{"id":760,"date":"2019-04-23T08:38:51","date_gmt":"2019-04-23T12:38:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/?p=760"},"modified":"2026-04-02T00:34:52","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T00:34:52","slug":"12-confusing-english-words-and-how-to-spell-them-right","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/12-confusing-english-words-and-how-to-spell-them-right\/","title":{"rendered":"12 Confusing English Words and How to Spell Them Correctly"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The English language is full of confusing words that are both tricky to correctly pick up and even spell. Below are some of the most commonly misspelled words.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hint: you can use our <a href=\"https:\/\/linguix.com\/grammar-check\">free online grammar check tool<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/linguix.com\/paraphraser\">paraphrasing app<\/a> to fight those grammar issues.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-1-conscience-wrong-conscence\"><strong>1. conscience (Wrong: <em>conscence<\/em>)<\/strong><br><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>First of all, remember that conscience is a noun denoting a person&#8217;s &#8220;inner feeling acting as a guide to rightness or wrongness of the behavior.&#8221; It is not conscious, an adjective, meaning that the person is awake and able to respond to surroundings. To write &#8216;conscience&#8217; right, remember to put a &#8216;science&#8217; inside this word as well.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-2-maintenance-maintainence\"><strong>2. maintenance (<em>maintainence<\/em>)<\/strong><br><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The tricky part here is that the word &#8216;maintenance&#8217; which often directly connecting to maintaining something, does not have the &#8216;maintain&#8217; part in it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-3-recommend-reccommend-reccomend\"><strong>3. recommend (<em>reccommend, reccomend<\/em>)<\/strong><br><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Words with doubled letters are often hard to spell and write because it may be unclear what letter to double. In this word, you may have the feeling that &#8216;c&#8217; is worthy of duplicating, however, this is wrong.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"942\" height=\"506\" src=\"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/\u0421\u043d\u0438\u043c\u043e\u043a-\u044d\u043a\u0440\u0430\u043d\u0430-2019-04-23-\u0432-15.35.55.png\" alt=\"12 Confusing English Words And How To Spell Them Right\" class=\"wp-image-762\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-4-deductible-deductable\"><strong>4. deductible (<em>deductable<\/em>)<\/strong><br><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Another confusing thing in English is -ible\/-able twist. It is so easy to confuse the endings in such words, and you&#8217;d better be very careful with them. In this example, the word &#8216;deductible&#8217; has &#8216;i&#8217; inside it.<\/p><\/p>\n\n\n\n    \n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-5-weird-wierd\"><strong>5. weird (<em>wierd<\/em>)<\/strong><br><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The word that breaks the spelling rule (&#8216;i&#8217; before &#8216;e&#8217; except after &#8216;c&#8217;) which is totally weird, but you have to accept it.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-6-accommodate-acommodate-accomodate\"><strong>6. accommodate (<em>acommodate, accomodate<\/em>)<\/strong><br><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Again, doubled letters are confusing. In this particular word, however, you can solve this puzzle by remembering that the word &#8216;accommodate&#8217; literally &#8216;accommodates&#8217; a lot of letters.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-7-pronunciation-pronounciation\"><strong>7. pronunciation (<em>pronounciation<\/em>)<\/strong><br><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Here the source of the mistakes lays in the fact that the verb form of this word is &#8216;pronounce&#8217;. But the noun does not have an &#8216;o&#8217; in the middle! You need to remember it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"860\" height=\"438\" src=\"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/\u0421\u043d\u0438\u043c\u043e\u043a-\u044d\u043a\u0440\u0430\u043d\u0430-2019-04-23-\u0432-15.36.43.png\" alt=\"12 Confusing English Words And How To Spell Them Right\" class=\"wp-image-763\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-8-supersede-supercede\"><strong>8. supersede (<em>supercede<\/em>)<\/strong><br><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>This word has a Latin origin. Also, many words in Engish were influenced by words like &#8216;intercede&#8217;, so you may think this one belongs to this group. It is not, and you should use &#8216;s&#8217; instead of &#8216;c&#8217; in the end.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-9-handkerchief-hankerchief\"><strong>9. handkerchief (<em>hankerchief<\/em>)<\/strong><br><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>To spell and write this word right, you need to remember that these pieces of cloth fit in one&#8217;s hand! So there is a letter &#8216;d&#8217; inside it.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-10-rhythm-rythm\"><strong>10. rhythm (<em>rythm<\/em>)<\/strong><br><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The word with only one vowel should be tricky, and it is! Things get even more complicated with a couple of h&#8217;s which are spread throughout the word. <\/p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"836\" height=\"438\" src=\"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/\u0421\u043d\u0438\u043c\u043e\u043a-\u044d\u043a\u0440\u0430\u043d\u0430-2019-04-23-\u0432-15.37.22.png\" alt=\"12 Confusing English Words And How To Spell Them Right\" class=\"wp-image-764\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-11-embarrass-embarass-embaress\"><strong>11. embarrass (<em>embarass, embaress<\/em>)<\/strong><br><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Here we have a good-old double letter puzzle! Also, vowels in this word are also tricky.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-12-liaison-liason\"><strong>12. liaison (<em>liason<\/em>)<\/strong><br><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>You can easily spot French roots in this word thanks to this amazingly hard to spell triple vowel!<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<h2>FAQ<\/h2>\n<h3>How can I remember tricky spellings like conscience, liaison, or rhythm?<\/h3>\n<p>Use simple mnemonics and visual cues: conscience contains the word &#8220;science,&#8221; handkerchief has &#8220;hand&#8221; in it, accommodate &#8220;accommodates&#8221; two double letters, and rhythm uses y as its vowel. Writing each word in a short sentence and repeating it a few times helps the pattern stick.<\/p>\n<h3>Are there spelling rules for endings like -able vs -ible or the &#8220;i before e&#8221; rule?<\/h3>\n<p>There are general guidelines&#8211;able often attaches to a full root and -ible comes from Latin roots-but many exceptions exist (e.g., deductible). The &#8220;i before e&#8221; rule works sometimes but has notable exceptions like &#8220;weird.&#8221; When unsure, check a reliable dictionary and learn common exceptions.<\/p>\n<h3>What quick practice methods help stop repeating these misspellings?<\/h3>\n<p>Make a short list of words you misspell, practice them with flashcards or spaced repetition, type them in sentences, and proofread with attention to those trouble words. Keeping a personal error log and reviewing it regularly reduces repeat mistakes.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The English language is full of confusing words that are both tricky to correctly pick up and even spell. Below are some of the most commonly misspelled words. Hint: you can use our free online grammar check tool or paraphrasing app to fight those grammar issues. 