The most commonly misspelled word in the English language

[peacetraveler22]

Do you know what it is? I notice it frequently in comments, and communications with foreign friends. Even the most intelligent and proficient speakers of English as a second language often spell the term wrong. The word is "DEFINITELY", and the most common error is to spell it "definAtely", where an "a" is used instead of an "i". Phonetically, this makes sense, and even native English speakers periodically spell the word wrong.

I was reminded of this today when I began to read a post about studying English via Skype lessons. The blogger mentioned all kinds of tenses - present perfect progressive, past perfect, past perfect simple. I must have learned these tenses in school over 20 years ago, but what the hell do they mean? :) I don't even think about them now as a native English speaker, although the tenses are self-explanatory if you contemplate the basic essence of the words. When I studied Russian for a short time, I wasn't concerned about proper grammar or spelling, because the goal was simply to be able to speak basic phrases during travels and communicate with locals in their native tongue. Some things that still confuse me about Russian:

(1) In Russian, many words are not capitalized. For instance, book titles or titles of blog posts. In English, we use a lot of capital letters.
(2) I notice that in business communications with Russian companies, they put a period after their name at the end of a salutation, which we do not do in English. For example:

Kind regards,
Shannon.

The period looks totally out of place to me.

(3) The biggest - gender for words! I don't understand how you ascertain the sex of an object? :) I know it is determined by the spelling and ending of the noun in most cases. But logically, why are passports and bread masculine rather than feminine?

Just another quick English lesson from Shannon. :) You will recall we previously discussed improper use of "YAmmy" rather than "YUmmy" here, and overall complications with English words in this post. Good luck to those who continue to study my native language! If you have any questions, never hesitate to write me. I'm always happy to help, and I greatly admire the dedication and knowledge of the multi-lingual folks around the globe!

In informal communications in my blog and with foreign friends, I never point out wrongly spelled words or improper grammar, but it grates on my nerves when native speakers misspell words and use bad grammar! I think this is a global epidemic, now that newer generations speak in weird text lingo, and shortened phrases or acronyms. Humanity is doomed! :))

Comments

[ivalnick.livejournal.com]

It's not as difficult as "выкарабкивающиеся". :-)

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

This is the problem with a lot of Russian words - too long!! I lose focus trying to figure out the pronunciation by the time I get to the last Cyrillic letter. :))

[real-marsel.livejournal.com]

My favourite theam!

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

Glad to help! Btw, since this post focuses on English and spelling, I will make a rare exception and correct mistakes in comments. It should be "theme", not "theam". :)

[boevoi-yozhik.livejournal.com]

easy to translate, btw
"definAtely" = "опрИделенно" или "несАмненно" :)

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the example! Things that confused me about Russian - (1) not using capital letters often; (2) periods at the end of salutations in business correspondence; and (3) gender for words. I updated the post to say this. :)

[vw-patent.livejournal.com]

I think if a person knows that "definition" is related to "definitely", she will not be able to misspell the latter.

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

People are often in such a rush when typing words that they rarely think about their origins. :) I've always been a good speller. I think it's because my parents bought me this electronic toy when I was very young, and I couldn't put the thing down. :) It was called a "Speak & Spell." Very old school! :)) They also had a "Math & Speak", but I was never that interested in numbers. Only words, words, words...:) Maybe you had similar toys in Soviet times?

[iklin.livejournal.com]

English tenses and articles (a/an/the) are the most difficult things for Russians.
It's not hard to remember how they're constructed.
But it's hard to understand the logic of using.
Not "we use this... then..." but "we use this... then... because...".

[verniy-leninetz.livejournal.com]

"We use this WHEN *something*" :)

[verniy-leninetz.livejournal.com]

Seems strange, but I've used to spell it like "de'finitly", excluding last "e".

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

It doesn't seem strange, because if you are accustomed to spelling based solely on phonetics, then the way you wrote it is logical. When I used to work with illiterate adults, we taught word recognition by sight, flash cards, etc. Not phonetics. I'm not a linguist nor teacher, so I have no idea which method is more effective.

