Commonly misspelled words

The term "commonly misspelled words""AskOxford: Commonly Misspelled Words",
  Oxford University Press, 2009, webpage:
  Ask-spell .  "Canadian, British and American Spelling",
  LukeMastin.com, December 2008, webpage:
  LM-spelling. (or sometimes, "common misspelled words") is about words in English that are often spelled wrongly.

In writing, some words are often misspelled, such as the wrong spelling "concensus" for "consensus"
  "Merriam-Webster Online" (results for misspelling as "concensus"),
  Merriam-Webster, 2008, webpage:
  MW-concensus.
found in many webpages on the Internet. Other common misspellings include "equiptment" (for "equipment"),  "Merriam-Webster Online" (results for misspelling as "equiptment"),
  Merriam-Webster, December 2008, webpage:
  MW-equiptment.
"independant" (for "independent"),  "Merriam-Webster Online" (results for misspelling as "independant"),
  Merriam-Webster, December 2008, webpage:
  MW-independant.
"readible" (for readable),  "Merriam-Webster Online" (results for misspelling as "readible"),
  Merriam-Webster, December 2008, webpage:
  MW-readible.
or "usible" (for usable)."100 Most Often Misspelled Words in English",
  LoveToKnow, Corp., December 2008, webpage:
  YDict .  "Canadian, British and American Spelling – Some Commonly
  Misspelled Words", LukeMastin.com, December 2008, webpage:
  LM-misspelled.  "Merriam-Webster Online" (results for misspelling as "usible"),
  Merriam-Webster, December 2008, webpage:
  MW-usible.  "200 Most Commonly Misspelled Words (Part 1)", Richard
  Nordquist (see below: References).  "200 Most Commonly Misspelled Words (Part 2)", Richard
  Nordquist (see below: References).  "200 Most Commonly Misspelled Words (Part 3)", Richard
  Nordquist (see below: References).

 Documented list of common misspellings 
This list of about 350 words, is based on documented lists of the top 100, 200, or 400 most commonly misspelled words, rather than listing every misspelled word. Each word is followed by examples of misspellings:

 A–B 
 absence – absense, absance
 acceptable – acceptible 
 accidentally/accidently – accidentaly 
 accommodate – accomodate, acommodate
 achieve – acheive
 acknowledge – acknowlege, aknowledge
 acquaintance – acquaintence, aquaintance
 acquire – aquire, adquire 
 acquit – aquit 
 acreage – acrage, acerage
 across – accross
 address – adress
 adultery – adultary
 advertise – advertize
 advisable – adviseable, advizable
 affect – effect
 aggression – agression, aggresion
 alcohol – alchohol
 allege – alege, allage
 allegiance – allegaince, allegience, alegiance
 almost – allmost
 a lot – alot (must be 2 words)
 amateur – amatuer, amature 
 amend – ammend among – amung
 annually – anually, annualy
 apparent – apparant, aparent 
 arctic – artic
 argument – arguement
 atheist – athiest
 athlete – athelete
 average – avrage, averege
 awful – awfull, aweful
 balance – ballance, balence
 basically – basicly
 because – becuase
 becoming – becomeing
 before – befor
 beginning – begining
 believe – beleive 
 bellwether – bellweather
 benefit – benifit
 buoy/buoyant – bouy/bouyant
 breathe – breath, brethe
 brilliant – briliant
 burglar – burgler
 business – bisness, bussiness,bizness, buisness

 C–D 
 calendar – calender
 camouflage – camoflage, camoflague
 capitol – capital
 career – carrer, carreer
 careful – carefull
 Caribbean – Carribean
 category – catagory
 caught – cauhgt, caugt
 ceiling – cieling
 cemetery – cemetary, cematery
 certain – certin
 changeable – changable
 chief – cheif
 citizen – citezen
 colleague – collaegue, collegue
 collectible – collectable
 column – colum 
 comfortable - confortable
 coming – comming
 committed – commited, comitted
 competition – compitition
 concede – conceed
 congratulate – congradulate
 conscientious – consciencious 
 conscious – concious, consious  consensus – concensus
 controversy – contraversy
 convenience – conveniance
 coolly – cooly
 criticize – critecize, critisize
 daiquiri – dacquiri, daquiri 
 deceive – decieve
 decide – dicide
 definite – definate, definit
 definitely – definitly, definately, defiantly
 deposit – deposite
 describe - discribe
 desperate – desparate
 develop – develope
 difference – diffrence
 dilemma – dilema
 disappear – disapear, dissapear
 disappoint – disapoint
 disastrous – disasterous
 discipline – disipline
 doable - dooable
 does – deos, dose
 drunkenness – drunkeness 
 dumbbell – dumbell 
 during – durring

