Spelling Errors
Spelling Errors
Spelling errors are perhaps the most common errors you'll run into during the proofreading process. (Punctuation is high on the list too, and we'll cover that in an upcoming lesson.) Let's go over some tips regarding how to effectively check for and correct spelling mistakes that a writer may have missed.
Let's imagine that you've picked up an order. Your client has requested a proofread. Think of yourself as a general about to go to war. Every great general is a master strategist; they don't just run haphazardly into the battlefield. They concentrate on one particular weakness. This may sound a bit dramatic, but stick with us here. You'll want to develop the same mindset. When you make the decision to check for spelling errors, do so exclusively and stick with it.
First, before you read the document, run the spell check feature. If the document is full of strange terms that you are unfamiliar with, this will give you the opportunity to get used to the vocabulary before you start reading through the text. When the spell check offers an alternative suggestion to a word in question, look at the word and subsequent options carefully. If changes are necessary, let the program correct words that you know are grossly misspelled. If you are unsure of a word that is more ambiguous (e.g., a foreign word, proper noun, place name, or something similar), make a note of it so you can revisit it and address it later. Do not try to decipher it at this point. Start easy and slowly get to the more complex stuff.
We'll cover spell check in more depth in a later lesson, but for now, we want to remind you that spell check isn't always as accurate as we'd like it to be. When we see a plethora of red underlines in a Word document, we assume it to be rife with spelling errors. Conversely, doesn't an underline-free Word document look so pleasing to the eye that we let our guard down just a little bit? Well, don't get complacent! Remember that a good proofreader never makes assumptions. While the spell check feature has benefits, it also has serious pitfalls.
Never use technology as a substitute for your natural skill, which must be sharpened on a consistent basis. Spell check doesn't take into account context, and as a result, it will often offer alternative spellings that just don't fit the bill. Verifying the words and terms that spell check doesn't provide alternatives for will not only ensure that documents are crisp and clean, it will force you to become a more efficient and effective proofreader.
Next, start from the beginning of the document, and read all the sentences one by one. If you have trouble focusing on many different types of problems at once, it might be helpful to resist the temptation to correct grammar even if it's clear there is a misplaced comma or missing period. Proofreading spelling and grammar simultaneously may cause you to lose focus and miss errors.
Since you will be paying attention to all the details at this phase of correcting spelling errors, we recommend that you refer back to the words you were unsure about that you encountered while doing your first pass with spell check. If a little research in various dictionaries hasn't yielded consistent results, use the comment tool to bring them to the client's attention. Perhaps you have never seen a certain term before. While your first instinct may tell you that it's spelled incorrectly or that the client "must mean something else," don't assume. Ask for clarification. You may say something like the following:
I have not encountered this word before; please verify that its capitalization is correct.
Please check to make sure this is a proper name. If so, please capitalize it accordingly.
Is this word/term specific to your field of study? If so, please verify that its spelling is correct. If not, did you mean to say [insert example]?
There are several different spellings for this word in various (medical, scientific, academic, etc.) journals. Please verify which spelling is the correct one for your purposes and revise accordingly.
If you are unable to provide alternative suggestions in terms of word choice, simply inform the client that the meaning is unclear and should be revised. Perhaps he or she could be advised to verify it with a fellow classmate, instructor, or colleague, depending on the nature of the document.
The easiest way to talk about specific spelling errors is to break them up into general categories. Here's a list of the different types of spelling errors you're likely to run into. We'll define them here and then give some examples in the following slides.
Letter addition: Adding unnecessary letters to words
Letter omission: Omitting necessary letters from words
Letter substitution: Substituting incorrect letters for correct letters
Letter transposition or letter inversion: Arranging letters in words in the incorrect order
Miscellaneous: Completely incorrect spelling in all regards (This one's a catch-all!)
These categories cover every type of misspelling out there, so use them to your advantage. Let's look at some examples.
When writers have an idea and start writing away, their fingers often go faster than their brains and eyes. One of these mistakes is writing double consonants or vowels when they aren't needed. English makes use of countless double letter combinations, and even the most prolific writers have trouble keeping track of them all. If you see a word with double letters, pay strict attention!
Writers also have a habit of adding letters because of the way that English speakers mispronounce words. When speaking, we often add sounds that aren't supposed to appear in words. Be on the lookout for these kinds of errors as well.