[alexanderr.livejournal.com]

English also assigns gender to some words. Like, ship is always a she and sun is a he. Makes no sense if you ask me, but those rules are pretty firm

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

Ship is the only example I know of. Never heard of the sun being referred to as a "he." Also, how do you refer to countries, by calling the country "he", "she" or "it"? America is beautiful! It is so diverse! He is so diverse! She is so diverse! :))

[iklin.livejournal.com]

In Russian, the gender of a words is not a thing to ascertain. It's the thing to remember.
Sure, if native Russian speaker see the word he/she can make a supposition depending on all known words. But his/her supposition can be wrong in some cases. :)
I can be mistaken but I think that the gender of the words arose at an ancient times of spiritualism when people believe every thing have their own spirit, their own soul thus the gender. For now it makes no sense but some contemporary languages keep the memory of that times.

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

I do not study languages, and always wondered why gender distinctions were necessary. But the explanation you just provided makes sense. :)

[egorov.livejournal.com]

Oh, nice to see the feedback in your blog ) I still have a plan to make English blog, but I cannot see now really good place to create this blog.

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

There is no good place to create an English blog - it must be a stand alone site. That is why I write here. :)

[3as7.livejournal.com]

As I've mentioned on Facebook, the most common mistake is your/you're.

By the way, drivers in India and China are worse than in NYC.

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

I seem to notice improper use of "their, they're and there" more. :) Hi Aleksey! It is nice to place people and faces with LJ usernames. Now I know who you are. :)

[agathpher.livejournal.com]

What happened to your move to Georgia, are you going?

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

I was offered the position, but only for a full year contract. And I had to leave in only a few weeks. It is too soon, and one year is too long to commit to living in a place I've never even seen. So, I will go to Georgia in October to explore, and join this teaching program later if I like the country. :) It is always an option, because they desperately need native speakers. Not too many Americans are rushing to live in Georgia...:)

[creaze.livejournal.com]

> book titles or titles of blog posts. In English, we use a lot of capital letters.

In Russian, only the first letter of a title is capitalized. I've also noticed, that in English capital letters are used a lot more frequent. For example, every time a language is mentioned — even as adjective.

We make it up in commas, though.

> I don't understand how you ascertain the sex of an object? :)

This is a washtub:


As long as you use it as one, it remains, like all objects in English, neutral.

But put it afloat, and it becomes a she.

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

Why are washtubs going afloat? People use them as rafts? :))

[sergechel.livejournal.com]

> I don't understand how you ascertain the sex of an object? :)

In most cases, if a word ends with consonant letter - it is male, with vowel letter - it is female, with letter 'o' - neutral

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

Yes, I understand but it is all very strange and still does not make sense to me from a logic standpoint to say that a table is male of female. :) And there are a lot of exceptions to the basic rule, which confuse non-native Russian speakers!

The most commonly misspelled word in the English language

[livejournal.livejournal.com]

User karbunkul_lug referenced to your post from The most commonly misspelled word in the English language (http://karbunkul-lug.livejournal.com/243491.html) saying: [...] Оригинал взят у в The most commonly misspelled word in the English language [...]

[nkhaba.livejournal.com]

Regarding the genders of nouns - it's the same problem with French as well :-) And, for a native Russian speaker it's even more frustrating because the noun meaning the same thing in Russian and French may very well have different genders :-), so you can't rely on your knowledge of genders in Russian when studying French and have to memorize the genders of French nouns :-( Just trying to say that Russian is not that unique in its difficulty, at least in some regard :-)

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

At least French uses the same alphabet as English, with some similar sounds. :)

[kremlin-curant.livejournal.com]

My iPad usually corrects all misspelled words. Now I try with definetly. No, this word it didn't correct. Pity.

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

You can't always rely on auto-correct or spellcheck. Because they still does not ensure you are using the proper words. For instance, "rifle" and "riffle" are both words, and one could easily be written in the place of the other by accident. Spell check would not correct this. Or, "two" vs. "too", "their" vs. "there" - lots of other examples. However, I agree, for informal communications these auto-correct options are sometimes handy. :)

[ariuslynx.livejournal.com]

This is really strange, because all kids in our schools know how to spell "definite" and "indefinite" (article).

