Common misspelling in English

Common misspellings
Here’s a quick-reference guide to the top misspellings according to the English – an electronic collection of over 2 billion words of real English that helps us to see how people are using the language and also shows us the mistakes that are most often made.
 
The table gives the correct spelling of the word, handy tips on getting it right, and also the most common misspellings that we’ve found in our research, so you can check to see if any of the same mistakes have been tripping you up.
 
Correct spelling
Spelling advice
Common misspelling

accommodate, accommodation
two cs, two ms
accomodate, accomodation

achieve
i before e
acheive

across
one c
accross

aggressive, aggression
two gs
agressive, agression

apparently
-ent not -ant
apparantly

appearance
ends with -ance
appearence

argument
no e after the u
arguement

assassination
two double s’s
assasination

basically
ends with -ally
basicly

beginning
double n before the -ing
begining

believe
i before e
beleive, belive

bizarre
one z, double -r
bizzare

business
begins with busi-
buisness

calendar
-ar not -er
calender

Caribbean
one r, two bs
Carribean

cemetery
ends with -ery
cemetary

chauffeur
ends with -eur
chauffer

colleague
-ea- in the middle
collegue

coming
one m
comming

committee
double m, double t, double e
commitee

completely
ends with -ely
completly

conscious
-sc- in the middle
concious

curiosity
-os- in the middle
curiousity

definitely
-ite- not –ate-
definately

dilemma
-mm- not -mn-
dilemna

disappear
one s, two ps
dissapear

disappoint
one s, two ps
dissapoint

ecstasy
ends with –sy
ecstacy

embarrass
two rs, two s’s
embarass

environment
n before the m
enviroment

existence
ends with -ence
existance

Fahrenheit
begins with Fahr-
Farenheit

familiar
ends with -iar
familar

finally
two ls
finaly

fluorescent
begins with fluor-
florescent

foreign
e before i
foriegn

foreseeable
begins with fore-
forseeable

forty
begins with for-
fourty

forward
begins with for-
foward

friend
i before e
freind

further
begins with fur-
futher

gist
begins with g-
jist

glamorous
-mor- in the middle
glamourous

government
n before the m
goverment

guard
begins with gua-
gaurd

happened
ends with -ened
happend

harass, harassment
one r, two s’s
harrass, harrassment

honorary
-nor- in the middle
honourary

humorous
-mor- in the middle
humourous

idiosyncrasy
ends with -asy
idiosyncracy

immediately
ends with -ely
immediatly

incidentally
ends with -ally
incidently

independent
ends with -ent
independant

interrupt
two rs
interupt

irresistible
ends with -ible
irresistable

knowledge
remember the d
knowlege

liaise, liaison
remember the second i: liais-
liase, liason

lollipop
i in the middle
lollypop

millennium, millennia
double l, double n
millenium, millenia

Neanderthal
ends with -thal
Neandertal

necessary
one c, two s’s
neccessary

noticeable
remember the middle e
noticable

occasion
two cs, one s
ocassion, occassion

occurred, occurring
two cs, two rs
occured, occuring

occurrence
two cs, two rs, -ence not -ance
occurance, occurence

pavilion
one l
pavillion

persistent
ends with -ent
persistant

pharaoh
ends with -aoh
pharoah

piece
i before e
peice

politician
ends with -cian
politican

Portuguese
ends with –guese
Portugese

possession
two s’s in the middle and two at the end
posession

preferred, preferring
two rs
prefered, prefering

propaganda
begins with propa-
propoganda

publicly
ends with –cly
publically

really
two ls
realy

receive
e before i
recieve

referred, referring
two rs
refered, refering

religious
ends with -gious
religous

remember
-mem- in the middle
rember, remeber

resistance
ends with -ance
resistence

sense