Tips and tricks for spelling words correctly

Speaker 1: It’s important to spell accurately to make sure you’re understood.

Simple words can still be difficult to spell but there are some tricks to make things easier.

Such as the words 'hear', h-e-a-r, and 'here', h-e-r-e.

They both sound the same but they mean different things.

All you need is a phrase to remind you of the difference.

Mine is: 'You hear with your ear', so I don’t get that word confused with the other here, spelt h-e-r-e, meaning a place.

I never remember how many Ds there are in 'address' so now I remember the word 'add', a-d-d, is also in address.

Same with how many 'c's and 's's there are in 'necessary'.

The phrase I use is: 'A shirt needs one collar and two sleeves.'

Necessary has one 'c' and two 's's: n-e-c-e-s-s-a-r-y.

With tough words, just find a phrase that will help you remember how you spell them.

Speaker 2: (TO OTHER PEOPLE) T-h-e-m.

Speaker 1: Sorry?

Speaker 2: That’s how you spell 'them'.

Speaker 1: Good spelling makes a positive impression on people and there are some rules that help make spelling easier.

One rule you may have heard of is 'i before e except after c'.

That’s great for words like 'friends': f-r-i-e-n-d-s.

Or 'receive': r-e-c-i-e-v-e. There are some exceptions to the rule but if you think to yourself 'i before e except after c', in most cases it will help you out.

Some words have a prefix. That’s a few letters at the start of the word that change its meaning.

Prefixes like 'un', spelt u-n, turn 'happy' into 'unhappy': u-n-h-a-p-p-y.

And when you know the prefix is always spelt u-n, remembering how many 'n's there are in 'unnecessary' becomes easier.

It’s two 'n's: u-n, the prefix, then n-e-c-e-s-s-a-r-y.

Right, time for a cake.

Speaker 2: (TO OTHER PEOPLE) Bit unnecessary.

Speaker 1: Well that’s unhelpful, unreasonable and uncivilised.

Speaker 1: Right that’s done. Print 100 copies.

Speaker 2: Oh hang on, hasn’t 'spaghetti' got an 'h'?

Speaker 1: Oh, I’m not sure. I’ll run a spell-check.

Speaker 2: (TO AUDIENCE) It doesn’t take long and checking your spelling before you finish a document is really essential.

You could check it yourself or use an automatic spell-checker.

Remember, though: a spell-checker only looks for correct spellings, so you also need to make sure you’re using the word you mean to.

Speaker 1: (TO OTHER PEOPLE) I actually want that to say 'you’re' as in 'you are' welcome to order at the counter.

Speaker 2: The spell-checker didn’t pick up 'your' because it is a word and it's spelt correctly, but it’s not the right word.

(TO AUDIENCE) If you’re not sure you’re using the right word or how it’s spelt, use a dictionary.

Speaker 1: (TO OTHER PEOPLE) Right, print. Ready to go.

(SPEAKER 2 HOLDS UP PRINTER PLUG)

Speaker 2: Almost.