With the introduction of digital spell-checkers, many students may wonder if it’s still important to know how to spell every difficult word in the English language. The answer is, of course not.

Spell-check has been a great help to many less-than-perfect spellers over the years, and it promises to continue doing its job. The trouble with spell-check, as you might well know, is that it doesn’t catch proper words that are used incorrectly in a sentence, and therefore spelled incorrectly.

Writing dual credit essays, emails to friends, and even job applications require you to overcome the most common spelling errors. Here are some mistakes that spell-check cannot help you with and how to remember them.

The difference between its and it’s

Forgetting the difference between its and it’s is one of the most common grammar errors. Because it isn’t usually picked up by spell-check, we can also consider it a spelling error. Here’s a tip to help you remember which one to use – you can never remove an apostrophe when it’s taking the place of a letter, so if your word can be replaced with “it is,” then an apostrophe is needed.

It’s supposed to snow tomorrow. With all the snow, the tree may lose many of its branches.

Homophones sound alike, but are spelled differently

affect/effect
Affect is a verb. It means to influence: Will drinking coffee affect your sleep?
Effect is a noun. It is a result or consequence: Drinking coffee certainly does have an effect on my sleep.
Memory tip: RAVEN – Remember, Affect is a Verb. Effect is a Noun.

dessert/desert
Dessert is a sweet treat after a meal. Desert is a dry, and sometimes hostile climate.
Memory tip: You always want more dessert, so you should eat the one with the doubles.

allowed/aloud
Allowed means permitted. Aloud means out loud.
Memory tip: Simply break these down into smaller parts and you have allow –to permit, and loud.

piece/peace
A piece is part of a whole. Peace means the absence of violence.
Memory tip: You want to eat a piece of pie, and “pie” is found within the word piece.

More helpful tips

- When you come across a difficult word, practice saying it correctly. This is helpful for words like jewelry, library, and candidate.

- Use the senses that work best for you. A combination of spelling words out loud, writing them down, and visualizing them written should all be part of your spelling arsenal.

- Keep a list of commonly misspelled words, and use it for reference.

- When writing words with prefixes, don’t add or take away letters. Prefixes can make words look funny, and often cause spelling mistakes. Common examples are unnecessary, misstep, and preeminent.

- Practice makes permanent. Sometimes this old-fashioned method is the best way to overcome spelling obstacles.

English spelling is notoriously difficult to learn and is wrought with inconsistencies. Your best practice is to read and write a lot, whether for pleasure, homeschool, or your dual credit studies. The more you immerse yourself in the language, the better you will be able to use it.

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