Spelling

Spelling matters. If you want to create a good impression in your writing and make sure you get your meaning across clearly, it’s important to get your spelling right.

This section contains lots of quick-reference spelling tips. For example, if you can never remember whether the plural of potato is spelled potatoes or potatos, then you can jump straight to plurals of nouns to get some straightforward advice. There’s also a handy list of common misspellings, arranged in alphabetical order of the incorrect spellings, and a guide to the differences between British and American spelling.

If you already feel confident in your spelling skills, why not try our spelling challenge?

For more ways to improve your writing see our writing help section, or for more spelling tips see the list below:

Plurals of nouns

i before e except after c

Words containing the letter q

Forming comparative and superlative adjectives

Forming adverbs

Adding -ful or -fully

-ize, -ise, or -yse?

Adding endings to words that end in -our

Adding endings to words that end in -y

Adding endings to words that end in a double ‘l’

Verb tenses: adding -ed and -ing

Using capital letters

Common misspellings

British and American spelling

What words in the English language contain two u's in a row?

Spelling rules and tips

Words ending in -able or -ible

Nouns ending in -acy and -asy

Words ending in -ance and -ence

Words ending in -ancy and -ency

Words ending in -ant and -ent

Words ending in -ary, -ory, and -ery

Words ending in -efy and -ify

Words ending in -ious and -eous

Words ending in -sion, -tion, and -cion

fore- or for-?

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