Spelling

Our mixed bag is dedicated to the following words: “caught,” “necessary,” “dessert,” “desert,” “Hanukkah,” and “Chanukah.”

British English uses “centre”, and American English prefers “center”. But is this always true? What about doubled consonants?

American English spelling omits letters compared to British English: “-or” instead of “-our”, dropping silent “e’s,” and replacing “ae” or “oe” with “e.”

British English favors verbs with the end syllable “-ise”, whereas American English uses “-ize”. But is this always true, and what are other spelling differences?

Regarding indefinite articles, this basic rule applies: “a” before a consonant, and “an” before a vowel. But is this always true?

Diseases, theories, and objects are sometimes named after their discoverers. But do we capitalize the resulting compounds?

Our mixed bag explains how to spell these words correctly: “lieutenant,” “rhythm,” “miniscule” vs. “minuscule,” and “colonel.

How do I spell languages, places, and nationalities correctly? Why should I be sensitive about where to put a hyphen?

The rules of using a hyphen are quite puzzling. We shed a light on where to put an obligatory hyphen, and when to avoid the punctuation mark.