Words You Should Know How to Spell (56 page)

• xylophone
  

• yacht
  

• yesterday
  

• yield
  

• yogurt
  

• you're
  

• your
  

• zeal
  

• zephyr
  

• zoology
  

If only everything had a rule you could count on! The following rules are helpful — but, like most things in life, only up to a point. Since nothing is perfect,
do
use the aid these provide, but also be aware that an exception may pop up at any moment.

• An
  abbé
  is a member of the clergy.
  Abby
  (or
  Abbey
  or
  Abbie
  ) is a woman's name. An
  abbey
  is a monastery or a church.
  

• Like any term transliterated from a different alphabet,
  al Qaeda
  is spelled in different ways. But you're likely to be safe with this widely accepted form of the Arabic term for “the base.”
  

• A woman graduate is an
  alumna
  . Women are
  alumnae
  . A man is an
  alumnus
  . Men are
  alumni
  . Graduates in a mixed-gender group are also called
  alumni
  .
  

• An
  auger
  is a device with spiral threads — like a drill-bit. To
  augur
  is to predict, especially through signs or omens.
  

• Bass
  , when pronounced with a long “a” (sounds like
  base
  ) means “low,” as in “bass horn.” When it has a short “a” sound (rhymes with “lass”), it refers to a fish.
  

• A
  bole
  is a tree-trunk; a
  boll
  is a round seed-container of plants such as cotton or flax; a
  bowl
  is a wide, deep dish; to
  bowl
  is to roll a ball at tenpins.
  

• In India,
  brahman
  is a title of respect; it's also the name for a breed of cattle. A
  Brahmin
  is a member of a cultural or social elite, as in a
  Boston Brahmin
  . (Note:
  Brahmin
  is considered a variant of
  Brahman
  for both people and cattle, although both spellings are in fairly common use.)
  

• Calvary
  is the name of a hill;
  cavalry
  refers to troops on horseback.
  

• A
  censer
  is a dish for burning incense. A
  sensor
  detects the presence of something. A
  censor
  is someone who tries to remove or suppress something considered objectionable. To
  censure
  (sin-sure) is to criticize harshly.
  

• The
  core
  is the center of something; a
  corps
  is a group of people (often a military group, like the Marine Corps), a
  corpse
  is no longer alive.
  

• To
  dissemble
  is to conceal the truth, to act or speak hypocritically. To
  disassemble
  is to take apart.
  

• Watch out for
  its
  and
  it's
  . If you'll think of the apostrophe in
  it's
  as a little floating “i,” this will help you remember that
  it's
  means
  it is
  (or sometimes
  it has
  ). And
  its
  is a possessive pronoun, so you could say “
  It's
  time for the dog to have
  its
  dinner.”
  

• Kudos
  , meaning “praise,” may look like a plural, but it isn't. So there is no
  kudo
  .
  

• Liable
  (three syllables) is a formal term for “legally responsible,” and informal for “likely to.”
  Libel
  (two syllables) refers to the crime of defaming someone in writing. “You're
  liable
  to be
  liable
  for
  libel
  .”
  

• Liqueur
  [lick ERR]is the sweet, strongly flavored alcoholic beverage drunk after dinner.
  Liquor
  [LICK er] is the more generic distilled alcoholic beverage, such as whiskey or gin.
  

• Be careful with the tricky French ending of
  longueur
  . You'll also find it in
  liqueur
  .
  

• Watch out for the strange combinations of letters in both halves of the word
  maelstrom
  . From the Dutch for “whirling stream,” this word has nothing to do with
  male
  or
  storm
  .
  

• In
  occurrence
  , the “r” doubles to help establish that the vowel sound in
  occur
  doesn't change. Similarly:
  occurring
  .
  

• Both
  renaissance
  (REN a sance) and
  renascence
  (ren ASS ance) are acceptable forms of the word meaning “rebirth.” In the United States you'll more often see and hear the first form.
  

• To
  review
  something is to go over it again. A
  review
  is a written evaluation, often of a book, play, or other work of art. A
  revue
  is a variety show of skits, songs, and other material, often satirical.
  

• Saccharin
  is a sugar substitute. But
  saccharine
  is the spelling for the adjective describing people — or books or movies — that are somewhat sickly sweet.
  

• A
  secret
  is something you keep private, but
  secrete
  (suh KREET) is a verb that can mean to hide something away or, in reference to the body, to generate a substance.
  

• You'll often see
  sulphur
  as well as
  sulfer
  , particularly in older writing. But don't confuse either with
  sulfa
  drugs.
  

• Sine
  is a mathematical function, not to be confused with the common word
  sign
  or the word in the Scots dialect phrase auld lang
  syne
  .
  

• You'll also see
  travelled
  for the past tense of travel, but
  traveled
  is more frequent in the United States.
  

