Hardest common words for you to spell

[TeethWhitener]

And naphtha

Phthalates, chthonic. And although I play music, the word “rhythm” trips me up. Those crazy Greeks.

 

[sysprog]

I know, or I know where to look it up. For some reason I can't get them into permanent memory; like some people confuse right and left. I think it is because I cannot hear a difference between advise and advice - and yes I know that there is a tiny one - and somehow choose sounds past (passive) and chose sounds present (active) to me, don't ask me why.

Perhaps it's attributable to some irregularities of English -- e.g. 'loose' is present tense, and has an 's; sound, while 'choose' is present tense and has a 'z' sound. But the past tense of 'choose' is 'chose' or in passive voice 'chosen', both also with a z sound, where as the past tense of 'loose' is 'loosed', whether active or passive, while the present word 'lose' is pronounced like 'ooze' with an 'l' prepended to it', and the past of that word is 'lost'.

 

[Klystron]

I know, or I know where to look it up. For some reason I can't get them into permanent memory; like some people confuse right and left. I think it is because I cannot hear a difference between advise and advice - and yes I know that there is a tiny one - and somehow choose sounds past (passive) and chose sounds present (active) to me, don't ask me why.

I suggest using mnemonic devices that contain cultural reference to aid memory. For instance, for myself, the gerund 'advise' and novel Advise and Consent or film Advise & Consent. 'Consent' spelled with letter 's' as 'advise'.

[Just realized 'consent' begins with letter 'c', potentially invalidating my device. I imagine you would form your own in English and German .]

 

[fresh_42]

... like 'ooze' with an 'l' prepended to it ...

Now that you say it. Foreigners who learned German sometimes complaint to me that nobody was telling them to learn the combination of article and noun, instead of just the noun. Once the nouns are learnt, it is very difficult to attach the correct articles afterwards. In my opinion, there is a similar situation in English. I was never told to learn the prepositions attached to verbs, although most verbs allow only a few prepositions, depending on the verb instead of locations, situation or object. And it is likewise difficult to learn them afterwards. The connection verb preposition is much closer than in other languages. E.g. there is no logical reason why "depends of" shouldn't be allowed, except that you have hidden your lost genitive in 'of' and the lost dative in 'on'. So while English speakers tend to complain about the many cases in other languages (0 in French (with another workaround), 4 in German, 6 in Russian), the cases in English haven't actually gone. They are hidden in prepositions!

 

[fresh_42]

[Just realized 'consent' begins with letter 'c', potentially invalidating my device. I imagine you would form your own in English and German .]

I use recommend and recommendation.

Edit: I wished I you could switch choose and select. Whereas we have only "wählen", it are at least three in English: choose, select, elect. Not to mention pick and draw.

 

[sysprog]

Especially in the sentence: In effect, he acted in affect.

The phrase "he acted in affect" looks incorrect to me -- 'affect in that position should be a transitive verb -- you could say, e.g. "In effect, he had acted so as to affect the outcome disfavorably " or more peculiarly but not incorrectly:

In effect [noun - 'in effect' is an adverbial construct - means 'effectively', in a sense which distinguishes it starkly from 'intentionally'], he had himself effected [verb - 'caused'] the very outcome the likelihood of which he had hoped to have been negatively affecting [transitive verb - present participle - its referent here is the noun 'likelihood'].​

 

[fresh_42]

The phrase "he acted in affect" looks incorrect to me

That was what Google gave me for "im Affekt", means if a person acts on sudden impulse instead of thoughts and purpose. This plays a big role in cases of assaults. It is a noun with a different meaning as to affect or affected by.
https://www.etymonline.com/word/affect#etymonline_v_5191

 

[sysprog]

Now that you say it. Foreigners who learned German sometimes complaint to me that nobody was telling them to learn the combination of article and noun, instead of just the noun. Once the nouns are learnt, it is very difficult to attach the correct articles afterwards. In my opinion, there is a similar situation in English. I was never told to learn the prepositions attached to verbs, although most verbs allow only a few prepositions, depending on the verb instead of locations, situation or object. And it is likewise difficult to learn them afterwards. The connection verb preposition is much closer than in other languages. E.g. there is no logical reason why "depends of" shouldn't be allowed, except that you have hidden your lost genitive in 'of' and the lost dative in 'on'. So while English speakers tend to complain about the many cases in other languages (0 in French (with another workaround), 4 in German, 6 in Russian), the cases in English haven't actually gone. They are hidden in prepositions!

