If you struggle with spelling – you're not alone. One of the reasons why English spelling is so difficult is because of how inconsistent it is. Vowels – a, e, i, o, and u – are broken up into short and long sounds. To make things more confusing, there are also multiple ways of spelling each short and long vowel sound. In this post, we will look at the five long vowel sounds and the different ways to spell each one. Please note the pronunciation of some of the example words may vary depending on accent. Long A Sound There are six ways of spelling the long a sound just the letter a, like in acorn, apron, and alien with the letters a-e, like in snake, ...
When should I use ‘who’s’ and when should I use ‘whose’? The word who’s is a contraction of who is or who has. A contraction is a shortened version of a word created by the omission of a sound. In writing, the omission of a sound (which is usually a vowel) is marked with an apostrophe. Here is who’s used in some example sentences: Do you know who’s coming to the party? Who’s finished their maths homework? Emma, who’s really good at spelling, will be teaching the class today. Click here to find the Spellzone vocabulary lists featuring the word who’s. The word whose is used to ask or indicate which person s...
This week's Word for Wednesday is a word of Scottish origin, which emerged around the 19th Century. Unfortunately, it is a word that has fallen out of use although we’d love to see that change – since its so much fun! Skullduggery The word is synonymous with ‘trickery’ or ‘dishonest behavior’ but, honestly, which would you prefer to use? Next time you catch someone sneaking around or involved in something… clandestine (incidentally, another great word!) you can question his or her skullduggerous behavior! The word ‘skullduggery’ really does evoke a sense of underhandedness that you don’t get with its more commonplace s...
For the most part, it’s quite straightforward to figure out if you need to use a or an before a word. USUALLY, if the word following begins with a vowel, you should use an. For example: An apple a day keeps the doctor away. We saw an elephant at the zoo. My brother’s opinion on the television show was an interesting one. I bought an orange jumper. “I think it’s going to rain this weekend – have you packed an umbrella?” USUALLY, if the word following begins with a consonant, you should use a. For example: They work in a factory. We’re staying in a hotel by the beach. They are getting marr...
For the last month or so I’ve been sharing my favourite spelling mnemonics over on Twitter. Today, especially for those of you who don’t use Twitter, I’ve decided to round up some of them to share with you all. The thing I struggle with most when it comes to spelling the word ‘necessary’ is keeping track of how many Cs and how many Ss the word has. To combat this (and I’m about to betray how English I am!), I think of how necessary a cup of tea is in ensuring I have a good day – and once I’ve got the image tea in my mind, I think the following: “The word 'ne[c]e[ss]ary' is spelt using one [c]up and two [s]ugars”. Some ...
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