Here are a few examples of the phenomenon of letter addition.
committment instead of commitment
innoculate instead of inoculate
perserverance instead of perseverance
pronounciation instead of pronunciation
tommorrow instead of tomorrow
We should also briefly mention one other cause of additional letters not related to a lack of knowledge about spelling. When editors and proofreaders use the Track Changes function in Word, they sometimes forget to erase letters. This results in words having doubled letters at the beginning or end. Consider this example. A person writes the word compound when it in fact should be compounding. The editor or proofreader erases compound and writes compounding but does not erase the initial c in the word. This results in ccompounding. As a proofreader, make sure that you look over your tracked copy and your clean copy in order to ensure that you haven't made this mistake. There will be more on this when we talk about introduced errors.
Just as writers often add unnecessary letters to words, they also often omit necessary letters. Here are some examples of that phenomenon.
accomodation or acommodation instead of accommodation
adress instead of address
decaffinated instead of decaffeinated
inate instead of innate
unforseen instead of unforeseen
As if letter additions and omissions weren't enough, you'll also occasionally run into both at the same time. Take a look at the following examples.
dissapoint instead of disappoint
paralell or parralell instead of parallel
Here are some examples of incorrect letters substituted for correct letters. Some of these have to do with our expectations based on the pronunciation of words, and others have to do with usage problems.
alterior instead of ulterior
cemetary instead of cemetery
concensus instead of consensus
lazer instead of laser
affect instead of effect and vice versa (We'll look at this one more time in another slide, but it bears mentioning several times as it is a very common error!)
As the name suggests, transposition errors occur when characters have been "transposed." Transposition errors are almost always human in origin (as opposed to an error introduced by spell check). You'll notice that all the words on the following list involve the ever so problematic ie and ei combination. While there are certainly other kinds of transposition problems, the ie and ei combination is by far the most common.
beleive instead of believe
hygeine instead of hygiene
sieze instead of seize
wierd instead of weird
thier instead of their
While the previous list is certainly representative of the kinds of transposition problems you're likely to run into, the widespread use of computers and keyboards has introduced another type of transposition error. People type quickly. We rely on muscle memory to do quite a bit of the work for us. Avid typists often don't even have to think about the individual keys they press. As a result, we see errors like the following.
fomr instead of from or form
fo instead of of
kown or konw instead of know
quite instead of quiet
teh instead of the (There's even an Internet meme based on this one!)
While we could provide a list of words spelled totally incorrectly, there wouldn't be much point, as the list would be too long. Instead, we're going to provide you with some examples of the words that are most often incorrectly spelled. Many of these are the result of a combination of the previous patterns we've established here, but they occur so pervasively that they deserve their own set of slides.
The best way to ensure that you catch all these types of misspellings is to be a diligent reader. Exposure to a large vocabulary will result in an exposure to a wide range of correctly spelled words (we hope).
These misspellings occur so often that they should be required reading for anyone and everyone who writes anything at all in English.
Some of these misspellings are usage problems, and some of them are related to apostrophe use. A few of them even have to do with the mistaken assumption that a two-word phrase is actually one word. Read through these slides exhaustively!
Your versus You're
We know that your indicates possession. You're is the contracted form of you are. The distinction is clear, yet authors and writers often confuse the two. Look at the following misuses.
Ladies and gentlemen, please introduce yourselves by stating you're names.
Your always late for your appointments!
The breadth of you're knowledge is meaningless if you don't apply it.
Come to you're senses and stop burning you're toast.
Writers may treat you're and your as being synonymous because they sound exactly alike; however, this popular mistake leads to extremely distorted meanings.
Their, There, and They're
Another common grammar error involves the confusion of their and there; the former denotes possession, while the latter specifies either location or a state of something, depending on the context of a sentence. Look at the following misuses.
Their was no difference between the test and control groups.
Their was an earth-shattering bang . . . and then . . . nothing.
There wasn't anything wrong with there robot—it just stood their—the switch hadn't been turned on.
Well then, my good sir, their you have it!
What is more, writers may use the contraction they're (they are) as a substitute for either their or there. Look at some of the following misuses.
The style guide isn't they're yet?
The predicament persisted for as long as they sat on they're hands and did nothing.
With three identical sounding words to choose from, writers who do not know the difference can certainly make these grammatical errors.
Its versus It's
Along with "affect versus effect" (which we will discuss very shortly), "its versus it's" is right at the top of the list in terms of frequency. Its, of course, is possessive. Look at the following uses.
The dog has won many a show; its gleaming coat is a real crowd pleaser.
Its value has depreciated.
