By Fatskills Exam Guides Team — the exam nerds behind 28,500+ quizzes and 2.1M practice questions across 500+ global exams.
With easy access to spelling checkers in word processing programs, is there really a need for an administrative assistant to be concerned with spelling? For some people, running a spell-check on their document takes the place of a good proofread. Computerized spelling checkers are indeed useful to any writer. However, there are many words that may appear to be correctly spelled according to the word processor’s spelling checker when in reality they are incorrectly spelled for the particular context, or the wrong word has been used entirely.
For example, a spelling checker cannot tell the usage differences between there, their, and they’re. Thus, there is a need for basic spelling skills.
This guide focuses on the most common spelling rules that any good administrative assistant should know. Dictionary Uses The constant study of spelling and the exact meaning of words are an important aspect of every administrative assistant’s career. Always keep a dictionary close at hand. Besides providing spelling and definitions, this invaluable aid also sets out such information as the following: - Syllabication (useful when you want to split a word at the end of a typewritten line) - Variant spellings, with the preferred spelling listed first - Pronunciations, with the preferred form shown first - Capitalization - Hyphenation - Italicization - Part of speech - Plural of nouns - Cases of pronouns - Verb tenses - Comparative and superlative forms of irregular adverbs and adjectives - Derivations of the word - Synonyms and antonyms - Status label (if a word is colloquial, obsolete, etc.) Some words whose spelling frequently puzzles many of us are discussed in this chapter in order to sharpen your awareness of spelling in general. Plurals
1. The general rule is to form the plural of a noun by adding s: - book—books - clock—clocks - pen—pens
2. A noun ending in o preceded by a vowel takes an s for the plural: - curio—curios - folio—folios - radio—radios - ratio—ratios - studio—studios
Some nouns ending in o, preceded by a consonant, take es to form the plural, while others take s: - banjo—banjos - buffalo—buffaloes - cargo—cargoes - Eskimo—Eskimos - hero—heroes - mosquito—mosquitoes - motto—mottoes - piano—pianos - potato—potatoes - soprano—sopranos - tomato—tomatoes
3. A singular noun ending in ch, sh, s, x, or z takes es for the plural: - bush—bushes - chintz—chintzes - dress—dresses - inch—inches - wax—waxes
4. A noun ending in y preceded by a consonant changes the y to i and adds es for the plural: - ability—abilities - auxiliary—auxiliaries - discrepancy—discrepancies - facility—facilities - industry—industries - lady—ladies - society—societies
5. A noun ending in y preceded by a vowel takes only an s for the plural: - attorney—attorneys - galley—galleys - kidney—kidneys - monkey—monkeys - turkey—turkeys
6. Some plurals end in en: - child—children - man—men - ox—oxen
7. Some nouns ending in f or fe change the f or fe to v and add es for the plural: - calf—calves - knife—knives - leaf—leaves - life—lives - loaf—loaves - shelf—shelves
But there are some exceptions: - bailiff—bailiffs - belief—beliefs - chief—chiefs - gulf—gulfs - roof—roofs
8. Some nouns require a vowel change for the plural: - foot—feet - goose—geese - mouse—mice - tooth—teeth
9. The plural of numerals, signs, and letters is shown by adding an s (or an apostrophe and an s to avoid confusion): - COD—CODs - one B—four B’s
10. To proper names ending in s or in an s sound, add es for the plural: - Brooks—the Brookses - Burns—the Burnses - Jones—the Joneses
11. A compound noun, when hyphenated or when consisting of two separate words, shows the plural form in the most important element: - attorney-in-fact—attorneys-in-fact - brigadier general—brigadier generals - brother-in-law—brothers-in-law - notary public—notaries public - passerby—passersby
12. The plural of solid compounds (a compound noun written as one word) is formed at the end of the solid compound: - bookshelf—bookshelves - cupful—cupfuls - lumberman—lumbermen - stepchild—stepchildren - stepdaughter—stepdaughters
13. Some nouns have the same form for singular and plural: - Chinese - corps - deer - salmon - sheep - vermin - wheat
14. Some nouns are always treated as singular: - civics - mathematics - measles - milk - molasses - music - news - statistics
15. Some nouns are always treated as plural: - pants - proceeds - remains - riches - scissors - thanks - trousers - tweezers The Suffix1. Words whose roots end with ge or ce generally retain the e when a suffix is added: - change—changeable - damage—damageable - disadvantage—disadvantageous - outrage—outrageous
2. A final silent e is usually dropped before a suffix that begins with a vowel: - argue—arguing - change—changing - conceive—conceivable
