easily confused words

Some words are easily confused because they have similar pronunciations and spellings: quite, quiet.

It is important to study the words and pay close attention to the way each is pronounced.

1.    quiet           shhh

2.    quite           completely, entirely

3.    finely          small pieces

4.    finally         at last

5.    except         leaving out

6.    accept         take what is offered

7.    than            in comparison with

8.    then            at that time

9.    since           happened before

10.  sense          your brain

11.  affect          to change, influence

12.  effect          a result

13.  from

14.  form          a paper to fill out

15.  later           coming after the expected time

16.  latter          being the second of two things referred to

17.  adapt          adjust to a change

18.  adopt          take as one’s own

19.  medal         Olympic gold

20.  metal          steel, iron

  Challenge Words

21.  personal      a persons

22.  personnel    workers

23.  proceeding  go on after stopping

24.  preceding    in front

25.  immigrate   enter a country to live

26.  emigrate     leave a country to live elsewhere

Some compound words are closed: keyboard, textbook.

Other compound words are open: ice cream, a lot.

There are no clues that tell whether a compound word will be open or closed, so it is important to study these words carefully.

1.    ice cream

2.    a lot

3.    keyboard

4.    fairy tale

5.    horseshoe

6.    piggy bank

7.    textbook

     8.  guidelines

9.    newspaper

10.  space shuttle

11.  hay fever

12.  dead end

13.  password

14.  teenager

15.  skateboard

16.  everything

17.  barbed wire

18.  cartwheel

19.  root beer

20.  fingerprint

     Challenge Words

21.  air conditioner

22.  blood pressure

23.  worldwide

24.  straightedge

25.  cross country

Words with ei and ie

Long e can be spelled ei or ie: believe, receive.

These are only two of the ways to spell long e. There are ways to spell the long e sound other than using ei and ie.

1.    brief

2.    believe

3.    receive

4.    leisure

5.    piece

6.    relief

7.    seize

8.    ceiling

9.    field

10.  neither

11.  apiece

12.  receipt

13.  yield

14.  deceive

15.  achieve

16.  grief

17.  niece

18.  protein

19.  shield

20.  conceited

   Challenge Words

21.  diesel

22.  retrieval

23.  unwieldy

24.  grievance

25.  deceitful

Final Syllables ant ent ance ence

There is no sound clue to help you decide whether to use an a or e: important, intelligent, experience, instance.

The    sound in these endings can be spelled in different ways.

1.    important

2.    experience

3.    ignorant

4.    entrance

5.    difference

6.    instance

7.    absence

8.    appearance

9.    intelligent

10.  evidence

11.  pollutant

12.  clearance

13.  confidence

14.  conference

15.  insurance

16.  ambulance

17.  hesitant

18.  consistent

19.  excellence

20.  persistent

   Challenge Words

21.  iridescent

22.  coincidence

23.  convenient

24.  significant

25.  alliance 

Suffixes

When adding ous, sion, ion, and ation, some base words change.

A final e or y may be dropped: famous, furious.

Some words have other changes: decision.

1.    famous

2.    invention

3.    election

4.    furious

5.    imagination

6.    education

7.    nervous

8.    explanation

9.    various

10.  decision

11.  relaxation

12.  conversation

13.  tension

14.  humorous

15.  exhibition

16.  attraction

17.  invasion

18.  creation

19.  occupation

20.  destination

    Challenge Words

21.  cancellation

22.  summarization

23.  glamorous

24.  mysterious

25.  administration

Related words

Related words often have parts that are spelled the same but are pronounced differently: major, majority. When you say these words, pay close attention to where the stress is placed.

1.    politics

2.    political

3.    major

4.    majority

5.    equal

6.    equation

7.    sign

8.    signature

9.    arrive

10.  arrival

11.  inspire

12.  inspiration

13.  human

14.  humanity

15.  clean

16.  cleanse

17.  resign

18.  resignation

19.  unite

20.  unity

   Challenge Words

21.  magic

22.  magician

23.  remedy

24.  remedial

25.  individual

26.  individuality

Words with Latin roots

The Latin root ject means “throw,” aud means“hear,”

terr, means “land,” and dec means “ten.”

Not all words that have these letters in them, however, are using the Latin roots. Some of these words may have different meanings.

1.    project

2.    audience

3.    decade

4.    territory

5.    auditorium

6.    terrier

7.    decimal

8.    injection

9.    December

10.  reject

11.  eject

12.  terrace

13.  audit

14.  decimeter

15.  audition

16.  audible

17.  decathlon

18.  terrarium

19.  dejected

20.  terrain

    Challenge Words

21.  terra cotta

22.  subterranean

23.  conjecture

24.  trajectory

25.  terrestrial

Greek word parts

Many words are formed from the Greek word parts logy, meaning “study of”; aster, meaning “star”; therm, meaning “heat”; and sphere, meaning “ball.” Sometimes the Greek word parts are spelled differently when forming an English word, such as astronomy. This word, meaning “study of the stars,”  drops the e from aster and uses astr. 1.    geology 2.    thermometer 3.    astronaut 4.    atmosphere 5.    biology 6.    thermal 7.    disaster 8.    meteorology 9.    technology 10.  hemisphere 11.  zoology 12.  sociology 13.  biosphere 14.  thermos 15.  asterisk 16.  thermostat 17.  astronomy 18.  spherical 19.  ecology 20.  mythology     Challenge Words 21.  psychology 22.  anthropology 23.  thermoelectric 24.  astronomical 25.  microbiology

Words with unusual spellings

Some words have letters you don’t hear: doubt.

In some words the sound you hear gives no clue to its spelling: anxious.

The x in anxious sounds like the combination of letters ksh.

1.    league

2.    sergeant

3.    yacht

4.    doubt

5.    fatigue

6.    debt

7.    blood

8.    vague

9.    anxious

10.  foreign

11.  bargain

12.  condemn

13.  intrigue

14.  villain

15.  cantaloupe

16.  flood

17.  depot

18.  cordial

19.  subtle

20.  disguise

  Challenge Words

21.  bureau

22.  reminiscent

23.  adjective

24.  monologue

25.  environment