A word no one can spell

The Truth about How to Spell
Sound by Sound vs. Memory

Knowing how to spell properly is about more than just sounding words out. However it is still very important to practice spelling sound by sound. This may seem obvious but many dyslexic people do not do it enough. You want to get into the habit of spelling every word out as you write, even the easy ones.

No one can spell every word sound by sound:

English is an imperfect language and as such no one can totally rely on spelling sound by sound. This can be very confusing for dyslexic people and create insecurity when learning to spell.

Spelling sound by sound is massively flawed. For example
the word ‘right’, imagine someone had never seen the word ‘right’ written down before. If you asked them to spell it sound by sound there is no way they could know it has ‘gh’ in the middle.

In order for a person to know how to spell the word ‘right’ correctly they need to memorise that it has ‘gh’ in it.

To give you another example the word ‘sign’. If you had never seen this word written down there is no way you can know it has the letter ‘g’ in it.

The truth about spelling:

For any person, dyslexic or not, spelling is about both sounding words out and using your memory. You must practice spelling sound by sound, and use your memory for the weird bits.

To be a good speller:

In order to be a good speller you need to identify which parts of words you can spell sound by sound and which parts you need to memorise.

For example the word ‘system’, with this word the only unusual thing you need to remember is the letter ‘y’. The rest of the word you can simply spell sound by sound.

Another example is the word ‘magazine’, you can spell most of this word sound by sound until you get to the last three letters. Therefore you only need to memorise those last three.

Even with a lot of simple words like for example the word ‘while’, you still need to remember it has a silent ‘h’.

Conclusion:

The truth is that spelling is about both sounding words out and memorising the unusual bits. If you want to become a good speller you need to know when to spell sound by sound and when to use your memory.

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As any participant in a spelling bee can tell you, correctly spelling words in the English language is not always easy. In most languages, the way words are spelled (graphemes) consistently relate to the way they sound (phonemes). But the English language uses a mix of spellings and pronunciations from Latin, Greek, French, German, and many others. To further confuse matters, words in English have different spellings in different countries. No wonder English is practically the only language spelling competitions are held in!

If you struggle spelling some of these challenging words, just know you are not alone. They are some of the trickiest words to spell in English.

1. necessary

One of the things that makes English hard to spell is that there are letters that can—but don’t always—make the same sounds, such as c and s. This, combined with the use of double consonants that don’t change how the word is pronounced, makes necessary tricky to spell. How do you remember where and how many c or s letters you need? Well, take a look at the word. Do you “c” two s‘s? Ask yourself this to make sure there is first one c and then a double s in necessary.

2. narcissistic

Similar to necessary, narcissistic is challenging to spell because of the c and s letters that make the same sound. It can also be hard to remember where to place the double s. It might help you to know that the word narcissistic ultimately comes from the Greek nárkissos, a plant name associated with narcotics.

3. occasion

The word occasion also features the letters c and s, but here they are not making the same s sound. Part of what makes spelling this word challenging are the hard c (like a k) sounds, spelled with a double c. This double c comes from the Latin origin of the word, the equivalent of the prefix oc- combined with the verb cāsus, meaning roughly “to have befallen.” Also, you may be tempted to add another s, but there is only one in occasion.

4. accommodate

The word accommodate also uses a double c … and throws in a double m for good measure. But what makes spelling this word tricky isn’t the consonants, but rather the vowels. The word accommodate [ uh–kom–uh-deyt ] sounds as if it could be spelled with three o‘s, or maybe there is a u in there? But no, there are no u‘s and the first letter is an a, of all things.

5. vacuum

Speaking of words with double c, one word you might expect to have such a spelling but does not is vacuum. Instead of a double c, vacuum features the rare double u (continuum and muumuu are others with this strange combination). The word comes from the Latin vacuus, meaning “empty.”

6. accessory

The word accessory breaks the pattern we have seen so far (remember what we said about the rules of English spelling being inconsistent?). Unlike accommodate, where the double c makes a single k sound, in accessory, the first c makes a k sound, and the second c makes an s sound. Throw in a double s, and accessory is a real challenge to spell correctly.

7. broccoli

Broccoli also features a double c to make a k sound. Besides this complication, you may be tempted to spell the ending with a y or ee to make the lee sound. However, broccoli is a word that comes from Italian, where the ee sound is represented with the letter i.