1. conscience (Wrong: conscence) First of all, remember that [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":761,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[10,9],"tags":[517,516,12],"class_list":["post-760","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-grammar","category-writing","tag-confusing-words","tag-spelling","tag-writing"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v20.8 (Yoast SEO v24.8.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>12 Confusing English Words and How to Spell Them Correctly - Linguix Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/12-confusing-english-words-and-how-to-spell-them-right\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"12 Confusing English Words and How to Spell Them Correctly\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The English language is full of confusing words that are both tricky to correctly pick up and even spell. Below are some of the most commonly misspelled words. Hint: you can use our free online grammar check tool or paraphrasing app to fight those grammar issues. 1. conscience (Wrong: conscence) First of all, remember that [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/12-confusing-english-words-and-how-to-spell-them-right\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Linguix Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-04-23T12:38:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-02T00:34:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/pexels-photo-874242.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2250\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Brett Johnson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Brett Johnson\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/12-confusing-english-words-and-how-to-spell-them-right\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/12-confusing-english-words-and-how-to-spell-them-right\/\",\"name\":\"12 Confusing English Words and How to Spell Them Correctly - Linguix Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/12-confusing-english-words-and-how-to-spell-them-right\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/12-confusing-english-words-and-how-to-spell-them-right\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/pexels-photo-874242.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-04-23T12:38:51+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-02T00:34:52+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2d25ff2c644630c3df69792e1c587e89\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/12-confusing-english-words-and-how-to-spell-them-right\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/12-confusing-english-words-and-how-to-spell-them-right\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/12-confusing-english-words-and-how-to-spell-them-right\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/pexels-photo-874242.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/pexels-photo-874242.jpeg\",\"width\":2250,\"height\":1500},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/12-confusing-english-words-and-how-to-spell-them-right\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"12 Confusing English Words And How To Spell Them Right\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Linguix Blog\",\"description\":\"Writing about using technology to create content and build effective communications.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2d25ff2c644630c3df69792e1c587e89\",\"name\":\"Brett Johnson\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b56c2b913c5e5df28b9cf286cfb95e57b33bf5134f0ee7c7a26011e8fe0de1be?s=96&d=monsterid&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b56c2b913c5e5df28b9cf286cfb95e57b33bf5134f0ee7c7a26011e8fe0de1be?s=96&d=monsterid&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Brett Johnson\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/author\/brett-johnson\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"12 Confusing English Words and How to Spell Them Correctly - Linguix Blog","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/12-confusing-english-words-and-how-to-spell-them-right\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"12 Confusing English Words and How to Spell Them Correctly","og_description":"The English language is full of confusing words that are both tricky to correctly pick up and even spell. Below are some of the most commonly misspelled words. Hint: you can use our free online grammar check tool or paraphrasing app to fight those grammar issues. 1. conscience (Wrong: conscence) First of all, remember that [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/12-confusing-english-words-and-how-to-spell-them-right\/","og_site_name":"Linguix Blog","article_published_time":"2019-04-23T12:38:51+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-04-02T00:34:52+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2250,"height":1500,"url":"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/pexels-photo-874242.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Brett Johnson","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Brett Johnson","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/12-confusing-english-words-and-how-to-spell-them-right\/","url":"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/12-confusing-english-words-and-how-to-spell-them-right\/","name":"12 Confusing English Words and How to Spell Them Correctly - Linguix Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/12-confusing-english-words-and-how-to-spell-them-right\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/12-confusing-english-words-and-how-to-spell-them-right\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/pexels-photo-874242.jpeg","datePublished":"2019-04-23T12:38:51+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-02T00:34:52+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2d25ff2c644630c3df69792e1c587e89"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/12-confusing-english-words-and-how-to-spell-them-right\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/12-confusing-english-words-and-how-to-spell-them-right\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/12-confusing-english-words-and-how-to-spell-them-right\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/pexels-photo-874242.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/pexels-photo-874242.jpeg","width":2250,"height":1500},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/12-confusing-english-words-and-how-to-spell-them-right\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"12 Confusing English Words And How To Spell Them Right"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/","name":"Linguix Blog","description":"Writing about using technology to create content and build effective communications.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2d25ff2c644630c3df69792e1c587e89","name":"Brett Johnson","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b56c2b913c5e5df28b9cf286cfb95e57b33bf5134f0ee7c7a26011e8fe0de1be?s=96&d=monsterid&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b56c2b913c5e5df28b9cf286cfb95e57b33bf5134f0ee7c7a26011e8fe0de1be?s=96&d=monsterid&r=g","caption":"Brett Johnson"},"url":"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/author\/brett-johnson\/"}]}},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/760","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=760"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/760\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3560,"href":"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/760\/revisions\/3560"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/761"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=760"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=760"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=760"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}