41. How can I find the spelling of a word if I do not know it?

To find the spelling of a word you do not know, start with what you do know - like the first, second, third letters. You know alphabetical order, so that is a big tool for finding words. Say you want to learn how to spell separate. You know it begins with an s and it is followed by a vowel. You start in the dictionary at the letter s and choose the vowel you think is most likely, like e - so you are looking under se. You sound out the word and figure out that the next likely letter is p - so you are now looking under sep. When you get to the first letter you are unsure of - like the fourth letter in separate - then you check the different possibilities. You will find separate pretty quickly as you read down the list of words in the dictionary. If not, try to think of a similar-sounding word that you know is spelled oddly. Perhaps you are trying to find knight and it sounds like knife, which you do know how to spell. You are on your way to the correct spelling. However, the problem is harder when you do not even know the first letter of the word. You will have to choose somewhere to start - for a word like catamaran you would start either in c or k and follow the same procedure by sounding out and trying to figure out the next letter or letters. You will learn a great deal about spelling by doing this and though it may seem tedious, it is a lot better to go through an exercise like this and learn a correct spelling. It is equally important to read the entry's definitions when you find the correct spelling of the word. Reading the entry reinforces your learning and sets that word in your memory. Remember that correct spelling is key to conveying what you mean in writing. Also, remember that sometimes a word is listed in a dictionary as an inflected form of an entry word or as a derivative or run-on. By learning about all the features of your dictionary, you will know to check all parts of an entry and will often find the spellings you need in the other parts of a dictionary entry.








42. Should I capitalize the names of seasons, such as Spring and Summer?

The seasons of the year are not capitalized as a rule, except in some literature like in poetry when a season is personified. However, it is certainly ok to capitalize the names of the seasons, especially when doing so often makes it clearer that you are talking about a season. Spring is the first season of the year, astronomically from the vernal equinox to the summer solstice. In the US, it is generally thought of as March, April, and May. Spring's etymology is from Old English as 'the place of rising or issuing, esp. of a stream, river, etc.' The second season, Summer, is astronomically from the summer solstice to the autumnal equinox and the word's history goes back to Old Norse sumar, though the word has cognates outside Germanic languages. Autumn, the third season, is astronomically from the autumnal (descending) equinox to the winter solstice, popularly September, October, and November. Autumn derives from Latin autumnus. The term Fall is used in North America as the ordinary name for Autumn; in England it is rare except in literary use and some dialects. Winter, the fourth season, extends astronomically from the winter solstice to the vernal equinox and is considered to be December, January, and February. Winter's etymology goes back to Gothic wintrus.







43. When do I capitalize the word earth?

If you are talking about the Earth as a proper noun, as a planet or celestial body, then you can capitalize Earth and use no article (the): How far is Earth from the Sun? But it is also fine to leave it as lowercase and use the with earth if you are talking about it as the planet we live on: The earth rotates on its axis. It is ok to do the same with the sun and the moon. When you are talking about the ground or soil as a surface or stratum, then you must lowercase the word: The archaeologists excavated the earth at the site. The word earth is derived from Greek era. Here is something interesting - we never hear people say the Mercury, the Pluto - but we do say the Earth, the Moon. Using the definite article "the" in front of an uncapitalized "earth" has its roots in the worldview that we are separate from and fundamentally different. (P.S. There is a town called Earth, Texas.)









44. How can crossword puzzles help me with spelling?

The crossword is the most popular and widespread word game in the world. It is easy to see how it helps with spelling - you cannot get too far in a puzzle if you do not spell the word correctly! Crosswords encourage people to use dictionaries, both specialized crossword dictionaries as well as collegiate and unabridged volumes. The constructor of a puzzle uses unabridged dictionaries. The solver of crosswords has to write words guessed from clues provided by the constructor. Crossword puzzles encourage logical thinking and correct spelling. When the first book of crosswords was published in 1924 it became a best-seller and crosswords replaced mah-jongg as the most popular American game. It may seem that crossword-solving is a trivial pursuit, yet it has been claimed that crosswords extend one's vocabulary, stimulate the mind, and encourage a healthy skepticism towards accepting things at their face value. Improving your spelling by getting involved in any type of word game can be fun and profitable.







45. Why don't we just spell words the way they sound?

Following a spelling system (even ours in which many words have spelling variants) allows us to communicate better. There are billions of English speakers and the English language is estimated to have at least a million words. Choosing to spell words the way they sound would create an infinite number of variants, as we each hear sounds slightly differently. Kindergartners use what they know about letters and sounds to write messages using invented spelling, or spelling words by the way they sound. By learning to stretch out the words to help them hear individual sounds, kindergartners can label a picture. Your child may write "br" for "bear" or "i mad mi bd" for "I made my bed." Using invented spelling actually helps children practice the letter-sound relationships they need for reading. In this very early stage of spelling, the child attempts to communicate a message but the child may be the only one who can decipher the message. That right there is the answer to this question - that our ability to communicate would be greatly impaired if we did not have a spelling system for our English vocabulary.









46. What makes spelling correct?

The English spelling system is the result of a process of development that has been going on for over 1,000 years. The complications we deal with today are the consequences of major and minor linguistic, social, etc. events which have taken place over this period. Lexicographers look at actual usage - in print, in speech - for the data that makes up dictionary entries. Spelling is one of those pieces of data. The spellings given in dictionaries - and the order of entries which have spelling variants - are based on the study of how words are spelled in print. The role of the lexicographer is clearly descriptive, not prescriptive. Learning to spell requires learning the peculiarities and irregularities of many, many words. Knowledge of the history of English spelling can provide the framework needed to retain much of this information. The strongest reasons for learning the history of English spelling are: 1) that it enriches our understanding of the past, 2) makes us more adept at reasoning, and 3) sensitizes us to the richness of English orthography.