• Don't confuse
  write
  , the common verb for forming words on paper, with
  right
  (the opposite of wrong) or
  rite
  (a ceremony or ritual) — not to mention
  wright
  , a suffix for a maker of something.
  

You'll also hear memory hooks called by their more formal term “mnemonic devices.” It comes from Mnemosyne, the Greek goddess of memory. Before you go on to our samples, understand that the idea is to learn to make up your own mnemonics. Some of the sentences you make up will be pretty silly — and that's fine. You're not trying to write great literature; you're trying to make up a sentence that will help you spell troublesome words!

• To remember the difference between
  adopt
  and
  adapt
  , use the middle letter of each word. The “a” reminds us that to
  adapt
  something is to ch
  a
  nge it, and to
  adopt
  it is to take it as your
  o
  wn.
  

• Adverse
  usually refers to things or conditions, while
  averse
  refers to people: “She was
  averse
  to moving to Iceland because of the
  adverse
  weather conditions there.” Notice that the one with the “d” refers to
  d
  umb (unthinking) things — not people.
  

• Appraise
  means “evaluate,” and
  apprise
  means “inform.” When you meet with your supervisor for your performance
  appraisal
  , you'd like to get
  praise
  , and maybe even a
  raise
  . And the word with a simple “i” means to
  i
  nform. So you'd say “Please
  appraise
  the situation, and keep me
  apprised
  .”
  

• Most
  capitOl
  buildings have a dOme on top.
  Capital
  means “important, major, serious” — capital city, capital idea, capital letter, capital punishment.
  

• Complement
  means
  to complete
  or
  something that completes
  . To
  compliment
  is to say something
  nice
  . So link the “i” in n
  i
  ce to compl
  i
  ment, or the “e” in compl
  e
  te to compl
  e
  ment.
  

• A
  council
  is a group of people who meet for a common purpose.
  Counsel
  can mean to
  advise
  someone, and either the advisor or the advice itself can be called
  counsel
  . Link
  council
  (the one with the internal “c” not “s”) to
  committee
  (which begins with a “c”).
  

• To remember that
  eminent
  refers to
  people
  who are outstanding in their professions, think “h
  E
  and sh
  E
  are
  Eminent
  .” And to remember that
  imminent
  refers to a thing or event that is very likely to happen soon, think “
  I
  t is
  I
  mminent.”
  

• If you'll mentally link the
  E
  at the beginning of
  Emigrate
  to
  E
  xit, it will help you remember that to
  emigrate
  is to move
  out of
  a country or place. And linking the first letter of
  Immigrate
  to
  I
  nto will remind you that
  Immigrants
  are people who move
  Into
  a country or place.
  

• Roman numerals can help you remember how to spell
  existence
  . Just trim an
  e
  off each end, then think “X is ten, C (see)?”
  

• A
  floe
  is a flat expanse of floating ice. To remember that
  flow
  refers to moving current, link the last letter in
  floW
  to the first letter in
  Water
  . (And you could link the last letter in
  floE
  to the first letter in
  Expanse
  .)
  

• Forego
  means “to go before” (hint: link
  fore
  and
  before
  ). To
  forgo
  means “to go without” (and it's the one that
  goes without the e
  ). Example: The
  foregoing
  hint will help you remember how to spell these words, but that doesn't mean you can
  forgo
  using this handy book.
  

• Hangar
  (with an “a”) names the building where
  A
  irplanes are kept. A
  hanger
  (with an “e”) may be used for hanging clothes and just about
  E
  verything
  E
  lse.
  

• Ingenuous
  (in-JEN-you-us) means “innocent, naïve, perhaps easily fooled.” But
  ingenious
  (in-GENIUS) means “clever, bright, inventive” — and this one has a built-in memory hook, because the last part sounds like
  genius
  .
  

• Remember the
  leopard's
  big-cat cousin,
  Leo
  the Lion.
  

• The
  mambo
  is a lively dance. The
  mamba
  is a snake whose bite is often fatal. To remember which is which, you can mentally link the “a” at the end of mamb
  a
  to the “a” in both sn
  a
  ke and f
  a
  t
  a
  l.
  

• Because of the plague, it was easy to
  die
  in the me
  die
  val period.
  

• It is ne
  cess
  ary to have a
  cess
  pool.
  

• Oleo
  (short for oleomargarine) is a butter-substitute spread. An
  olio
  is a stew with many different ingredients — or any mixture of different things. Hint — link the
  i
  in
  olio
  to the
  i
  in m
  i
  x.
  

• Think “
  I a
  m a member of parl
  iam
  ent” to get those middle vowels right.
  

• The European Union (EU) requires milk to be past
  eu
  rized.
  

• The phar
  ao
  h gets mail at
  AO
  L.
  