8. zucchini

Similar to broccoli, zucchini is a word from Italian that uses an i at the end to make an ee sound and has a double c that makes a k sound. If this spelling trips you up too much, you could try the British English word for zucchini instead, which comes from French: courgette [ koor-zhet ].

9. spaghetti

Another word with Italian origins that is a challenge to spell is spaghetti. The letter i at the end of a word in Italian indicates that it is plural. (Technically, a single spaghetti is a spaghetto.) The nearly-silent h might also throw you off when spelling this word.

Bite into more funny tidbits about words with uncommon singular forms here.

10. embarrass

Another word we aren’t embarrassed to admit can be hard to spell is, well, embarrass. One thing that might trip you up is the ending—it sounds like uhs, but is spelled, well, ass. Another thing that makes spelling embarrass difficult is the double r and double s. What explains both of these tricky elements is that embarrass was adopted into English from the Portuguese embaraçar via the French verb embarrasser.

11. bourbon

Speaking of words that come from French throwing us curveballs, another tricky one is bourbon. In English, we use an anglicized pronunciation of this word: [ bur-buhn ], but we have kept the French spelling. The difference between these two is what makes spelling this word hard—just try to remember there are two o‘s, not just one.

12. charcuterie

The French have a very different system of spelling, which can make it confusing when we adopt their words into English. One example of this is charcuterie. In French, the letters char are pronounced  shahr. That’s why this fancy word for “cooked, processed, or cured cold meats” (like sausage and pâté) is spelled with a ch instead of the sh you might expect.

13. entrepreneur

Yet another word whose French spelling makes it a challenge for English speakers is entrepreneur [ ahn-truh-pruh–nur ]. Because it starts with an ah sound, you may think it includes an a, but that’s not the case. Next time you write this word, remind yourself that most of the vowel sounds are e‘s, except for the eu at the very end for the oor sound. 

14. liaison

The word liaison also has French origins. You may be tempted to spell it phonetically: lee-ay-zon. However, much like the i at the end of Italian words, the i in French can make an ee sound. That might help you remember that liaison has two i‘s.

15. Connecticut

Of course, French and Italian are not the only foreign languages whose words have been adopted into English. Many place names in the United States come from the Indigenous languages of those areas, and these spellings can be difficult. One example is Connecticut, which is pronounced [ kuh–net-i-kuht ], but is spelled “Connect I Cut.” The word comes from the Mohegan-Pequot language and means “upon the long river.”

16. Massachusetts

Another example of this is Massachusetts, named for the tribe of Algonquin people who lived there, whose name means “at the large hill.” This word is particularly challenging to spell because you may be tempted to double the second s … especially because there is a double t at the end.

Did you know Massachusetts is a commonwealth? Learn the difference between commonwealth and state here.

17. epitome

Words that come originally from Greek are also challenging to spell. One example is epitome [ ih-pit–uh-mee ]. The word sounds like it ends in a y or ee, but it doesn’t. One reason for this is because, similar to Italian, all of the vowels from Greek words are pronounced—no silent e here.

18. asthma

Speaking of silent letters, English has a remarkable number of them we use when spelling. There is no way to know these letters ought to be there unless you are familiar with the word. One example of this is asthma, which has a silent th. That’s right, English sometimes will throw in a silent th, just to keep you on your toes.

19. indict

Another word with a deceptive silent letter is indict [ in-dahyt ]. You don’t pronounce the letter c in this word, so you may forget to include it when spelling. The c is a holdover from its late Latin origins, indictāre, related to the English verb dictate.

20. gnaw

We have seen silent th and silent c, but we would be remiss not to mention the silent g that pops up from time-to-time in English. One example of a word with a silent g is gnaw [ naw ].

21. phlegm

Silent g‘s do not only appear at the beginning of words; they can show up in endings as well. One example of this is phlegm [ flem ]. This word is also tricky because it uses the letters ph to make a ff sound. This way of writing the ff sound can be found in words from Greek, such as phlegm and phone.

22. paradigm

Another example of a word from Greek with a silent g is paradigm, from the Greek parádeigma. Based on the way this word is pronounced, you would expect the ending to be spelled dime, not digm.