47. What are some rules for forming plurals?

The most basic way to form a plural is to add s to the word: apples, cats, mothers. If the word ends in ch, s, sh, ss, x, z, or zz, then you add an es: bunches, thesauruses, dishes, sixes, chintzes. Proper nouns of this type always add -es: Magoulas, Magoulases. Most of the words that end with f, ff, or fe are made plural by changing the ending to -ves, (such as loaves and wives) but there are exceptions that must be memorized or looked up, e.g., beliefs, gulfs, roofs. A few nouns ending in f or ff, including beef, dwarf, hoof, scarf, wharf, and staff have two plural forms: beefs or beeves; dwarfs or dwarves. A word that ends with a combination of a vowel plus y will have an s added: bays, birthdays, cowboys, keys. A word that ends with a combination of a consonant plus y will change the y to ies: babies, faculties, French fries. Proper nouns ending in y form their plurals regularly, and do not change the y to i as common nouns do, e.g., the two Sandys. Words that end in o usually just get s added, but there are exceptions that must be memorized or looked up, such as: echoes, potatoes, volcanoes. Some nouns ending in o preceded by a consonant have two plural forms: buffaloes or buffalos; cargoes or cargos; mosquitoes or mosquitos; zeros or zeroes. Most nouns ending in i form their plurals by adding -s: alibis, khakis, skis, but there are exceptions (chiles). A few nouns undergo a vowel change in the stem: foot, feet; goose, geese; louse, lice; man, men; mouse, mice; tooth, teeth; woman, women. Compounds written as a single word form their plurals the same way that the final element of the compound does. Compounds ending in -ful normally form their plurals by adding s at the end. Compound words, written with or without a hyphen, that consist of a noun followed by an adjective or other qualifying expression form their plurals by making the same change in the noun that is made when the noun stands alone. Some nouns, mainly names of birds, fishes, and mammals, have the same form in the plural as in the singular. Many words indicating nationality or place of origin have the same form in the plural as in the singular. A few names of tribes or peoples have the same form in the plural as in the singular. Many nouns derived from a foreign language retain their foreign plurals. The plural of a word being used as a word is indicated by 's.









48. I always confuse the endings -able and -ible. Are there any useful tips to remember?

The adjective suffixes -able and -ible mean 'capable of', 'fit for,' or 'worthy of' and also 'tending to,' 'given to,' or 'causing'. The suffixes are pronounced the same, so they can be a spelling nightmare. There are no simple rules, but here are some useful tips. If the base word is not changed in any way then add -able. This works most of the time: comfort>comfortable, predict>predictable, understand>understandable. There are many more words ending -able than -ible. Words that can end in -ible often have negative forms that are created by adding il-, im-, in-, or ir- , e.g., illegible, impossible, inedible, irresponsible. Also, the suffix -able is often applicable for words that have noun forms ending in -ation, while the suffix -ible is often applicable to words that have noun forms ending in -ition, -tion, -sion, and -ion. One other helpful thing to remember is that -ible is not used after vowels, e.g., agreeable, permeable. The best advice is to learn the most common -ible words and use -able for the rest. And if you are unsure, look it up in a dictionary.









49. How do I know whether to double a final letter when adding a suffix?

We double the final consonant of a word before we add -ed, -er, -est, -ing, -able and -y to show that the vowel has a short sound. When a one-syllable word ends in a consonant preceded by one vowel, double the final consonant before adding a suffix which begins with a vowel. This is also called the 1-1-1 rule: one syllable, one consonant, one vowel. Examples are: bag, baggage; bat, batted, batting, batter. (The two notable exceptions to this are bus, gas.) When a multi-syllable word ends in a consonant preceded by one vowel, and the accent is on the last syllable, double the final consonant. Examples: confer, conferring; control, controlled; begin, beginning. In words of more than one syllable ending in a consonant, especially l, British English generally doubles the final consonant, and American English generally does not, though it is certainly acceptable. Examples: canceled, cancelled; labeled, labelled. Remember that only some letters are doubled: b, d, g, l, m, n, p, r, t.







50. Does the ability to spell indicate one's intelligence, education, or desire?

Poor spelling ability really does not have a relationship to general intelligence. However, desire, education, and intelligence do have something to do with excellent spelling ability. And the personality traits of being meticulous and organized certainly have an impact on one's ability to spell well. From some surveys that have been done, it has been found that the top spellers were more organized than the average spellers. So, the ability to spell well may be more related to personality traits or habits than other factors. You are also likely to be a good speller if you have a deep interest in language, its roots, the connections between different words via meaning and sound, and in the poetic quality of words. To improve one's spelling if one is not naturally good at it takes practice. You have to look things up, keep a spelling journal, take quizzes, etc., if becoming a better speller is your goal. With practice, you can train yourself to take pictures of words. You can add words consciously to your visual memory. Visualization is very helpful because spelling is primarily a visual activity. Many good spellers depend on visual memory to determine whether a word looks right or wrong. The more finely tuned your visual memory becomes, the better your spelling will be. Paying closer attention to the way words look also encourages you to notice the world around you more. This is a great side effect - increasing your powers of observation!

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