• To help keep that easily-forgettable second e in
  plebeian
  , remember that West Point calls a first-year student a
  plebe
  .
  

• A
  quarry
  can be something hunted or a pit where stone is mined. A
  query
  is a question, and that gives you a good memory hook — the “que-” at the beginning of
  que
  stion and
  que
  ry.
  

• Although
  quay
  is pronounced “key,” it has its own “qurazy” spelling.
  

• Remember the “c” that leads off the last syllable of
  regicide
  with this understated thought: “if you kill a king, you deprive him of his
  c
  rown.”
  

• Etch this memorably silly sentence in your head: “
  R
  ide
  H
  ard,
  Y
  ou
  T
  hick-
  H
  eaded
  M
  onster.” That's how you spell
  rhythm
  .
  

• One of the most common exceptions to the old “i before e rule” is
  seize
  . “Do NOT seize the sieve in a siege” is our corny mnemonic to remember how this word differs from the other two.
  

• Silhouette
  comes from the name of a Frenchman. Keep the “h” in the word by remembering “he” lives on in this word.
  

• The unusual “-sede” ending
  supersedes
  all other spellings. This is said to be the only word in the English languge ending in “sede.”
  

• The verb
  teethe
  , which rhymes with
  seethe
  , refers to a baby's acquiring teeth. “Baby Joe is irritable because he is
  teething
  .”
  

• Help yourself get the spelling of
  their
  right by thinking of the phrase “
  their heir
  looms.” And don't confuse this possessive pronoun with
  there
  , the opposite of
  here
  .
  

Watch out for non-identical twins and first cousins in the world of language. Some of these words are homonyms (pronounced alike but spelled differently), and some are close in spelling and thus easily confused.

• An
  afterword
  is a short piece of writing added at the end of a book — some
  words after
  the main part.
  Afterward
  means “at a later time.”
  

• An
  altar
  is a stand or table in a place of worship.
  Alter
  means “other” (as in alter ego, alternate, etc.), and as a verb to
  alter
  means “to change.”
  

• An
  arc
  is a curve, a part of a circle. An
  ark
  is a boat, or an enclosure in a temple.
  

• An
  axle
  is a shaft that wheels are mounted on. An
  Axel
  is a figure-skater's leap, named for its inventor, Axel Paulson. An
  axil
  is an angle between parts of a plant (e.g., between leaf and stem).
  

• A
  ballad
  is a popular song, often sentimental. A
  ballade
  (buh-LOD) is a musical composition (or sometimes a poem) with a romantic quality.
  

• A
  bight
  is a U-shape (as in a rope); a
  bite
  is a bit of food;
  byte
  is a data-processing term.
  

• To
  breach
  is to break through, make a hole or gap in something.
  Breech
  means “the lower part of the human torso (often, the buttocks).” In a breech birth, the buttocks (or sometimes the feet) will come out first.
  

• To
  broach
  a subject is to bring it up for discussion; a
  brooch
  (pronounced the same, rhymes with
  roach
  ) is a piece of jewelry.
  

• Catalpa
  is the name of a tree.
  Catawbas
  are American Indians living in South Carolina.
  

• Chili
  is a food;
  Chile
  is a country;
  chilly
  means cold.
  

• A
  cymbal
  is a percussion instrument — a brass disk that makes a clashing sound. A
  symbol
  is something (such as a statue or sign) that stands for something else.
  

• A
  clue
  is a hint, a bit of useful information. A
  clew
  is a corner of a sail.
  

• A
  colonel
  is a military officer. A
  kernel
  is the edible part of a nut (or the core of something).
  

• A
  confidant
  (or
  confidante
  , if it's a woman) is someone you confide in or tell your secrets to. You're
  confident
  when you're feeling good about your prospects.
  

• To
  demur
  is to object to something, to decline an opportunity or invitation (they invited her to run for office, but she demurred).
  Demure
  means modest and reserved in behavior.
  

• A
  desert
  is a dry, barren place — and for most of us, one
  desert
  is plenty. On the other hand, we might want a second sweet treat, or
  dessert
  . If you get your “just deserts” (pronounced like
  desserts
  ), you're getting what you deserve.
  

• A
  dinghy
  (ding-ee) is a small boat;
  dingy
  (din-jee) means dim, dull, dirty.
  

• A
  discreet
  person is careful, especially in keeping secrets.
  

  Discrete
  means separate, distinct. Notice that in
  discreet
  the
  e
  's are together, like two discreet people whispering secrets, and that in
  discrete
  they are separate.
  

• A
  doe
  is a deer, a female deer.
  Dough
  is a mix of flour and liquid (or slangily, money).
  

• We work to
  earn
  money. An
  erne
  (sometimes spelled
  ern
  ) is a sea eagle. An
  urn
  is a large vase.
  

• A
  gait
  is a way of walking or running; a
  gate
  is a door in a fence.
  

