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Spelling is an important part of many different aspects of life, but no more so than in the world of job hunting. In a time when jobs are in short supply, and the number of unemployed people in America is rising daily, something as simple as correct spelling can help you stand out from the crowd.
If you put yourself in the shoes of a potential employer who has dozens of applications to sort through to create an interview shortlist, the first place you will start is by looking at the quality of the applications. The ability to use a computer is essential in nearly every job, and someone who hasn’t even bothered to use a spell checker will probably not make the cut. Every word processing program, even those that come pre-installed on the most basic machines, will contain a spell checker of some sort, and it is a second’s work to run the program.
Relying too heavily on a spell checker can be dangerous, however. Homophones, which are words that sound alike but are spelled differently (like their and there) slip under the radar. The program will only read each word by itself and compare it to a database of approved words. It does not take into account the context of the piece, nor does it allow for deliberately misspelled words, as you would find in a direct quotation. Grammar checkers will uncover most common mistakes (e.g. it’s and its), but again won’t pick up on the more complex issues.
This is why it is important to go over your own work thoroughly before submitting it, and to get someone else to proofread it for you. They will hopefully pick up on spelling and grammatical errors that you may have missed, or that you may not even be aware of.

Many words are commonly misspelled. Included in this statement are not the rare typing errors that one may come across: “teh” instead of “the”, “a” when “an” is needed, or “wat” instead of “what.” Those mistake are obvious. Need to know how to check spelling? Read on.

Words that are commonly misspelled make up special lists seen around the Internet, books dedicated to the subject, or a chapter or two written in grammar books. The reason that words typically are misspelled is pretty simple. They are an exception to a spelling rule, or they have been misspelled/ mispronounced/ misused for so long, it just became a habit.

Note the following of the top ten most misspelled words(in no particular order):

1. Misspell: All too often people forget the second ‘s’.
2. Definitely: This word tends to be mispronounced leading it’s misspelling to be“definately.”
3. A lot: Again, this word is probably due to mispronunciation. When speaking, the “a” is automatically booted next to the “lot.”
4. February: Because of mispronunciation, the first “r” is forgotten.
5. Library: Same as February
6. Separate: Often, people pronounce this the same as desperate.
7. Accidentally: The rule for changing a word to an adverb and adding -ly states that for words ending in -l, only the ‘y.’ However, this word is an exception and the extra ‘l’ is needed.
8. Committed: This word defies the rule on adding the -ed ending. The last letter is doubled in single syllable words having a consonant-vowel-consonant spelling. The root word, commit, has two syllables.
9. Principal/Principle: This pair of words are homophones. The first is the head of school, the second refers to an idea or concept. These words will be used incorrectly.
10. your: This word is a pronoun used in 2nd person. Also a homophone with the contraction, “you’re”, it unfortunately is an exceptionally common misspelling.
Incorrect use: “I was wondering if your going to the game with me?”
Correct: “Yesterday, I saw your mom at the store.”

Knowing how to check spelling when so many words are easily overlooked can become a difficult task. Making good use of an internet spell check is a good start. Most word processing programs have a spell checker that can be set up by the user. But if it isn’t set properly, or turned off, it will not be much help. Further, some email programs and programs such as notepad do not have a spell check feature. That makes a free internet spell check program a priceless utility. Even for those documents that have been checked, getting a second opinion and glance over any important text is generally recommended. Spell checking programs vary and can miss even an obvious mistake.

Memorizing commonly misspelled words will make writing and error checking an easier task. Just like cat, bat, and hat became second nature, being aware of the words used – both in spelling and context – will make a huge difference in the end result of that important document.

Since we were children and were taught spelling in school we were taught that there some rules used to spell words that if we remembered these rules, it would be easier to remember how to spell. These rules are known as mnemonics. These mnemonics are used to remember how many days are in the months; like the familiar saying “30 days hath September…” and the first letters of the five great lakes in the U.S. spell the word HOMES. The best recommendation is the use of a web spell checker not only due to the endless amount of rules governing how words are spelled; because of the countless amount of exceptions to these rules. If you do not know how to check spelling via a web spell checker; now is the time to familiarize yourself with these free and readily available tools.