3. A final silent e is usually retained before a suffix that begins with a consonant: - achieve—achievement - definite—definitely
4. In words ending in c, add k before a suffix beginning with e, i, or y, so that the hard sound of the original c is retained: - frolic—frolicked—frolicking - mimic—mimicked—mimicking - picnic—picnicked—picnicking
5. A word ending in ie changes the ie to y when adding a suffix: - die—dying - lie—lying - tie—tying - vie—vying
6. Words that end in y preceded by a vowel retain the y when adding the suffix: - survey—surveying—surveyor
7. Words that end with y preceded by a consonant change y to i when adding a suffix, except when the suffix is ing: - embody—embodying—embodied - rely—relying—relied - satisfy—satisfying—satisfied
8. A final consonant is usually doubled when it is preceded by a single vowel and takes a suffix: - mop—mopping
9. A final consonant is doubled when it is followed by a suffix, and the last syllable is accented when the suffix is added: - acquit—acquitted
10. The final consonant is not doubled when the accent is shifted to a preceding syllable when the suffix is added: - refer—referring—reference
Or when the final consonant is preceded by two vowels: - fooled—fooling Irregular Spelling1. Irregular spellings to watch closely: - acknowledgment - awful - judgment - ninth - truly - wholly
2. While they may sound the same, there are three ways to spell words ending in ceed, cede, and sede: - exceed - intercede - precede - proceed - recede - secede - succeed - supersede
Memorize: The only English word that ends in sede is supersede. The only English words that end in ceed are exceed, proceed, and succeed.
3. Watch for ant and ent endings: - relevant - correspondent - eminent
4. Watch for ance and ence endings: - occurrence - perseverance
5. Watch for able and ible endings: - deductible - accessible - compatible - comfortable - affordable
6. Don’t omit silent letters: - silhouette - hemorrhage - acquisition - diaphragm - abscess
7. Don’t be confused over double consonants: - accommodate - commitment - necessary - occurrence
8. Some words are not spelled the way they are sometimes pronounced: - asterisk - separate - auxiliary - boundary - prerogative Capitalization Proper nouns that denote the names of specific persons or places are capitalized, though names that are common to a group are not. Following are examples of words that are capitalized: Acts of Congress - Civil Rights Act - Taft-Hartley Act - Child Labor Amendment - Eighteenth Amendment Associations - Society of Professional Engineers - American Business Association - Young Women’s Christian Association - American Heart Association Cars of Railroads and Automobile Models - Car 54, Train 93 - Prius - Cadillac Churches and Church Dignitaries - Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church - the Archbishop of New York - Bishop John Barnes Cities - Jefferson City, Missouri - Los Angeles - BUT—the city of Los Angeles Clubs - Possum Kingdom Club - the Do-Gooders - the Union League Club - BUT—many Toastmasters clubs in the West Codes - the Code of Building Maintenance - BUT—the building code - Code VI Compass Points Designating a Specific Region - the Northeast (section of the country), the Pacific Northwest - BUT—just drive north - the West - BUT—west of town Constitutions - the Constitution of Texas - the Constitution of the United States - BUT—the constitution of any nation Corporations - American Brake Corporation - Container Corporation of America - BUT—The corporation was dissolved. Courts - the Criminal Court of Appeals - BUT—a court of appeals - the Supreme Court - the Magistrate’s Court - BUT—a county court Decorations - Purple Heart - Good Conduct Medal - Croix de Guerre - BUT—Soldiers are given decorations to signal their acts of heroism. Degrees (academic) - B.A. - D.D.S. - M.D. - Ph.D. Districts - First Congressional District - BUT—a congressional district Educational Courses - English 101 - Spanish Grammar - Mathematics Made Easy - BUT—He is studying physics and chemistry. Epithets - First Lady of the State - Alexander the Great Fleets - the Third Fleet - BUT—The ship was part of the fleet. Foundations - Carnegie Foundation - Ford Foundation - BUT—He established a foundation. Geographic Divisions and Designations - Lone Star State - Sooner State - BUT—There are fifty states in our country. - Northern Hemisphere - South Pole - Old World, Near East Government Divisions - Federal Reserve Board - the Boston Fire Department - BUT—The department was headed by Mr. Charles Bleeker. Historical Terms - Dark Ages - Renaissance - Christian Era - World War II - Battle of the Bulge - Declaration of Independence - Magna Carta Holidays - Thanksgiving Day - Passover - Easter Sunday - New Year’s Eve Libraries - Carnegie Library - Albany Public Library - BUT—The library is a source of information. Localities - Western Europe - East Africa - Wheat Belt - West Side - Mississippi Delta Military