200+ Commonly Misspelled Words (Plus, How to Remember Them)

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English language teacher Kiera Ayres explains why some words are so hard to spell

Co-authored by Kiera Ayres and Bailey Cho

Last Updated: December 17, 2025 Fact Checked

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• Top 50 Misspelled Words
|
• More Misspelled Words
|
• Commonly Confused Words
|
• Remembering Tricky Words
|
• Video

|Show more |Show less

It’s totally normal to misspell English words due to silent letters, homonyms, and confusing spelling patterns. Luckily, we’re providing the ultimate list of commonly misspelled words so you (or your child) can practice spelling them correctly. We’ll also list words that are frequently confused in sentences, plus provide tips from English language teachers and a parenting expert for remembering tricky words.

Top Misspelled English Words

English language teacher Kiera Ayres says that there are a few reasons that some words can be hard to spell:

• They go against the rules: Like “conscience,” which breaks the rule “i before e except after c.”
• They can be commonly confused with similar words: Like “college” and “colleague.”
• They look different than they sound: Like “psychology,” “business,” and “restaurant.”

Steps

Section 1 of 4:

Top 50 Misspelled Words

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1. 
   “A lot,” “basically,” and “something” are commonly misspelled words. The following words are often misspelled due to silent letters, double consonants, and confusing phonetics. Here are the top 50 misspelled English words across all grade levels:

   • Again
   • A lot
   • Always
   • And
   • Basically
   • Because
   • Broccoli
   • Christmas
   • Didn’t
   • Different
   • Don’t
   • Everybody
   • Favorite
   • Finally
   • Friend(s)
   • Halloween
   • Hear
   • House
   • It’s
   • Know
   • Off
   • Once
   • Our
   • Outside
   • People
   • Probably
   • Really
   • Said
   • Something
   • Sometimes
   • That’s
   • Their
   • Then
   • There
   • They
   • They’re
   • Through
   • To
   • Too
   • Until
   • Upon
   • Want
   • Went
   • Were
   • We’re
   • When
   • Where
   • With
   • Would
   • You’re

   Meet the wikiHow Experts

   Kiera Ayres is a test prep instructor and English teacher based in Vancouver, BC. She has over 10 years teaching English, primarily ESL, and is the founder of the test prep platform PROFessional PREParation.

   Ronnie Ramos is an English language teacher with over 15 years of teaching experience. She also shares lessons on her YouTube channel @engvidRonnie, which has over 4.8 million subscribers.

   Sylvia Rath is a parenting specialist and the Director of the Little Village Nursery School in Los Angeles, CA. She has over 30 years of experience teaching parents respectful communication and positive discipline methods.
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Section 2 of 4:

More Commonly Misspelled Words

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1. 
   “Absence,” “believe,” and “cemetery” are also commonly misspelled. English is full of spelling inconsistencies due to homonyms, double consonants, and borrowed words from different languages. Ayres agrees, adding that the most commonly misspelled words are the ones that go against the rules, can be confused with similar words, or look different than they sound. Here are some of the words that are frequently misspelled for this reason:

   • Absence
   • Accommodate
   • Achieve
   • Acquire
   • Address
   • Advice
   • Almost
   • Apparent
   • Arctic
   • Argument
   • Atheist
   • Athlete
   • Awful
   • Becoming
   • Beginning
   • Believe
   • Business
     • Ayres says this one is hard to spell because it looks different than it sounds.
   • Calendar
   • Category
   • Ceiling
   • Cemetery
   • Changeable
   • Chief
   • Colleague
     • This is commonly confused with the word “college,” says Ayres.
   • Collectible
   • Column
   • Coming
   • Committed
   • Conscience
     • Ayres points out that this one breaks the “i before e except after c” rule, making it especially tricky to remember.
   • Conscious
   • Consensus
   • Coolly
   • Deceive
   • Definite(ly)
   • Desperate
   • Difference
   • Dilemma
   • Disappoint
   • Disastrous
   • Discipline
   • Embarrass(ment)
   • Equipment
   • Exceed
   • Exercise
   • Exhilarate
   • Existence
   • Experience
   • Fascinating
   • Fiery
   • Fluorescent
   • Foreign
   • Forward
   • Friend
   • Gauge
   • Government
   • Grateful
   • Guarantee
   • Guidance
   • Harass
   • Height
   • Hierarchy
   • Humorous
   • Ignorance
   • Immediate(ly)
   • Independent
   • Indispensable
   • Inoculate
   • Intelligence
   • Jealous
   • Jewelry
   • Judgment
   • Knowledge
   • Leisure
   • Liaison
   • Library
   • License
   • Maintenance
   • Mathematics
   • Medieval
   • Memento
   • Millennium
   • Miniature
   • Miniscule
   • Mischievous
   • Misspell
   • Mysterious
   • Necessary
   • Neighbor
   • Noticeable
   • Nuclear
   • Occasion(ally)
   • Occurrence
   • Omission
   • Original
   • Pastime
   • Perceive
   • Perseverance
   • Personal(ly)
   • Personnel
   • Piece
   • Plagiarism
   • Plagiarize
   • Playwright
   • Possess(ion)
   • Precede
   • Prejudice
   • Presence
   • Privilege
   • Professor
   • Promise
   • Pronunciation
   • Proof
   • Psychology
     • This is another one that is spelled differently than it sounds, says Ayres.
   • Publicly
   • Questionnaire
   • Quiet
   • Quit
   • Quite
   • Really
   • Recommend
   • Reference
   • Referred
   • Relevant
   • Religious
   • Repetition
   • Restaurant
     • Ayres also includes this one in the list of words that are hard to spell because it doesn’t look like it sounds.
   • Rhyme
   • Rhythm
   • Scissors
   • Secretary
   • Separate
   • Sergeant
   • Shining
   • Similar
   • Sincerely
   • Speech
   • Successful
   • Supersede
   • Surely
   • Surprise
   • Therefore
   • Thorough
   • Through
   • Tomorrow
   • Truly
   • Twelfth
   • Tyranny
   • Until
   • Using
   • Vacuum
   • Weird
   • Withhold
   • Writing
   • Zucchini