23. pneumonia

Another silent letter you may come across sometimes is a silent p, as in pneumonia [ noo–mohn-yuh ]. Even if you remember that silent p, the word pneumonia is still tricky because of the oo sound, spelled with an eu.

24. island

The letter s is also occasionally silent in English. One word you have likely come across that uses a silent s is island. The s was added to the word via isle, a word ultimately derived from Latin and meaning “a small island.”

25. rhythm

The word rhythm is particularly challenging to spell. It has two h‘s, but one is silent and the other is used in the diphthong th. It also sounds as if it should have a u [ rith–uhm ], but it doesn’t. Rhythm comes from the Greek rhythmós, a clue that might help you remember its spelling in English.

26. Wednesday

The word Wednesday [ wenz-dey ] is particularly challenging to spell because the d is silent. Wednesday comes from the Old English for “Woden’s day”; Woden is what the pagan Anglo-Saxons called the Norse god Odin. Keeping Woden—or Odin—in mind is a good way to remember that pesky d.

27. eight

The word eight is a homophone of the past participle of “to eat,” ate. That’s not the only thing confusing about this old word. The ending is spelled ight which we associate with words like bright and tight. Here, however, this combination of letters is pronounced [ eyt ] instead.

English is full of homophones galore! Read about some of familiar pairs here.

28. acquiesce

Another word that contains some confusing letter combinations related to how it is pronounced is acquiesce [ ak-wee-es ], a verb meaning “to assent tacitly; agree.” The word comes from the Latin acquiēscere, meaning “to find rest in.” One thing to keep in mind when spelling this word is that ac- is a prefix meaning “toward” or “to.” That means the word breaks down as ac-qui-esce, which may help you spell it correctly.

29. nauseous

The word nauseous [ naw-shuhs ] appears to have just way too many vowels. Like the tricky acquiesce, nauseous comes from Latin. Nauseous means you suffer from nausea, a word that looks practically nautical (nau and sea). If you take the a off of nausea and add the common adjectival ending -ous, you have the correct spelling of nauseous.

30. conscious

A word with the same ending as nauseous that is also tricky to spell is conscious [ kon-shuhs ]. It may help you to spell it if you remember that it comes from the Latin conscius, meaning “sharing knowledge with,” equivalent to con-(with) + sci- (know) + -us (-ous, indicating an adjective).

31. grateful

One of the biggest challenges when it comes to spelling words in English are the number of homophones, or words that sound the same but are spelled differently. That’s why you may be tempted to spell the word grateful with an ea, as in great. However, grateful comes from the obsolete grate, meaning “pleasing,” not the word great, as in “large.”

32. separate

The word separate is tricky because the second vowel sound is spelled with an a and not a u or e, even though in many accents it sounds as if it should be.

33. lightning

Finally, there are some words in English that seem as if they should have more letters than they do. One example of this is lightning [ lahyt-ning ]. The unusual combination of tn may throw you off here. However, adding an e would make the word lightening, which has another meaning altogether.

If you ever get stuck on one of these words, or any others, you can always look up how to spell them here. Do your best to sound it out, and our algorithm will suggest the words you might be looking for. You can also use this handy word list to test yourself on these words. Whether you struggle to spell these words or others, keep in mind that the English language is a real challenge to spell!

Living in the age of auto-correct and Google search, there is less of an emphasis on spelling as there once was. But its importance can’t be denied.

When writing a resume, a proposal or a school assignment, a misspelled word can be the difference between getting a job and missing out or getting the marks needed to pass an assignment or not.

We don’t recommend trying to use any of the words below in your next important document, they are some of the hardest words to spell in the English language.

10. Misspell 

Let the misspelling begin with the misspelled word misspell. While this is number ten in our list of misspelled words, it’s certainly number one in most ironic misspelled words that occur in a spelling bee. Misspelling misspell is like forgetting your phone number, you have seen it all the time and yet when you stop and think about it, it slips your mind.

9. Pharaoh 

This misspelled word falls into the error category of ‘you spell it like it sounds’. This term is used to refer to the ruler of ancient Egypt and like an ancient Egyptian ruler, this word will play a tyrant in your mind as it controls your every thought after you have been eliminated for spelling it “pharoh”.

8. Weird  

Fear the confusing power of the’ I before E’! This literary rule is viewed as an absolute but there are exceptions. Fitting of the many exceptions to the rule that weird is one of them, as that is what is often thought of the word weird when it is misspelled.