We would say 'independent of', but 'dependent on'; 'portends of' but 'tends to'.

 

[fresh_42]

We would say 'independent of', but 'dependent on'; 'portends of' but 'tends to'.

As said: leftovers of the cases.

 

[sysprog]

That was what Google gave me for "im Affekt", means if a person acts on sudden impulse instead of thoughts and purpose. This plays a big role in cases of assaults. It is a noun with a different meaning as to affect or affected by.
https://www.etymonline.com/word/affect#etymonline_v_5191

For that meaning, which I think is somewhat rare in English, we would say he acted from or out of affect. I've seen 'affect' used as a noun in a similar way in expressions such as 'he displayed the characteristically vapid facial affect and shuffling gait of a person on neuroleptic drugs'.

 

[fresh_42]

For that meaning, which I think is rare in English, we would say he acted from or out of affect.

I bet both versions are used: in affect and out of affect. At least here we use both and it would take me wonder if this was different in English, especially as both are literally the same: act in affect = agieren I am Affekt; act out of an affect = agieren aus einem Affekt heraus. The former is the mood, the latter the cause!

 

[Mark44]

A pair that posters here frequently misuse is prove vs. proof. Prove is a verb and proof is a noun, at least in the contexts it appears in at this site.

The -ove sound is troublesome, as well.
l-ove -- luv
pr-ove -- proov
d-ove -- duv (the bird)
d-ove -- past tense of dive, and rhyming with cove

 

[sysprog]

I bet both versions are used: in affect and out of affect. At least here we use both and it would take me wonder if this was different in English, especially as both are literally the same: act in affect = agieren I am Affekt; act out of an affect = agieren aus einem Affekt heraus.

We could use 'in affect' in reference to demeanor, e.g. "he was pleasant in affect; but the words he said were caustic". However, although we might be nearly equally likely to say "he acted in anger" as we would be to say "he acted out of anger", the same is not true regarding "in affect", without modifying words to distinguish the meaning.

 

[Mark44]

Phthalates

Also phenophthalein - used to test pH, and phthisis, a lung disease

 

[fresh_42]

A pair that posters here frequently misuse is prove vs. proof. Prove is a verb and proof is a noun, at least in the contexts it appears in at this site.

The -ove sound is troublesome, as well.
l-ove -- luv
pr-ove -- proov
d-ove -- duv (the bird)
d-ove -- past tense of dive, and rhyming with cove

And it goes with almost every one or two consonants in the alphabet!

 

[TeethWhitener]

phenophthalein

It’s actually phenolphthalein

Yours truly,
A chemist

 

[Mark44]

It’s actually phenolphthalein

Yours truly,
A chemist

Yeah, I knew that, but accidentally omitted that first 'l' in trying to figure out if the last part was 'ine or 'ein.

 

[sysprog]

I suggest using mnemonic devices that contain cultural reference to aid memory. For instance, for myself, the gerund 'advise' and novel Advise and Consent or film Advise & Consent. 'Consent' spelled with letter 's' as 'advise'.

The word 'advise' isn't a gerund. A gerund may resemble a present participle in that both the gerund and the present participle may be words ending in 'ing', as 'ending' is. The word 'ending' can be either a gerund or a present participle, but the gerund is used as a noun while the past particle is used as a verb.

 

[sysprog]

A pair that posters here frequently misuse is prove vs. proof. Prove is a verb and proof is a noun, at least in the contexts it appears in at this site.

Yes; when you prove [verb] a theorem by providing a proof [noun], it becomes proven [adjective - past participle], because you proved [past tense], and thus have proven [past participle], the theorem, so that it's then a proven [adjective] theorem, but when you soundproof a room, by soundproofing [present participle] it, by the doing [gerund] of adding [present participle] soundproofing [gerundive-nonal-adjective] material to its surfaces you have soundproofed [past tense] it.

