A Gray/Grey Area
Gray is common in American English, while grey is more common in British English (also in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and South Africa).
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Teaching You How To Spell “Tomorrow,” Today
We love to think about the future—whether we’re making plans for next year, next month, or tomorrow. If you’re making plans for the day after today, you might be wondering how many “m’s” and “r’s” are in this word. Don’t wait for tomorrow to learn how to spell this word. Today, we’ll teach you the correct spelling of tomorrow.
- Tomorow, tommorow, tomoro, tommorrow, tomorro, tomarow
- Tomorrow
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Silent H—The W(h)y, the W(h)en, and the W(h)ere
Knowing when an “h” is silent and when it’s not can be hard. We’re going to explain where a silent “h” is usually found and provide examples.
- A silent “h” can be found at the beginning (honor), middle (aghast), or end (stomach) of words.
- An “h” can be silent on its own, or as part of a consonant digraph (a combination of letters that produce one single sound).
- A few examples of words with a silent “h” are: echo, honest, psychic, and while.
Silent letters can make proper pronunciation a challenge because most of the time, there are no patterns or rules one can follow. Knowing which words have silent letters takes years of practice and familiarization. In this article, we’re going to teach you about one silent letter in particular: the silent “h.”
The “h” in “hourglass” is silent.Continue reading: Silent H—The W(h)y, the W(h)en, and the W(h)ere
Silent E—What’s It Got to Giv(e)?
A silent “e” at the end of a word can change the pronunciation and meaning of a word (e.g., hop vs. hope). But it also changes the pronunciations in words in which omitting the “e” isn’t possible (e.g., strike or bike).
Not only can silent “e’s” change the pronunciation of preceding vowels, but of consonants as well. Silent “e’s” also help prevent words from ending in a “u” or “v,” and help avoid confusion with plural nouns and third-personal singular verbs (e.g., base, promise).
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Getting to (K)now Silent Letters
The English language can be exasperating. For example, sometimes “y” is a vowel, sometimes it’s not. Cough, rough, and though all have very distinct pronunciations. Plus, there are hundreds of new words added to the dictionary every year. But among all the quirks the English language has, perhaps none is as baffling as silent letters.
Yes, there are silent letters. Please don’t shut your laptop in frustration or hurl your mobile phone across the room. This is a first in a series of articles that will bring some order to the chaos and will expand your knowledge on silent letters by providing an honest and thorough explanation about what they are and why they exist.
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Trying to Make Sense of English Spelling Rules
English spelling is challenging. In this article, you will learn three of the most common spelling rules and a few of their exceptions.
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Explaining the French Spelling of Restaurant
A restaurant is a place and business where food and beverages are served to the customers. The word is often considered tricky to spell.
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The Gnarly Silent “G”
There’s nothing quite as infuriating about the English language as silent letters. These are letters that are used to spell a word, but aren’t explicitly pronounced when said aloud. Every letter in the English alphabet is a silent letter in at least one word. This post will focus on the silent “g.”
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Traveling and Spelling are Both Difficult Maneuvers
Just recently, the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference took place in Glasgow, Scotland. The whole world skeptically looked onto the governments and organizations which were debating for almost a whole week. As a language blogger, something minor caught my eye: The place of the conference was the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre. Obviously, the word centre is spelled with “-re” at the end. But at first, it looked wrong to me, I thought that international names would prefer “-er” in these cases. Let’s have another overview of American spelling patterns, shall we?
The Scottish Exhibition and Conference “Centre.” Photo Credit: Jeff Whyte
| ✔️ British English | BrE example | ✔️ American English | AmE example |
|---|---|---|---|
| -re | centre | -er | center |
| -ll- | travelling, travelled | -l- | traveling, traveled |
| Miscellaneous | cosy, doughnut, grey, tyre, aeroplane | Miscellaneous | cozy, donut, gray, tire, airplane |
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Learn How To Spell and Use “Breathe” and “Breath” Correctly
We’re going to explain the difference between “breath” and “breathe” and show you a way to remember how to always use these words correctly.
- Breath (noun) refers to the air you inhale and then exhale. Breathe (verb) refers to the act of inhaling air into your lungs and then exhaling it.
The doctor told me to take a deep breath. (Noun)
The doctor told me to breathe deeply. (Verb)
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