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Unit 25: Spelling the schwa ending: er ar or our re a
Page 14 of 14

Unit 25: Word endings: -er, -ar, -or, -our, -re, -a and -ery,

Unit Startpage 1page 2Course Testpage 4page 5Course Testpage 7Course Testpage 9page 10Course Testpage 12page 13page 14Unit End

Page 14 of 14

Spelling the schwa ending: er, ar, or, our, re, a

homophones - learn to spell similar sounding words Homophones from this section:
If you confuse these words the computer spellchecker will not spot your mistake - so it is especially important to learn them.

metre - 100 centimetres

meter - measuring instrument		 He ran the 100 metres in 9.8 seconds.

The man came to read the gas meter.
Note:
American spelling uses meter for both meanings.

seller - person who sells

cellar - basement room		 There's a flower seller at the station.

The wine will keep cool in the cellar.

manner - way

manor - large country house		 He had a very polite manner.

The manor is now open to the public.

alter - change

altar - church table		 I'm going to alter my hair style.

There are candles on the altar.

censor - cut some parts

censer - incense burner

sensor - sensitive device

The film censor cut the most violent scene.

The priest carried the censer.

The sensor detected a movement

lumber - wood, timber

lumbar - lower back		 A lumberjack cuts down trees .

I have a pain in my lumbar region.

lava - volcanic flow

larva - young insect 		Lava is hot molten rock from a volcano.

The larva hatched from the egg.

counsellor - advisor

councillor - member of council		 Jane is a marriage guidance counsellor.

One councillor voted against building the new road.

complimentary
1) praising

2) free


complementary -
completing
1) There were complimentary remarks about my speech.
2)We have got complimentary tickets for the game.


Complementary medicine is extra to normal treatment.

stationery - paper, envelopes

stationary - remaining still 		I buy all the stationery for our office.

Our train was stationary for over an hour.
Learning tip to help your spelling These two words are confused by many people.
Remember them this way:

1) Paper is stationery Spelling English words with schwa ending
2) A car can be stationary Spelling English words with schwa ending

There is a test on these homophones after Unit 26, together with the -le words from that Unit.

This completes the work on the schwa sound at the end of words.

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