Spelling
Spelling matters. If you want to create a good impression in your writing and make sure you get your meaning across clearly, it’s important to get your spelling right.
This section contains lots of quick-reference spelling tips. For example, if you can never remember whether the plural of potato is spelled potatoes or potatos, then you can jump straight to plurals of nouns to get some straightforward advice. There’s also a handy list of common misspellings, arranged in alphabetical order of the incorrect spellings, and a guide to the differences between British and American spelling.
For more ways to improve your writing see our writing help section, or for more spelling tips see the list below:


Are There Endings Beginning With Vowels?
-able, -ion, -er, -or, -ance, -ence, -ous, -ish, and –al: endings beginning with vowels

Spelling Differences Between Languages
Spelling isn’t always set in stone. Explore spelling differences between British and American English, and how some words have evolved over time.

Words ending In "-cede," "-ceed," and "-sede"
spelling, stationary, cemetery

Words Ending In "-ch" And "-tch"
Sandwich or sandwitch? Dispach or dispatch? Words ending in –ch and –tch can sometimes cause spellings difficulties: here’s how to get them right.

Words ending in "-re" and "-er"
Metre or meter? Centre or center? It depends whether you’re talking about British or American English – and even then it’s not always quite that simple…

Words ending In "-sion", "-tion", and "-cion"
It is very easy to mix up the spellings of words ending in -sion, -tion, and -cion, but our guidelines will show you how to tell which spelling to use.

Words that end in a vowel plus "L"
A British/American spelling difference that might trip you up is whether or not to use a double ‘l’ in words like travelling/traveling. Here are some tips.
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