7. Intelligence 

The word that can be a shot to the ego when misspelled, intelligence being misspelled often creates the most reflection of intellectual state than any other. Its definition of being a measurement of one’s mental ability tends to relate to the fact that you struggled to use your intelligence to spell intelligence.

6. Pronunciation

A term related to the thing that brings the marriage of words and spelling, pronunciation is the act in which a word is spoken. This is a trap in a spelling bee (both the word itself and its meaning) as the manner in which a word is spoken can be misleading compared to how the word is written out. That’s why the nifty trick of using your finger in the air to write out the word is often used.

5. Handkerchief

Whether used as a decorative pocket accessory or as a tissue you don’t throw out, the handkerchief is useful as a versatile fashion statement and a spelling bee hurdle. Wipe away the emotional highs and lows of spelling competition in style with this handy tool of cleanliness.

4. logorrhea 

Do you have a chatter monster in your class? Next time they participate in a spelling bee, try to slip this word into their spelling bee to see if their babble is up to par. logorrhea is a term used when an individual is excessive and incoherent in talkativeness and wordiness.

3. Chiaroscurist 

A term used to describe an artist who specialises in chiaroscuro (pictorial representation of light and dark and its effect on composition). Much like the term itself, contrast the dark and the light by shedding some light on someone’s literary ability with a word that is so difficult to spell it’s dark.

2. Pochemuchka

A Russian term used when a person asks too many questions. One can’t help but think that maybe if I were more pochemuchka, I would have been informed on how to spell this word.

1. Gobbledegook

Gobbledegook is incoherent babbling in a fashion that makes no sense amounting to random words and noises to your listeners. Gobbledegook is a word that in fact sounds like complete gobbledegook, but in actuality is a word that has deep meaning for anyone who has ever heard an infant speak or watched a TV show in another language.

No one means not any person or nobody. But why do some people say noone or no-one? Is no one one word or two? Is it no one, noone, or no-one? All the answers to your questions are here. Learn the difference between no one, noone, and no-one.

No One, Noone, or No-One

• No one is the correct spelling and phrase that means nobody.
• No-one is a hyphenated form of no one, which is accepted by very few style guides.
• Noone is an incorrect word and a common error.

This image shows an Ngram of no one, noone, and no-one. It reveals that no one has been the most widely used phrase ever since.

The correct term to use is no one without the hyphen. It’s an indefinite pronoun that means nobody. Even though other pronouns like nobody, somebody, somebody, and someone are one word, no one is composed of two words.

This phrase means nobody, no person, or not a single person. It’s the opposite of everyone. For example:

• No one called me about the project changes.
• I want no one to know my secret.

No-one is only acceptable outside North America. This hyphenated word is an alternative spelling to no one, which means it has the same meaning.

No-one became popular in the mid-1940s. While many grammarians do not recommend this version because it’s more complicated than no one, others advocate its use. Consider this example:

• No one person can beat him.

Here, no one is used as an additional noun that emphasizes singularity. It can cause ambiguity, especially when the reader reaches “person.” Only then will the reader understand that “no one” means “no single” and not the indefinite pronoun.

The example below is an alternative.

• No-one person can beat him.

But, not everyone’s a fan of the hyphenated version no-one.

Noone is never right. Its spelling is not the same as nobody, somebody, or someone.

Examples of Using No One

Here are some examples of no one in a sentence.

• Everyone owes nothing and no one.
• No one warned us about the typhoon.
• No one in the class knows where Patty and Ricky went.

• “No one will protect us”: how Haiti has become deadly for journalists. (The Guardian)
• She Came Out of Nowhere, and Now No One in France Can Ignore Her. (NY Times)
• ‘The Blind Woodsman’ — Whose Designs Wow Millions — Says ‘No One Would Know’ Him Without Wife (People)

Is It No Ones or No One’s?

The correct phrase is no one’s when indicating possession or ownership. For example:

• The car outside is no one’s.
• No one’s daughter in town wanted to speak to him.

Final Word on No One, Noone, and No-One

I hope this guide cleared your confusion between no one, noone, and no-one. No one and no-one are both correct, while noone is wrong.

• No one is correct in all cases.
• No-one is acceptable in some contexts outside North America.