Spelling is a huge concern for IELTS students. Writing scores are 25% determined by vocabulary, which includes spelling accuracy. Too many spelling mistakes can seriously bring down your score in IELTS listening and writing.
Part of the reason for this may be that there are so many inconsistencies in the English language. Spelling is also a big problem for many IELTS candidates – especially those who have a different alphabet in their own language.
Most misspellings or spelling errors can be categorized into groups. Here are some examples for each of those types. This list of common IELTS spelling mistakes includes some of the words most likely to appear in the test. Try to master these basic rules to minimize poor spelling in IELTS.
Examples:
1. Changes of spelling when words change form
– Incorrect: benefitial
– Correct: beneficial
– Incorrect: influencial
– Correct: influential
– Incorrect: circumstancial
– Correct: circumstantial
– Incorrect: maintainance
– Correct: maintenance
– Incorrect: pronounceiation
– Correct: pronunciation
– Incorrect: argument
– Correct: argument
– Incorrect: occured
– Correct: occurred
– Incorrect: refered
– Correct: referred
– Incorrect: begining
– Correct: beginning
2. Silent letters in consonant clusters
– Incorrect: enviroment
– Correct: environment
– Incorrect: goverment
– Correct: government
– Incorrect: colum
– Correct: column
– Incorrect: autum
– Correct: autumn
3. The silent ‘h’
– Incorrect: concious
– Correct: conscious
– Incorrect: acend
– Correct: ascend
– Incorrect: disipline
– Correct: discipline
4. The silent ‘x’
– Incorrect: exite
– Correct: excite
5. The silent ‘g’
– Incorrect: privilje
– Correct: privilege
– Incorrect: oblije
– Correct: oblige
Exercise:
Objective: Identifying the correct spelling
1. Which is correct?
– absence
– absance
– absense
– abcense
Answer: absence
2. Which is correct?
– achieve
– acheive
– acheeve
– achiev
Answer: achieve
3. Which is correct?
– address
– adress
– addres
– adres
Answer: address
4. Which is correct?
– beginning
– begining
– Begginning
Answer: beginning
5. Which is correct?
– colleague
– coleague
– coleage
– colleage
Answer: colleague
II. Objective: Spot the error
1. She consciously avoided/consciosly talking to her boss.
Answer: She consciously avoided talking to her boss.
2. It was a deliberete/deliberate mistake.
Answer: It was a deliberate mistake.
3. It has been/being raining since three days.
Answer: It has been raining since three days.
III. Objective: Correcting the spelling mistakes
1. Attack: _____________
Answer: Attack
2. Scratch: _____________
Answer: Scratch
3. Language: _____________
Answer: Language
IV. Objective: Correcting a paragraph
Rewrite the following paragraph by correcting all the spelling errors:
Without making a judgment on them, it is surprising how many people spell carelessly without any acknowledgment of their mistakes; good spelling is the principal cornerstone of accessible and legible writing, make it a vital part of study and not something separate!
Responses