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

Spelling is a skill, like everything else - reading, writing, mathematics. Children learn lots of things in school, but lose the knowledge in adulthood for many reasons. This includes spelling, and for me math. Because I don't use math in any aspect of my job, and minimally in daily duties. And now, kids communicate in an entirely different way and language. In some schools, they do not even teach cursive writing anymore. I find this strange....

[wellvalua.livejournal.com]

my most misspelled words:
Receive
Necessary
Disease
Ingredients
c and s are confising :( also I don't hear much difference between long and short vowels :((

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

Sorry, I can't concentrate on your comment because your avatar confuses me. :)) I don't understand the imagery? Is it a bunny?

[theodorexxx.livejournal.com]

Google Dictionary plugin rules!

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

Google is a life saver, on many levels! Hello! :)

[hand-file.livejournal.com]

Не думаю, что русские часто делают такую ошибку. В русском языке есть слово иностранного происхождения "дефинИция", которое подсказывает правильность написания указанного английского наречия.

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

Russians often make the mistake. I am communicating with a lot of them in emails, and here in my blog. :)

[theodorexxx.livejournal.com]

btw i have to remind myself the difference b/w "than" and "then"
but the hardest part about English is pronunciation: shit and sheet, ship and sheep, can't and cunt, lose and loose
and prepositions are difficult too: fuck/fuck off/fuck up - 1 word but different actions

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

First, you should never use the word "cunt." :)) There are so many English slang words and expressions incorporating the word "fuck," that it would be next to impossible for a non-native speaker to comprehend, or know, them all. This articles says there are 69 phrases - how many of them do you recognize? I doubt many. :)) Maybe it's similar to "блядь" in Russian, or " Хуй." - http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a29823/fk-irreverent-history-excerpt/

[creaze.livejournal.com]

> I don't understand how you ascertain the sex of an object?

BTW, this is no big problem in Russian. Most of the times, the ending of a word fives a pretty distinct indication, which gender it is. German words don't, and they still have genders — this is where it gets difficult.

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

About German, I know nothing. I have never tried to study this language, and my friends from German speaking countries all speak perfect English. So, yes, I recognize Americans are so spoiled when it comes to language, because ours is still the universal one. :)

[dorli87.livejournal.com]

It is a little funny about learning Russian))
There is other kind of difficulty In English as for me - too many synonyms for every word.

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

I think it's the same in most languages. You can use a lot of different words to express the same sentiment. :)

[elena-88888.livejournal.com]

Hi Shannon,
Nice lesson :))
As for me and as for shortening phrases and words sometimes it makes life easier and/or faster. What do you say usually "of course" or "sure"? I mean that sometimes our life is so hectic that it's better to use some shortening when it is irrelevant and when you are out of time. Moreover our phones sometimes aren't too friendly to use them for nice calligraphic typing :)))

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

Hi! Well, I rarely have conversations via text, and even then I take the time to type out the full words. But I understand I'm strange. Most people do not. :)) Hope you are having a nice summer!

[letberg.livejournal.com]

Checked myself - I spell it correctly! Pride-pride ).
1) Capitalization is the complicated theme in Russian. When I work with textes I use special dictionary for ambiguous cases.
2) High matters and a sole for battles in language specialists. Never mind!
3) This isn't quite a problem though. There are 3 inclinations in Russian:
1-st masculine and feminine ending -а, -я, like мама, папа, баня etc.;
2-nd neutral ending -о, -е, like море, небо, and masculine ending with a consonant or -ь, like стол, мяч, огонь etc.;
3-th feminine ending with a sibilant consonant and -ь, like мышь, печь, вещь, ночь, etc.
And the exlusion: about a douzen of neutral words ending with -мя, like: имя, пламя, вымя, знамя, семя and so on.
That's all, it isn't difficult.

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

Congratulations! I still don't understand the capitalization rules. For instance, we people speak about languages (e.g. Russian, they do not capitalize the "R"), and what about country names? Are they capitalized in Russian?