • Who’s the governor of Alaska? (Who’s = Who is)
  • accept/except
  • I will gladly accept this trophy.
  • I like all vegetables except leeks.
  • choose/chose
  • I don’t know which college to choose.
  • Last night, I chose to watch Get Out.
  • beside/besides
  • I put my watch beside the remote control.
  • Besides fencing, I learned a lot of other skills in class.
  • cast/casted
  • There is no such word as casted.
  • The director cast the play last week. The fisherman cast his reel.
  • compliment/complement
  • I paid her a nice compliment. She complimented him on his speech.
  • Iced tea and lemonade complement each other. Guacamole is the best complement for tortilla chips.
  • principal/principle
  • The principal stopped by our room (Remember, the principal is your PAL.)
  • “Treat others as you would like to be treated” is a good principle to remember.
  • flies/fly’s
  • There were too many flies buzzing around our picnic.
  • He flies to London six times a year.
  • The fly’s wing was examined by the scientist.
  • That fly’s very annoying.
  • The word flys is always misspelled!
  • passed/past
  • I passed my driving test. (Past tense of the verb “pass”)
  • My house is three blocks past the KFC.
  • That event happened in the past.
  • led/lead
  • He led us to the new building.
  • I need more lead for my pencil.
  • a lot/alot
  • A lot = two words. Think of it like “a bunch.”
  • There is a lot of love in this room.
  • aloud/allowed
  • I had to read the story aloud.
  • We were allowed to watch TV in class. (Past tense of “allow”)
  • innocence/innocents
  • Children are losing their innocence at a much younger age
  • The twenty-nine innocents on the school bus were injured by the drunk driver.
  • conscience/conscious
  • Her conscience told her that stealing was wrong. (conscience-noun)
  • I was conscious while the doctor operated on my foot. (conscious-adjective)
  • nowadays
  • Nowadays is one word. It is NOT “now a days” “now a day” “now-a-days” “nowadayz” or anything else like that.
  • Nowadays, people who do not have any talent can become very famous.
  • playwright
  • William Shakespeare is the world’s most famous playwright.
  • imply/infer
  • “Imply” means to indirectly communicate something to someone else.
  • “Infer” means to draw a conclusion.
  • My girlfriend implied that she didn’t like her present when she asked me if I still had the receipt.
  • I inferred that my girlfriend didn’t like her present when she asked me if I still had the receipt.
  • quite/quiet
  • We were quite hungry after the hike.
  • It was not very quiet in the library.
  • through/threw
  • I threw the ball through the window.
  • weather/whether
  • The weather is nice this time of year.
  • I don’t know whether I should go to the meeting.
  • advise/advice
  • I should advise you to avoid the shrimp. (advise-verb)
  • She gave me some terrific advice.(advice-noun)
  • waist/waste
  • My sister has a very small waist.
  • That was a huge waste of time.
  • bias/biased
  • Bias is a noun. Biased is an adjective.
  • The bias in her speech was not hidden.
  • Her biased speech annoyed many people.
  • perform/preform
  • I would like to perform a magic trick for you.
  • Try not to preform your opinion before you meet him.
  • Bible/bible
  • In most hotel rooms, there is a Bible in one of the drawers.
  • The Wealth of Nations is the bible of economic theory for many conservatives.
  • God/god
  • She was still trying to decide if she believed in God.
  • Dionysus was a god who often created bizarre parties for the mortals.
  • NOTE: If you can substitute the word God with a person’s name (e.g., Steve), you should capitalize the word God. (e.g., “She believes in God.” “She believes in Steve.”)
  • conceited/conceded
  • He is so conceited, he has a picture of himself taped on the inside of his locker.
  • The senator conceded the race to his opponent after he saw the dismal poll results.
  • fewer/less
  • There are fewer students in the hallway.
  • There is less tension in the room.
  • dose/does
  • He needed a stronger dose of medicine.
  • She does nice things for her hamster.
  • apart/ a part
  • My sandwich fell apart. Apart from anchovies, I like all pizza toppings.
  • I hope to get a part in the play. Would you like to be a part of our group?
  • break/brake
  • I need to take a break.
  • I had to brake so I wouldn’t run over the armadillo.
  • Opera/Oprah
  • My favorite opera is La Bohème.
  • My brother is very sad that Oprah decided to quit her talk show.
  • insure/ensure

* Boys have to pay a lot more to insure their cars than girls.

* Learning these words will ensure that you will do well on the quizzes.

  • paid
  • Unless you are writing about a ship falling off to leeward (whatever that means), the past tense of pay is paid. (Not payed.)
  • sight/site/cite
  • My sense of sight is getting worse so I'm going to get new glasses.
  • We found a great site in the desert to shoot our movie.
  • If you don't properly cite your sources, you will get a zero for plagiarism.
  • all ready/already
  • The students were all ready to take the quiz.
  • We already covered that topic yesterday.
  • every day/everyday
  • I find the time to read every day.
  • I have my everyday socks and then I have some I only wear on special occasions.
  • title/tittle
  • The title of my favorite poem is “This Be the Verse.”
  • A tittle is the little dot above a lowercase “i” or “j.”