The usual first spelling rule we are taught is “I before E, except after C” but it has been found that there are more exceptions to this rule than that words that governed it in the first place. This rule covers “IE” words like; siege, thief, belief and then the “EI” words like; receive, deceive, and conceit.

There a several exceptions to the “I before E” rule and here are a few in American English:

“EI” not preceded by “C;” beige, deign, dreidel, eight, feign, feint, freight, geisha, greige, neigh, neighbo(u)r, and peignoir.

But the “I” before “E” rule is not the only one that will guide us on how to check spelling. Another rule that assists us to avoid misspelling words is:

When words ends in a single consonant preceded by a single vowel and the word is one syllable or accented on the last syllable, then we should double the final consonant when adding a vowel suffix. Examples of this rule are:

beg ~ begged ~ begging
occur ~ occurred ~ occurring

Some exceptions to this rule:

flow ~ flowed ~ flowing
fix ~ fixed ~ fixing

When adding a vowel suffix to a word ending in -e the -e is dropped:

care ~ cared~ caring
desire ~ desired ~ desiring

Exceptions:

canoe ~ canoeing
mile ~ mileage
dye ~ dyeing

Adding a consonant suffix does not change the spelling of a word:

pain ~ painful
complete ~ completely

Exceptions:

argue ~ argument
judge ~ judgment
nine ~ ninth
true ~ truly

When two words are joined to form a compound word, omit no letters:

room + mate = roommate
book + keeper = bookkeeper
house + coat = housecoat

Exceptions:

past + time = pastime
where + ever = wherever

The above rules are just a small sample of the numerous rules and exceptions to those rules, so use the web spell checker to avoid misspellings at all costs!

Speakers of English—especially young children—often complain about how difficult and unpredictable the spelling of English words often is. The pronunciations of various words ending in -ough (such as “cough,” “rough,” “through,” and so forth) are a well-known example. And indeed, our writing system is handicapped compared to those of many other languages, which often have more individual letters or combinations thereof.

However, it must be acknowledged that there are indeed certain rules which can be quickly learned and applied, and which have relatively few exceptions. One of these involves silent e. This letter is dropped (1) before an ending beginning with a vowel (hope > hoping), and (2) after u before a suffix beginning in a vowel (continue > continuous). It is retained if the ending begins in a consonant (sure > surely), or to avoid confusion with a word that would otherwise be spelled identically (singeing vs. singing).

Another spelling rule involves final y. This letter is changed to i before an ending that begins with a consonant (plenty > plentiful), or before the past tense (cry > cried) and plural endings (lady > ladies). Conversely, final -ie is regularly changed to y before adding -ing (die > dying).

Final consonants are doubled before endings beginning in vowels (run > running, runner, runny). Note that this rule also avoids confusion between pairs (hop > hopping vs. hope > hoping). (Historically, a double consonant was used to indicate a preceding short vowel; this is still the case in German, e.g. Zimmer).

We have also been taught to minimize confusion between “ei” and “ie” by means of the rhyme “i before e except after c or when sounded like ay as in neighbor and weigh.” This rule does hold true for the most part (achieve vs. receive); exceptions include “either” (which can be pronounced two ways), “seize,” and “ancient.”

In English, words borrowed from Greek and Latin (often through French) tend to follow consistent orthographic patterns. Native words—those of Germanic origin—are often much harder to predict (“rather” vs. “father,” “paddle” vs. “waddle”). But English has also borrowed words from other languages around the world, and their spellings sometimes differ from those of the languages mentioned above. For example, “unique” (silent ue) is a French word, but “pulque” (with a final vowel) is a Spanish loan.

You can use your computer to check your spelling. This can be done offline—with Microsoft Word’s spellcheck software—or with a free spell checker provided online, such as spellchecker.net. You may find that the latter method is more reliable insofar as, like with all websites, updating is constantly being done.

So… when in doubt, perform a spellcheck using your computer or with an online free spell checker.