Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Of course, not everyone spells these words wrong – but lots of people do! Let’s take a look
at a few words that are always putting our spelling to the test. From sneaky silent letters to
devious double letters, English sure doesn’t make spelling easy.
1. weird (wierd)
Breaking everyone’s favourite spelling rule – ‘i’ before ‘e’ except after ‘c’ – the
word weird is, well, weird.
3. handkerchief (hankerchief)
The lurking ‘d’ in handkerchief can be remembered by thinking about the fact that these
squares of nose-blowing cloth fit in one’s hand. Don’t get confused by the shortened hanky!
(Nor should you try adding a ‘d’ in there: handky is far from correct.)
4. indict (indite)
The silence ‘c’ in indict (and related words indictment, indictable, etc.) baffles lots of
people, both in its spelling and its pronunciation.
5. cemetery (cemetary)
Though many are tempted, there is no ‘a’ in cemetery. You might contrast the word
with graveyard, which has two ‘a’s.
8. playwright (playwrite)
Even though playwrights do write, the ‘wright’ in this word actually refers to a builder, as
in similar words like shipwright. You can remember this by thinking of a playwright as
someone who ‘builds’ a theatre experience.