 E–H 
 easily – easely
 eight – eigth
 eighth - eigth
 either – iehter, ether
 embarrass – embarass
 environment – enviroment
 equipped – equiped
 equipment – equiptment (wrong in numerous webpages)
 exaggerate – exagerate
 exceed – excede 
 excellent – exellent, excelent
 except – exsept
 exercise – exercize, exersize
 exhausted - exausted
 exhilarate – exilerate 
 existence – existance 
 expect - exspect
 experience – experiance 
 experiment – experament
 explanation – explaination
extension - extention 
 extreme – extreem 
 familiar – familier
 fascinating – facinating, fasinating
 fiery – firey 
 finally – finaly fluorescent – flourescent
 foreign – foriegn 
 forty – fourty
 forward – foreward
 friend – freind
 fulfil – fullfil (American: fulfill)
 fundamental – fundemental
 gauge – guage
 generally – generaly, genrally
 government – goverment
 grammar – grammer
 grateful – gratefull, greatful
 guarantee – garantee, garentee, garanty
 guidance – guidence 
 happiness – happyness
 harass – harrass
 height – heighth, heigth 
 heroes – heros
 hierarchy – heirarchy 
 hors d'oeuvres – hors derves, ordeurves
 humorous – humerous 
 hygiene – hygene, hygine, higeine, hygeine
 hypocrisy/hypocrite – hipocrit

 I–K 
 identity – idenity, identidy
 ignorance – ignorence 
 imaginary – imaginery
 imitate – immitate
 imitation – immitation, imitashun
 immediately – imediately
 incidentally – incidently
 independent – independant 
 indispensable – indispensible 
 inoculate – innoculate 
 intelligence – inteligence, intelligance 
 interesting – intresting interfere
 interpretation
 interruption – interuption
 invitation
 irrelevant – irrelevent
 irritable – irritible
 island – iland
 jealous – jellous
 jewelry (UK: jewellery) – jewelery 
 judgment – judgement (issue in the U.S.)
 kernel – kernal, distinct from homophone colonel
 knowledge – knowlege

 L–O 
 laboratory – labratory
 leisure – liesure 
 length – lenght
 lesson – leson 
 liaison – liason
 library – libary, liberry 
 license – lisence (US always license, UK noun licence)
 lightning – lightening 
 loneliness – lonelyness
 lose – loose
 losing – loosing, loseing
 lying – lieing
 maintenance – maintenence, maintnance
 maneuver – manuever, manuver (UK: manoeuvre)
 marriage – marrige
 mathematics – mathmatics
 medicine – medcine
 medieval – medeval, medevil, mideval 
 memento – momento 
 millennium – millenium, milennium
 miniature – miniture
 minuscule – miniscule
 minute – minite mischievous – mischevous, mischevious 
 misspell – mispell, misspel
 mysterious – misterius, misterious
 naturally – naturaly
 necessary – neccessary, necessery
 niece – neice
 neighbour – nieghbour, and neighbor – nieghbor 
 neither – niether
 noticeable – noticable 
 occasion – occassion
 occasionally – occasionaly, occassionally 
 occurrence – occurrance, occurence 
 occurred – occured
 official – oficial
 often – offen
 omission – ommision, omision
 operate – oprate
 opportunity – oppurtunity
 optimism – optimisim
 original – orignal
 ought
 outrageous – outragous