Services - United States Navy - Signal Corps - Second Battalion - Company B - Squadron 28 Nobility and Royalty - Queen of Belgium - BUT—Many queens were honored here. - Duke of Windsor - BUT—She was proud to have met a duke. Oceans and Continents - Pacific Ocean - BUT—He was glad to be crossing the ocean. Parks - Greenleaf Park - Lake Texoma State Park - Yellowstone National Park - BUT—The park was in a southern state. People and Tribes - Jews - Christians - Malay - Chickasaw Personification - He sang about Summer in all its glory. - BUT—In summer the days are longer. Planets and Other Heavenly Bodies - Mars - Venus - Big Dipper - EXCEPTIONS: moon, sun, stars Publication Titles and Their Subdivisions - The American Way, Chapter VI - Remembrance of Things Past, Volume 11 - Forest Flower Magazine - Wall Street Journal Rivers - Mississippi River - Wabash River - BUT—The Mississippi and Wabash rivers were flooding after the torrential rains. Sports Stadiums and Teams - Dallas Cowboys - Madison Square Garden - Super Bowl - Dodgers Confusing Homonyms Homonyms are words that are pronounced the same but have different meanings; for example, brake for break or there for their.
The following is a list of commonly confused homonyms: - altar—alter - born—bourn - breach—breech - caret—carrot - compliment—complement - council—counsel - cubicle—cubical - deserts—desserts - discrete—discreet - dual—duel - foreword—forward - led—lead - mettle—metal - peace—piece - piqued—peaked - principal—principle - rein—reign—rain - ringer—wringer - role—roll - stationary—stationery - tick—tic - tow—toe - waved—waived - yoke—yolk American English and British English Differences There are differences between the way certain words are spelled in American English and the way they are spelled in British English.
Compound Words and Hyphenation Compound words are two or more words that are used to mean a single concept. Some compound words are written as two separate words with a space between them. These are called open compounds. Some compound words are combined into a single word, called closed compounds. Another variation is compound words that are separated by a hyphen. These are called hyphenated compounds. Open Compounds The following is a list of commonly used open compounds: - ad hoc - bed wetter - bona fide - drop in - half brother - life cycle - more or less - side effects - stick up - T square - time frame - under way - V neck - vice versa Closed Compounds The following is a list of commonly used closed compounds: - backslide - carryover - clearheaded - coldcock - crossbreed - deadpan - handwrite - layoffs - lifeline - longtime - makeup - ongoing - sendoff - shortlist - sidecar - standstill - stickhandle - twofold - waterlogged
Words Spelled Differently in American English and British English
Hyphenated Compounds The following is a list of commonly used hyphenated compounds: - all-encompassing - all-knowing - anti-inflammatory - back-check - bed-wetting - cold-shoulder - community-wide - cross-fertilize - dead-on - de-emphasize - do-able - ex-employee - ex-husband - multi-item - nuclear-free - off-color - pre-engineered - president-elect - self-doubts - self-esteem - stand-in - time-out - water-resistant Hyphenation with Numbers
You should include a hyphen when spelling out any two-word number or fraction: - twenty-nine - ninety-nine - thirty-six
When a fraction includes more than two numbers, you should hyphenate only the two-word number: - two and three-quarters - one twenty-fifth Negative Formations Just as not all plurals are made by adding s to a word, not all negatives are made by adding un as a prefix. There are many other methods for creating negatives. The following is a list of common negative formation techniques. A or An A or An is often used before a vowel or words beginning with h: - amoral - asexual Anti Anti is added to a word to mean “the opposite of”: - antichrist - antimatter - antifreeze - antibiotic Counter Counter is added to a word to mean “the opposite of or contrary to”: - counterculture - counterclockwise De De is added to a word to mean “the reverse of”: - decompose - demagnetize - deforestation Dis Dis is added to a word to mean “the reverse of”: - disrespectful - disarm - discontented Dys Dys is added to a word to mean “abnormal or impaired”: - dysfunctional - dyspeptic Mal Mal is added to mean “bad or incorrect”: - malformed - malfunctioning Mis Mis is added to mean “bad or incorrect”: - misuse - misinterpret - misfortune Non Non is added to a word to reverse the meaning: - nonexistent - nonfattening - nonintoxicating Un, In, Il, Im, Ir These are added to a word to reverse the meaning: - undressed - undrinkable - incapable - illegitimate - imbalance - implausible - irrefutable - irrevocable Less Less is added to the end of a word to mean “without”: - helpless - motionless - shoeless Free Free is added to a word to mean “without”: - caffeine-free - crime-free - sugar-free Commonly Misspelled Words A absence abundance accessible accidentally acclaim accommodate accomplish accordion accumulate achievement acquaintance acquire acquitted across address advertisement advice advise affect alleged amateur analysis analyze annual apartment apparatus apparent appearance arctic argument ascend atheist athletic attendance auxiliary B balloon barbecue bargain basically beggar beginning belief believe beneficial benefit biscuit boundaries business C calendar camouflage candidate Caribbean category cemetery challenge changeable changing characteristic chief choose chose cigarette climbed cloth clothes clothing collectible colonel column coming commission committee commitment comparative competent completely concede conceivable conceive condemn condescend conscience conscientious conscious consistent continuous controlled controversial controversy convenient correlate correspondence counselor courteous courtesy criticism criticize D deceive defendant deferred definitely definition dependent descend describe description desirable despair desperate develop dictionary difference dilemma dining disappearance disappoint disastrous discipline disease dispensable dissatisfied dominant drunkenness E easily ecstasy effect efficiency eighth either eligible eliminate embarrass emperor encouragement encouraging enemy entirely environment equipped equivalent especially exaggerate exceed excellence exhaust existence existent expense experience experiment explanation extremely exuberance F facsimile fallacious fallacy familiar fascinating feasible February fictitious fiery finally financially fluorescent forcibly foreign forfeit foresee formerly forty fourth fueling fulfill fundamentally G gauge generally genius government governor grammar grievous guarantee guardian guerrilla guidance H handkerchief happily harass height heinous hemorrhage heroes hesitancy hindrance hoarse hoping humorous hygiene hypocrisy hypocrite I ideally idiosyncrasy ignorance imaginary immediately implement incidentally incredible independence independent indicted indispensable inevitable influential information inoculate insurance intelligence interference interrupt introduce irrelevant irresistible island J jealousy judicial K knowledge L laboratory laid later latter legitimate leisure length license lieutenant lightning likelihood likely loneliness loose lose losing lovely luxury M magazine maintain maintenance manageable maneuver manufacture marriage mathematics medicine millennium millionaire miniature minuscule minutes miscellaneous mischievous missile misspelled mortgage mosquito mosquitoes murmur muscle mysterious N narrative naturally necessary necessity neighbor neutron ninety ninth noticeable nowadays nuisance O obedience obstacle occasion occasionally occurred occurrence official omission omit omitted opinion opponent opportunity oppression optimism optimistic orchestra ordinarily origin outrageous overrun P pamphlets parallel particular pavilion peaceable peculiar penetrate perceive performance permanent permissible permitted perseverance persistence personal personnel perspiration physical physician piece pilgrimage pitiful planning pleasant portray possess possession possessive possibility possible potato potatoes practically prairie precede precedence preceding preference preferred prejudice preparation prescription prevalent primitive principal principle privilege probably procedure proceed profession professor prominent pronounce pronunciation propaganda psychology publicly pursue Q quantity quarantine questionnaire quizzes R realistically realize really recede receipt receive recognize recommend reference referring relevant relieving religious remembrance reminiscence repetition representative resemblance reservoir resistance restaurant rheumatism rhythm rhythmical ridiculous roommate S sacrifice sacrilegious safety salary satellite scary scenery schedule secede secretary seize sense sentence separate separation sergeant several severely shepherd shining siege similar simile simply simultaneous sincerely skiing sophomore souvenir specifically specimen sponsor spontaneous statistics stopped strategy strength strenuous stubbornness studying subordinate subtle succeed success succession sufficient supersede suppress surprise surround susceptible suspicious syllable symmetrical synonymous T tangible technical technique temperamental temperature tendency themselves theories therefore thorough though through tomorrow tournament toward tragedy transferring tries truly twelfth tyranny U unanimous undoubtedly unforgettable unique unnecessary until usable usage usually utilization V vacuum valuable vengeance vigilant village villain violence visible vision virtue volume W warrant warriors weather Wednesday weird wherever whether which wholly withdrawal woman women worthwhile writing Y yacht yield young
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