 

[mjc123]

The word 'advise' isn't a gerund. A gerund may resemble a present participle in that both the gerund and the present participle may be words ending in 'ing', as 'ending' is. The word 'ending' can be either a gerund or a present participle, but the gerund is used as a noun while the past particle is used as a verb.

"Advise" (with a z sound) is a verb, "advice" (with an s sound) is the noun. The US President appoints officers "with the advice and consent of the Senate". (The book is, however, spelt "advise and consent")

 

[sysprog]

The word 'advise' isn't a gerund. A gerund may resemble a present participle in that both the gerund and the present participle may be words ending in 'ing', as 'ending' is. The word 'ending' can be either a gerund or a present participle, but the gerund is used as a noun while the past particle is used as a verb.

"Advise" (with a z sound) is a verb, "advice" (with an s sound) is the noun. The US President appoints officers "with the advice and consent of the Senate". (The book is, however, spelt "advise and consent")

The distinction between 'advise' and 'advice' was mentioned in post #33 in this thread, and the letter 's' having either an 's sound or a 'z' sound was mentioned in post #37; however, I don't see how any of that is relevant to what you quoted from me -- neither 'advise' [verb] nor 'advice' [noun] is a gerund -- I understand that being expressively fussy about things like that can make one seem like an insufferable pedant, but I think there are at least a few legitimate places outside of perdition for grammarians and orthographists, somewhere aspiring toward the loftier realms indwelled by true philologists.

 

[member 587159]

As a non English speaker, I have different difficulties. It happens more often that I confuse two words, rather than forget how to spell them. I'll buy @PeroK's ships: good advice, or was it advise? I have difficulties to remember the difference. And for some reason I can't figure out, I confuse choose and chose. What really annoys me, is the fact, that since I started to write more English texts, I began to make the standard mistakes and write (right) words as I hear (here) them. That's horrible, the more as I never haven't made them before. Strange.

The chose/choose thing is also hard for me. Can also relate slightly with the other things you wrote.

 

[fresh_42]

The chose/choose thing is also hard for me. Can also relate slightly with the other things you wrote.

I have to admit I have my little revenges. E.g. I always write Abelian or Cartesian with a capital letter. I think, as long as physicists write Hamiltonian and Lagrangian, I can as well write Abelian and Cartesian. This is already a compromise, because I should better write Descartesian. And of course I try to be correct and write Schrödinger, Graßmann, Gauß and L'Hôpital.

 

[Klystron]

The distinction between 'advise' and 'advice' was mentioned in post #33 in this thread, and the letter 's' having either an 's sound or a 'z' sound was mentioned in post #37; however, I don't see how any of that is relevant to what you quoted from me -- neither 'advise' [verb] nor 'advice' [noun] is a gerund -- I understand that being expressively fussy about things like that can make one seem like an insufferable pedant, but I think there are at least a few legitimate places outside of perdition for grammarians and orthographists, somewhere aspiring toward the loftier realms indwelled by true philologists.

Discussing speech forms leads to a wider understanding of the vernacular and to this thread on difficult to spell common words. Perhaps I chose 'gerund' in a mischievous manner not meant to mask my attempt at laissez-faire solution: develop memory associations that help identify words, spell and distinguish word usage.

The movie or book "Advise and Consent" works as a mnemonic for me precisely because of the perceived flaw with political terminology 'advice and consent'. The 's' reminds me of spelling (also 'sent' in 'conSENT' but that mnemonic was invalidated after translation and retracted.). The word choice conflict between artistic titles and common law usage reminds me 'advice' differs from 'advise'.

 

[Mark44]

The chose/choose thing is also hard for me.

I don't see why. The 'o' in "chose" is a long o, with the same sound as "those," "goes", and so on. The "oo" dipthong in "choose" sounds just like "ooh!"
A pair that would be more confusing, IMO and certainly for many others is "lose" (sounds like "looz") and "loose"

 

[sysprog]

The "oo" dipthong in "choose" sounds just like "ooh!"

