COMMONSPELLINGMISTAKESIN

IELTS
IELTSLISTENING,IELTSWRITING,VOCABULARYJULY25,2012IELTSACADEMIC8COMMENTS

With25%ofIELTSWritingscoresdeterminedbyvocabulary,spellingisclearlyareal
concernforIELTScandidates.Whileafewspellingerrorswillbeoverlooked,toomany
willbringdownthescoreforLexicalResource.Spellingmistakescanalsoseriously
affectIELTSListeningscores.

AsitsnotpossibletomemorisethespellingofeveryEnglishword,itmakesmore
sensetoidentifythewordsmostlikelytobe(a)usedinIELTSand(b)misspelled.

Therearealreadymanylistsofcommonspellingerrorsonline,buthereIveselected
wordslikelytooccurintheAcademicmodulesofIELTS.Ratherthansimplylistthe
mostcommonmistakes,Iveattemptedtohighlighterrorsbytype,soyoucanpaymore
attentiontotheunderlyingrules.

Singleanddoubleconsonants
Spellingmistakesarecommonwhensingleordoubleconsonantsoccurnearbyina
word.

Asingleconsonantisfollowedbyadoubleconsonant:
Across,Process,Harass,Disappoint,Recommend,Tomorrow,Professor,Necessary
Adoubleconsonantisfollowedbyasingleconsonant:
Parallel,Apparent,Exaggerate,Occasion,Occur(butOccurred),Commit(but
Committed)
Somecommonwordswithtwopairsofconsonants:
Success,Possess,Access,Assess,Address,Accommodation,Embarrass,
Millennium

Weakvowelsounds
Somewordsaredifficulttospellbecausetheycontaintheschwaor[],aweakvowel
sound.Itisalmostimpossibletoknowhowtospellsuchwordsfromtheirsoundalone.
Examplesofwordscontainingmorethanoneschwainclude:
Separate(adj.),Definite,Desperate,Temperature,Literature,General,Relevant,
Category
Otherproblematicschwawordsinclude:
Describe,Decline,DespitebutDispute,Discrete,Display
Capable,Achievable,UnderstandablebutPossible,Visible,Accessible
Performance,Attendance,IgnorancebutIndependence,Sentence,Existence
Sometimestheschwasoundconcealsabarelypronounced[r]:
Opportunity,Pursue,Persuade,Surprise
Changesofspellingwhenwordschangeform
Aconsonantcanchangewhenanounbecomesanadjective:
Benefit>BeneficialInfluence>InfluentialCircumstance>Circumstantial
Avowelcanchangeorbelostwhenaverbbecomesanoun:
Maintain>MaintenancePronounce>Pronunciation,Argue>Argument
Avowelmaydoublewhenanounbecomesaverb:
Success>SucceedExcess>ExceedProcess>Proceed
Afinalconsonantisoftendoubledwhenaverbchangesform:
Occur>OccurredRefer>ReferredBegin>Beginning

Silentlettersinconsonantclusters
[nm]inEnvironment,Government
[nm]inColumn,Autumn
[sc]inScience,Conscious,Discipline,Fascinate,Ascend,Descend
[xc]inExcite,Exceed,Exception,Excellent,Excited
[dg]inKnowledge,Acknowledge(butjust[g]inPrivilege,Oblige)
[th]clustersinordinals:Eighth,Twelfth,Hundredth

PairsoffrequentlyconfusedspellingsinIELTS
TillUntil(not*untill)
LoseLoose(oneisaverbtheotherisanadjective)
AffectEffect(oneisacommonverbtheotherisitsnounform)
ForthFourth(onemeansforward'theothermeansnumberfour)
FourthbutForty(not*fourty)
HighbutHeight(not*hight)
GreatbutGrateful(not*greatful)
PrecedeProceed(onemeansgobefore'theothermeansgoahead)
PrinciplePrincipal(onemeanstruth'theothermeansmain)
SiteSight(oneisaplacetheotherissomethingtosee,asinsightseeingnot
*siteseeing)
CopywriterCopyright(onewritesadvertisingtheothermeansintellectualproperty)

OtherdifficultEnglishwordstospell
Finally,10Englishwordsofforeignoriginthatevennativespeakershavedifficulty
spelling:Amateur,Entrepreneur,Hierarchy,Liaison,Medieval,Miscellaneous,Que
ue,Questionnaire,Rhythm,Vacuum