The pizza lost its freshness after being left out on the counter overnight.
The company lost its top client.
It's, on the other hand, is the contraction of "it is"—an apostrophe makes all the difference here. Look at the following correct usages of it's.
It's not fair!
It's better that you insert page numbers in the top right corner.
I invented the phrase "it's not you; it's me!"
When you are proofreading your client's document and you come across it's, just mentally repeat "it is" to yourself. This will help you catch errors of this kind, which are otherwise easy to overlook, each and every time.
Incorrect: Its a prerequisite course.
Correct: It's a prerequisite course.
Incorrect: It's description is much too wordy.
Correct: Its description is much too wordy.
Before we begin this one, let's establish the following. In almost all cases, affect is a verb, and effect is a noun (we'll explain the limited number of exceptions at the end of this page). That should make the following pretty easy.
When we want to express how something makes us feel, elicits an action, or exhibits a characteristic, we use affect.
"The Bells" by The Originals really affects my soul.
We use effect to describe the consequence of a cause.
The effects of over-exposure to cold temperatures include numbness leading to frostbite.
Using the above sentence, we can illustrate the relationship between affect and effect(s) as follows:
Although I am aware of the effects of extremely cold temperatures, I don't let the winter months affect me.
Being aware of this subtle distinction is most important. Many writers, whether they are native English speakers or not, tend to get these two words mixed up. This is probably because like your vs. you're and there vs. their vs. they're, affect and effect sound the same in speech.
We mentioned at the top of this page that there are exceptions to the "rule" we've just established. If effect takes an object, then it becomes a verb. In the following example sentence, the object is in bold.
The US government effected health care reform last year.
Please note that this may seem incredibly similar to the use of affect, which also takes an object. When used as a verb, effect means "to bring about something," whereas affect means "to produce an effect on" or "influence."
In psychology, affect can be used as a noun. This is virtually the only context in which you will see affect as a noun.
We'd like to give you in-depth coverage of all the following, believe us. However, in the interest of brevity, we'll simply provide you with a list. After presenting this list, we'll comment on a couple of specific problems, but it's up to you to take the time to consider all these confused words and misspellings. Your proofreading skills will be better for having done so.
accept vs. except
capital vs. capitol
elicit vs. illicit
lie vs. lay
lone vs. loan
lose vs. loose
principle vs. principal
real vs. really
then vs. than
to vs. too (and sometimes even two)
Popular Culture and Spelling?
Exposure to popular culture is at an all time high. As a result, we're now seeing new and very odd spelling mistakes. One example is the misspelling of ludicrous as ludacris. Ludacris is the name of a popular rapper and actor. Ludicrous means something outlandish, outrageous, or foolish.
Word Division and Spelling
The last two things we want to touch on here have to do with the ways words should be divided. First, let's look at the misuse of the word everyday.
Everyday is an adjective that describes an occurrence that happens every day. See what we did there? Too often writers only make use of everyday and don't bother to split up the word when it is not being used as an adjective. Look at the following examples of the correct ways to use both everyday and every day.
Brushing your teeth is an everyday activity.
You should brush your teeth every day.
Do you see the difference? In the second sentence, the word every modifies the word day. In the first sentence, the word everyday modifies activity.
We've saved what is perhaps "the best" spelling error of all for last: alot. Alot is not a word in the English language. A lot are two words used in conjunction to indicate that there is a large quantity of something. Let's break it down. The word lot refers to a group of something. The word a is an indefinite article used with the word lot. If you have trouble with this, also consider that the definite article the can also be used with the word lot, as in the following sentence: "All the cookies in this batch are burned. Throw out the lot." Let's look at some more examples of the correct ways to use a lot.
There are a lot of rabbits in that hutch.
I've been meaning to buy a lot of ice cream for the party.
A lot of people have no idea just how dangerous it is to jaywalk.
Like many of the proofreading skills you will acquire, your ability to catch misspellings will develop as you gain experience. But checking for the kinds of mistakes we've pointed out here is a good way to begin honing that skill. Here is a recap of the kinds of spelling errors we've covered:
Letter addition
Letter omission
Letter substitution
Letter transposition or letter inversion
We included a "miscellaneous" category in the lesson as a sort of catch-all for mistakes made up of a combination of errors.
Lastly, remember that there is a pretty solid list of English words that are commonly spelled wrong by good and bad spellers alike. These words are often homonyms and words that are spelled in similar ways.
Last Updated: 09/09/2022