Section 3 of 4:

Commonly Confused Words

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1. 
   1
   Affect/effect In general, “affect” is a verb that means “to influence,” while “effect” is a noun for “the result.” Here are some example sentences to help you tell the difference:

   • “The layoff is going to affect everyone.”
   • “I loved the sparkly effect you added to the slides!”
2. 2
   It’s/its “It’s” is a contraction and can be used where a sentence would normally read “it is” or “it has.” On the other hand, “its” is a possessive pronoun, similar to “his” or “hers.” Here are some example sentences to help you tell the difference:

   • “It’s been a long time.”
   • “The cat licked its paw.”
3. 3
   Lose/loose “Lose” is a verb that means “to misplace something” or “to fail to win.” The word “loose” is an adjective that means “not tight or secure.” Here are some example sentences to help you tell the difference:

   • “I’m going to lose my mind if the kid doesn’t stop kicking my seat.”
   • “I wore a loose blouse, a pencil skirt, and kitten heels to the interview.”
4. 4
   Their/they’re/there These are homophones, or words that sound the same but have different meanings. “Their” is the possessive form of the pronoun “they,” and it’s used to show ownership. “They’re” is a contraction for “they are,” and “there” is either an adverb or a pronoun that means “in or at that place.” Here are some example sentences to help you tell the difference:

   • “Their house is beautiful.”
   • “They’re going to the concert.”
   • “Can you put the rug over there?”
5. 5
   Then/than The word “than” is used to compare two things, while the word “then” is used to show time. A helpful trick is to remember that “then” has a letter “e” like “time,” and “than” has a letter “a” like “compare.” Here are some example sentences to help you tell the difference:

   • “If it rains, then we’ll go to my house.”
   • “I like pancakes more than waffles.”
6. 6
   To/too/two “To” is a preposition with several meanings, which include “toward” and “until.” “Too” is an adverb that means “also” or “excessively,” and “two” refers to the number two. Here are some example sentences to help you tell the difference:

   • “I am going to the movies.”
   • “The cake was way too sweet.”
   • “I have two pets—one cat and one dog.”
7. 7
   Your/you’re “Your” is the possessive form of the pronoun “you,” while “you’re” is a contraction of the words “you” and “are.” Here are some example sentences to help you tell the difference:

   • “You’re (you are) the best!”
   • “I’m going to swing by your house tonight.”
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Section 4 of 4:

How to Remember Tricky Words

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1. 1
   Use mnemonics and catchy phrases. Mnemonics are memory tools that help people remember difficult information. They include acronyms, acrostics, rhymes, images, sentences, and other devices to help you recall something. Here are some common spelling mnemonics you can use:

   • Never believe a lie.
   • Emma faced a dilemma.
   • There’s a rat in separate.
   • Said: Silly Ants In Dresses.
   • Does: Dad Only Eats Sandwiches.
   • Together: She Runs To Get Her There.
   • Friend: Fran Rushed In Eating Nine Donuts.
   • Rhythm: Rhythm Helps Your Two Hips Move.
   • Because: Big Elephants Can Always Understand Small Elephants.
2. 2
   Break down words into smaller parts. For longer words that are tricky to spell, break them apart by syllable, or highlight the parts that aren’t phonetic and write them down in a different color or a distinct style. Here are some examples of how to do so:

   • Necessary (neces-sary)
   • Computer (com-pu-ter)
   • Together (to-get-her)
   • Uncomfortable (un-com-for-table)
   • Particularly (par-tic-u-lar-ly)
   • Independent (in-de-pen-dent)
   • Original (o-rig-i-nal)
3. 3
   Practice writing words to correct spelling. To get better at spelling tricky words, Ayres advises that you “make a spelling list” and learn it by heart. You can make flashcards, spell them on a dry-erase board, or use spelling apps to test yourself and make sure you’re spelling them right. Keep practicing until you spell the words correctly with confidence!

   • Create a list of words that you find tricky to spell, and read them regularly, agrees English language teacher Ronnie Ramos.
   • Pronouncing all the syllables in a word can help you spell it correctly.
   • Group similar tricky words together to help you build associations. For example, you could group words that have common patterns or are homophones.
   • If you want to practice spelling words with your child, “read rhyming books and poems, follow the words with your finger as you read, and spell words out orally or write them down for your child to copy,” says parenting specialist Sylvia Rath.
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