 P–Q 
 paid – payed
 parallel – parrallel, parellel
 parliament – parliment
 particularly – particurly
 pastime – passtime, pasttime 
 peculiar – peculier
 perceive – percieve
 perform – preform
 permanent – pernament
 perseverance – perseverence 
 personally – personaly
 personnel – personell, personel
 persuade – persaude
 picture – pichure, pitcher
 piece – peice
 planning – planing
 plagiarize – plagerize
 playwright – playright, playwrite
 pleasant – plesant
 political – pollitical
 possession – posession, possesion
 possible
 potatoes – potatos
 practical – practicle precede – preceed 
 prefer
 prejudice – predjudice
 presence – presance
 principle – principal 
 privilege – privelege, priviledge
 probably – probly
 professional – proffesional
 professor – professer
 promise – promiss 
 pronunciation – pronounciation 
 proof – prufe 
 prophecy (as noun) – prophesy (valid as verb)
 psychology – psycology
 publicly – publically
 quantity – quanity
 quarantine – quarentine
 quarter - korter
 queue – que (from Bar-B-Que)
 questionnaire – questionaire, questionnair
 quite – distinct from quiet

 R–S 
 readable – readible 
 realize – relize
 really – realy
 receive – recieve
 receipt – reciept 
 recognize – reconize, reckonize
 recommend – recomend, reccommend
 referred – refered 
 reference – referance, refrence 
 relevant – relevent, revelant
 religious – religous, religius
 repetition – repitition
 restaurant – restarant 
 rhyme – rime, ryme 
 rhythm – rythm, rythem
 ridiculous – rediculous, ridicolous
 sacrifice – sacrefice
 safety – saftey, safty
 scissors – sissors secretary – secratary, secretery
 seize – sieze
 separate – seperate
 sergeant – sargent 
 shining – shineing
 similar – similer, simmilar, simular
 sincerely – sinceerly
 skilful – skilfull (American: skillful)
 soldier – solider
 speech – speach, speeche (archaic)
 stopping – stoping
 strength – strenght
 studying 
 succeed – succede
 successful – succesful, successfull, sucessful
 supersede - supercede 
 surely – surelly
 surprise – suprise, surprize

 T–Z 
 temperature – temperture
 temporary – temprary
 their – they're 
 through – thru
 tomatoes – tomatos
 tomorrow – tommorrow
 tongue – tounge
 toward
 tries – trys
 truly – truely, trully
 twelfth – twelth 
 tyranny – tyrany 
 underrate – underate
 until – untill 
 unusual – unuseual
 upholstery – upholstry
 usable/useable – usible  using – useing
 usually – usualy
 vacuum – vaccuum, vacume 
 vegetarian – vegatarian
 vehicle – vehical
 vicious – visious
 village – villege
 weather – wether 
 weird – wierd
 welcome – wellcome
 welfare – wellfare, welfair
 whether – wether
 wilful – wilfull (American: willful)
 withhold – withold
 writing – writting, writeing 

Common causes of those misspellings
 Mispronunciation 
Mispronunciation is one of the most common causes of misspelling.  "How to Prepare for the Canadian GED High School Equivalency
  Exam", Murray Rockowitz, Dale Shuttleworth, et al.,
  2002, , p.177, Google Books webpage:
  GoogleB-9LU.

 Typing errors 
Some spelling errors are because people's typing is not perfect, such as
 letters are doubled or tripled, such as "careeer" and "betweeen"
 letters are singled, such as "betwen"
 keys are transposed, so "because" becomes "becuase".

 Foreign words 
A misspelling in English might be a legitimate spelling in another language; for example, the word "address" is spelled in German as "adress" (one letter "d"). "immigrate" can be written "inmigrate" by speakers of Spanish.

Notes

References
 "100 Most Often Misspelled Words in English", LoveToKnow, Corp., December 2008, webpage: YDict .
 "Canadian, British and American Spelling", LukeMastin.com, December 2008, webpage: LM-spelling.
 "Canadian, British and American Spelling: Some Commonly Misspelled Words", LukeMastin.com, December 2008, webpage: LM-misspelled.
 "Merriam-Webster Online" (results for misspelling as "concensus"), Merriam-Webster, 2008, webpage: MW-concensus.
 "200 Most Commonly Misspelled Words (Part 1)", Richard Nordquist, About.com, December 2008, webpage: Aboutcom-misspelled-A .
 "200 Most Commonly Misspelled Words (Part 2)", Richard Nordquist, About.com, December 2008, webpage: Aboutcom-misspelled-B .
 "200 Most Commonly Misspelled Words (Part 3)", Richard Nordquist, About.com, December 2008, webpage: Aboutcom-misspelled-C .

 Other websites 
 "100 Most Often Misspelled Words in English", LoveToKnow, Corp., December 2008, webpage: YDict-100 .

Category:English words and phrases
Category:Spelling