The 'oo' in 'choose' is a digraph, but unless, e.g., it's pronounced like the 'ew' in 'chews' it isn't a diphthong; when it's pronounced 'o͞o', it's a continuable single long vowel sound as in: 'oops', did someone misspell 'diphthong', or was 'dipthong' merely a typographical error?

 

[member 587159]

I don't see why. The 'o' in "chose" is a long o, with the same sound as "those," "goes", and so on. The "oo" dipthong in "choose" sounds just like "ooh!"
A pair that would be more confusing, IMO and certainly for many others is "lose" (sounds like "looz") and "loose"

Thanks! That will definitely help to remember it. It actually makes sense but in the rush of the moment, mistakes are made.

 

[Mark44]

'oops', did someone misspell 'diphthong', or was 'dipthong' merely a typographical error?

'Twas a misspelling -- I can't blame it on a typo.

 

[sysprog]

'Twas a misspelling -- I can't blame it on a typo.

Your forthrightness is part of what allows readers like me to have confidence in your wonderfully cogent explanatory mathematically-oriented posts.

 

[Mark44]

Your forthrightness is part of what allows readers like me to have confidence in your wonderfully cogent explanatory mathematically-oriented posts.

This is way too nice a compliment for me to just click on an icon for "Like." You made my day! Thank you!

And in return, I very much appreciate the depth of your knowledge in matters of grammar as well as your programming knowledge.

 

[Ophiolite]

I get embarassed by heirarchy.

Some years ago, having delivered a well received in-house presentation on the commercial sucess of one of our new pieces of technology, I was asked to repeat it for the company president. The first slide comes up and he says "You've spelled success incorrectly." On the basis that it is as well to be hung for a sheep, or better a wolf, as for a lamb I replied instantly, "I may not be able to spell success sir, but I certainly know how to achieve it, as the next slides will demonstrate."

 

[Mark44]

I get embarassed by heirarchy.

I see.
Put another 'r' in the first, and switch the 'e' and 'i' on the second, and then you won't be.

In Spanish there's a word embarazada, which at first glance seems related to embarrassed.

Spoiler

It means "pregnant".

 

[sysprog]

I see.
Put another 'r' in the first, and switch the 'e' and 'i' on the second, and then you won't be.

In Spanish there's a word embarazada, which at first glance seems related to embarrassed.

Spoiler

It means "pregnant".

The co-resemblant words are in fact related: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embarazada

 

[sysprog]

The movie or book "Advise and Consent" works as a mnemonic for me precisely because of the perceived flaw with political terminology 'advice and consent'. . . . The word choice conflict between artistic titles and common law usage reminds me 'advice' differs from 'advise'.

I'm pretty sure that the switch to the verb 'advise' from the noun 'advice' in that title was fully intentional. The word 'consent' is already both noun and verb. The change from 'advice' to 'advise' was, in my opinion, a deliberate play on both of the titular words: to advise [verb] is to give advice [noun]; to consent [verb] is to give consent [noun]. The Constitution uses both words as nouns; the title of the drama, by changing the spelling of the first of them to its verb form, implicitly uses the second of them as a verb also.

I think that your term 'common law usage' distributes the meaning of 'common' over two of the distinct (albeit related) meanings that it has in the two terms 'common usage' and 'common law'. To distinguish those, one could say either 'the common usage in matters of law' or 'the usage in common law'.

 

[sysprog]

I get embarassed by heirarchy.

The first four letters of the word 'hierarchy' are from the romanization of the Greek word (in combining form) 'ἱερο' ('hiero'), meaning holy or sacred, You may be getting sidetracked into relating it orthographically to 'heir'.

Some years ago, having delivered a well received in-house presentation on the commercial sucess of one of our new pieces of technology, I was asked to repeat it for the company president. The first slide comes up and he says "You've spelled success incorrectly." On the basis that it is as well to be hung for a sheep, or better a wolf, as for a lamb I replied instantly, "I may not be able to spell success sir, but I certainly know how to achieve it, as the next slides will demonstrate."

That quick retort seems incisively on-point.