Common errors in English usage - misspelled words list - daily 10 words - Part 2

100's/hundreds

It looks cheesy to spell "hundreds" as "100's"; and it isn't really
logical because "100" doesn't mean "hundred"--it means specifically "one
hundred."

BRAKE/BREAK

You brake to slow down; if your brakes fail and you drive through a

plate-glass window, you will break it.

COPYWRITE/COPYRIGHT

You can copyright writing, but you can also copyright a photograph or

song. The word has to do with securing rights. Thus, there is no such

word as "copywritten"; it's "copyrighted."

DAIRY/DIARY

A common typo that won't be caught by your spelling checker is swapping

"dairy" and "diary." Butter and cream are dairy products; your journal

is your diary.

ENQUIRE/INQUIRE

These are alternative spellings of the same word. "Enquire" is perhaps

slightly more common in the UK, but either is acceptable in the US

FOREVER/FOR EVER

UK writers most often use the two-word phrase "for ever," whereas

Americans strongly prefer the one-word form "forever." Each nationality

is liable to think the other is making a mistake.

GAURD/GUARD

Too bad the Elizabethan "guard" won out over the earlier, French-derived

spelling "garde"; but the word was never spelled "gaurd." The standard

spelling is related to Italian and Spanish "guarda," pronounced

"gwarda."

HEAR/HERE

If you find yourself writing sentences like "I know I left my wallet

hear!" you should note that "hear" has the word "ear" buried in it and

let that remind you that it refers only to hearing and is always a verb

(except when you are giving the British cheer "Hear! Hear!" ). "I left

my wallet here" is the correct expression. "Here" is where you are,

never something you do.

INCASE/IN CASE

Just in case you haven't figured this out already: the expression "in

case" is two words, not one. There is a brand of equipment covers sold

under the InCase brand, but that's a very different matter, to be used

only when you need something in which to encase your iPad.

JUDGEMENT/JUDGMENT

In Great Britain and many of its former colonies, "judgement" is still

the correct spelling, but ever since Noah Webster decreed the first E

superfluous, Americans have omitted it. Many of Webster's crotchets have

faded away (each year fewer people use the spelling "theater," for

instance); but even the producers of "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" chose

the traditional American spelling. If you write "judgement" you should

also write "colour."