English Grammar Demystified - A Self Teaching Guide

(^298) Most Commonly Misspelled Words
gauge: Learn to gauge the positions of the a and u in this word; they are in
alphabetical order.
grateful: Spelling grateful as greatful grates on the eyes. Spelling it grateful is
great.
guarantee: I guarantee you that this word does not end like warranty and
warranty does not end like guarantee.
handkerchief: Remember that handkerchiefs go in your hand and not on your
head, and you won’t forget the silent d. The i-before-e rule works in this word.
harass: Don’t let the single r in this word harass you—only double the s.
height: English reaches the height (not heighth!) of absurdity when it spells
height and width so differently—and ignores the i-before-e rule.
hierarchy: The i-before-erule works in this word, just as it does in hieroglyph.
humorous: Humor us by spelling this word humorous: don’t forget the o and the
u, and no one will say, “Forget you!”
hypocrisy: It isn’t just hype to say this word has nothing to do with hippos: it’s
hip to spell it hypocrisy.
ignorance: Don’t let ignorance becloud the fact that this word ends with -ance,
not -ence.
imitate: Be sure not to imitate those who write this word with two a’s r a t h e r
than two i’s.
immediate: This word contains two m’s in immediate proximity of each other—
side by side.
incredible: It is simply incredible that no rule tells us when to use -ible and
when to use -able. Just remember: incredible.
independent: There is no independent way to spell this word: it ends with -ent
not -ant.
indispensable: The a in the suffi x -able is indispensable if you want to spell this
word correctly.
inoculate: You should inoculate yourself against the temptation to double any
letter in this word.
intelligence: Let’s use our intelligence to remember the double l in this word and
the ending -ence.
its/it’s: Sometimes it’s hard to remember that it’s is a contraction of it is and its
means “belonging to it,” as in, “It’s too bad that its leg is broken.”
jewelry: Jewelry is made by a jeweler but the ending y is a thief that pilfers the e
from er.
just deserts: We would not get our just deserts if we ate just desserts for our
meals. Deserts with one s means “that which is deserved,” as is dessert when
we fi nish our vegetables.