Posted on 28th October 2012

Splendid Spelling

Recently I have been marking lots of mock 11+ English exams and one of the comments I write most frequently on people’s feedback is that they need to pay more attention to their spelling. This is especially crucial in the creative writing section as there are specific marks for grammar, spelling and punctuation. However, it is always important to take good care over your spelling. With ‘spellcheck’ so available on computers it is tempting to be careless and just let Microsoft Word sort it out later, but in exams you need to be able to spell accurately on your own. To help you out here are some nifty aide memoirs for spelling from an excellent book by Judy Parkinson, handily called ‘I before E, except after C’…

I before E, except after C.
License and practise are VERBS, but licence and practice are NOUNS: ‘S is the verb and C is the noun, that’s the rule that runs the town.’
ADDRESS: Directly Delivered letters are Safe and Sound
ASSASSINATION is made up of four mini words: ASS ASS I NATION
RAVEN can help you distinguish Affect and Effect: Remember: Affect, Verb, Effect, Noun.
AUTUMN has an ‘N’ for November at the end.
COMMITTEE: Many Meetings Take Time – Everyone’s Exhausted
DEFINITELY has the word FINITE in the middle
DESSERT has ‘SS’ (sweet stuff) in it, but a DESERT only has ‘S’ (sand)
EMBARRASS – get Really Red And Smile Shyly
FULFIL has ‘full’ and ‘fill’ but only one ‘l’ in each
A MEMENTO helps you to remember MEMories
There are two teeny weeny words in MINIATURE: ‘I’ and ‘A’
MISSISSIPPI can be remembered with: Mrs M, Mrs I, Mrs SSI, Mrs SSI, Mrs PPI
POSSESSION is so sweet it has four Sugars
A PRINCIPAL can be your PAL and a PRINCIPLE is a ruLE
RHYTHM has your Two Hips Moving by the end

Below is a list of some of the most commonly misspelt words for you to go through and check you know.
Definitely

Mesmerise

Appropriate

Advice

Bicycle

Because

Biscuit

Chaos

Ceiling

Calendar

Raspberry

Opportunity

Acceptable

Accidentally

Acquire

Apparent

Committed

Discipline

Embarrass

Experience

Foreign

Grateful

Guarantee

Equipment

Humorous

Immediate

Independent

Jewellery

Leisure

Library

Miniature

Minuscule

Noticeable

Possession

Privilege

Recommend

Restaurant

Rhyme

Rhythm

Separate

Until

Awkward

Weird

Twelfth

Schedule