How do you spell words when you do not know how to spell them?

Answer 1

The English language has many rules to follow, but once you know the rules, spelling becomes much easier.

Spelling builds upon skills.

For example, children learn the difference between singular and plural. They quickly learn they can get more than one "cookie" by asking for "cookies". They know they have one "dog" and if they have two it is "dogs".

By reading, kids learn new things to do with words they already know. For example, prefixes are added to the beginning of a word, such as adding "in-" to "side" to make "inside" (or adding "out-" to make "outside").

Suffix letters are added to the end of certain words. For example, by adding

"-ly" to certain, you can make "certainly". Here is a conversation between two people:

"Are you certain you can bake 4-dozen cookies tonight?" Cindy asked.

"Certainly," replied her mother.

So practice using words you already know. Build on words you know.

When you see or hear a new word, ask what it means.

Practice writing words that you just learned. Spelling mistakes helps us learn correct spelling, just as "mis--takes" implies. Try again.

Learn how to use a dictionary. Instead of fearing this book, thumb through it. You will be amazed at how many words you rarely hear anyone say.

Play spelling games. Parties are great places for mini-competitions where you have to "Spell as many words from (a long word) as you can in 10 minutes." Challenge yourself. When you are done, see how many you spelled correctly. If you made a mistake (remember "mis-- takes"), look up the correct spelling and write it down.

Challenge yourself to think of as many adjectives as you can, such as: handsome, pretty, hard, attractive, masculine... etc.

Next, see how many of those that can be made into other words with a suffix of "-ly". Not all words can be converted.

Practice making "-ing" words. Read becomes reading. Walk becomes walking. But, there's a new rule for words like: come; use; taste; or for words like sun. Come becomes coming (no e). Use becomes using. Taste becomes tasting. For some words, like sun, you need to double the last letter so it becomes sunning. Practice. Use simple words you already know, and make them into "-ing" words. Then all you need to do is look up the simple word... and at the end of the definition, the dictionary lists all the endings that word can have.

Learning to spell shouldn't be as hard as it has become for many students. But you can learn by making up your own spelling games and spelling challenges!