• A
  callus
  is a thickening of the skin, often on the foot.
  Callous
  means insensitive to the feelings of others. So we could say one means hardness of the sole, the other means hardness of the soul.
  

• When
  lead
  rhymes with
  bed
  , it's a noun or adjective, as in “made of lead” or “lead pencil.” But the present-tense verb
  lead
  rhymes with
  bead
  and its past tense is spelled
  led
  . “You led yesterday, so he will lead today — if he'll get the lead out of his feet.”
  

• A
  magnet
  is something (usually metal) that attracts other things (also usually metal). A
  magnate
  is a person of great influence and importance and usually of great wealth.
  

• A
  manor
  is the main house of an estate or plantation.
  Manner
  means “method or style.”
  

• Martial
  (from Mars, god of war) means warlike, or related to the military. A
  marshal
  is an officer (of the military, a court, a parade, etc.). And the
  Marshall
  Islands are named for Captain John
  Marshall
  .
  

• A
  moose
  is a large hoofed animal. The term
  mousse
  refers to either a dessert (such as chocolate mousse) or to foamy stuff used to hold hair in place.
  

• Noble
  (NO-b'l) means “admirable, excellent, of high quality.” The
  Nobel
  (no-BELL) is a prize for outstanding achievement, named for Alfred Nobel.
  

• Ordnance
  is military weaponry and ammunition. An
  ordinance
  is a local law or regulation.
  

• Remember that
  palate
  helped you taste what you ate.
  Palette
  holds an artist's paints and thus is a little friend, a “
  palette
  .” And you
  let
  a
  pal
  help you move stuff on that
  pallet
  .
  

• A
  peek
  is a quick look (think of the two “e's” as two eyes). A
  peak
  is a top (as in mountain peak). And
  pique
  means to arouse feelings — often irritation, resentment or curiosity. (The feeling itself can be called
  pique
  .)
  

• A
  phase
  (pronounced
  faze
  ) is a stage in a process. To
  faze
  is to “disturb, disconcert” — often used in the negative, as “The problems did not faze her at all.”
  

• The noun is
  prophecy
  (PROF uh see); the verb is
  prophesy
  (PROF uh sigh).
  

• To
  reek
  is to give off a strong (often unpleasant) smell. To
  wreak
  is to make something happen — usually something unpleasant, as in “The market crash wreaked havoc with my retirement funds.”
  

• Words
  rhyme
  when they have similar-sounding endings.
  Rime
  (also called hoarfrost) is a thin coating of ice, as on grass or trees.
  

• As a verb, to
  rifle
  means to ransack, to search without permission; to
  riffle
  means to flip through pages and is often used with
  through
  : If thieves
  rifle
  my chest of drawers, I hope they don't
  riffle
  through my diary.
  

• A
  role
  is always a noun, either a part in a play or any such specific assignment.
  Roll
  can be a chunk of bread or the tat-a-tat of a drum. It is also frequently a verb: “When the gang's all here, your
  role
  is to
  roll
  out the barrel.”
  

• A
  route
  is a road or passageway. A
  root
  is the underground part of a plant. To
  rout
  is to defeat and send scurrying away in disorder.
  

• Sheik
  , a noun for a male Arab leader, fits the “e before i/ It's as easy as pie” rule. And don't confuse it with
  chic
  , the sound-alike adjective for “fashionable.”
  

• There's a reliable memory hook for
  stationary
  and
  stationery
  . The one with the “a” before the “r” means “st
  a
  ying
  a
  t the s
  a
  me pl
  a
  ce, not moving” while the word with the “e” refers to l
  e
  tt
  e
  r paper.
  

• Straight
  or
  strait
  ? The second spelling means narrow, as in the narrow passage of water called a
  strait
  . And when Houdini escaped from a narrow restraining jacket, it was a
  strait
  jacket.
  

• Urban
  refers to a city, while
  urbane
  describes a person whose manner is elegant and sophisticated.
  

• It's
  vane
  as in weather vane,
  vain
  as in inappropriately proud of yourself, and
  vein
  as in the bodily companion to artery.
  

• A
  veil
  can be a literal piece of cloth like a bridal
  veil
  , or a figurative
  veil
  of silence. Don't confuse either with
  vale
  , similar to
  valley
  and
  dale
  .
  

• Don't confuse
  viola
  (the musical instrument) with
  voila
  (vwaLA), the French import meaning “Look!” or “There it is!”
  

• Waive
  means “to give up a right,” while
  wave
  is to make the hand gesture of greeting or farewell.
  

• The word
  wench
  is archaic or jocular for a woman, and is very different from
  winch
  , a cranking or hauling mechanism.
  

• A
  yen
  is a longing, but
  yin
  exists to be partnered with
  yang
  as the embodiment of contrasting forces.