Hard words to spell

Some words are hard because of the letters in them, and the same ones catch nearly everybody. These are the words children on SpellingJoy get wrong most often the first time they meet them, grouped by what actually trips them up.

Where these numbers come from

Where these come from. 172,421 first attempts by children practicing on SpellingJoy. A word appears here only if at least 100 different children have met it.

What the number means. The share of those children who needed more than one try the first time they saw that word. Later practice is not counted, so it measures the first meeting, not how hard a word stays. Across all 978 words that qualify, the average is 12.6%. This page shows the 81 at 25% or above.

What it does not mean. These are children roughly 5 to 12 years old using one spelling app, not adults and not every English word. Two rates within a few points of each other are not meaningfully different, so there are no rankings here.

The i before e words

  • achievement44.2% · 104 children

    Achieve with an ending bolted on, so the ie is still the part that decides it.

    Cue: Spell achieve, then add ment. Nothing else changes.

  • belief42.9% · 119 children
  • believe34.3% · 498 children

    The most practiced word in this group, 692 children, and nearly a third still miss it.

    Cue: Never believe a lie. The word lie is sitting inside it.

  • carried25.4% · 114 children
  • chief34.9% · 275 children

    Rhymes with thief and is spelled the same way, which is worth showing side by side.

    Cue: Chief and thief. One letter apart, same ie.

  • countries25.2% · 119 children
  • deceive50.9% · 106 children
  • eight26.1% · 333 children
  • field36.5% · 233 children

    One of the most practiced words on the site and a third still get it wrong the first time.

    Cue: You yield in a field. They rhyme and they are spelled the same way.

  • height26.3% · 342 children

    Looks like it should rhyme with weight and be spelled like it, but the ei sounds nothing like the ei in eight.

    Cue: Height and weight both carry eigh. Learn them as a pair.

  • neighbor28.8% · 229 children
  • piece32.9% · 246 children
  • preview27.5% · 153 children

    View carries the ie, and the pre in front hides it.

    Cue: Preview is pre plus view. Spell view on its own first.

  • quiet30.1% · 113 children

    Two syllables that children run together into quite, which is a different word.

    Cue: Qui-et has two beats. Quite has one. Say it in two and the i comes before the e.

  • scientists31.4% · 121 children
  • sufficient38.2% · 144 children
  • their27.4% · 296 children

    An ei with no c in front, which breaks the rule children have just been taught, and it competes with there and they are.

    Cue: Their has heir in it, and an heir owns something. Their means belonging to them.

  • thief36.1% · 147 children

    No c in front, so it goes back to ie, and children who have just learned receive often overcorrect to "theif".

    Cue: A thief lies. Both ie.

  • weigh33.3% · 189 children

Letters you cannot hear

  • business38.7% · 181 children

    Busy plus ness, but the word is said "bizness", so the middle syllable disappears.

    Cue: Busy people do business. Start by spelling busy.

  • february45.5% · 143 children

    Almost everyone says "Feb-yoo-ary", so the first r vanishes before the child writes it down.

    Cue: Say it wrong on purpose while you write: "Feb-ROO-ary". The r comes back.

  • wednesday31.7% · 180 children

    Three syllables on paper, two in the mouth. The d and the first e are never spoken.

    Cue: Wed, nes, day. Say the three pieces as you write the three pieces.

One letter or two

  • alliteration37.6% · 109 children
  • beginning25.7% · 105 children

    Begin doubles its n before ing, which is the rule children forget most.

    Cue: Begin ends in one n, but beginning needs two.

  • different33.8% · 225 children

    The middle e is swallowed, so children write "diffrent".

    Cue: Diff-er-ent. Three beats, three vowels.

  • especially26.4% · 129 children
  • illegal31.1% · 135 children
  • occasionally26.8% · 112 children
  • parallel26.9% · 145 children

    One r, then two l, then one l. Three decisions in one word.

    Cue: The two l in the middle are the parallel lines.

The vowel in the middle nobody says

  • calendar37.0% · 135 children

    The last vowel is an a that sounds exactly like an e.

    Cue: Calendar ends like dollar and collar. Look for the ar.

  • certain29.3% · 140 children

    The ain ending is said "un", which points at no letters in particular.

    Cue: Certain, mountain, curtain. All ain.

  • definitely50.0% · 166 children

    Three i sounds, all unstressed, and children reach for an a in the middle.

    Cue: Definitely is finite with de on the front. No a anywhere.

  • experiment32.2% · 146 children

    A long word with an unstressed i in the middle that children drop.

    Cue: Experi plus ment. It starts like experience.

  • relevant32.6% · 129 children

    The ending sounds like "ent" but is spelled ant.

    Cue: Relevant, important, significant. All ant.

  • separate25.1% · 187 children

    The middle vowel is an a, but it is said so lightly that almost everyone writes "seperate".

    Cue: There is a rat in separate.

  • sincerely32.7% · 107 children

    Sincere keeps its e when ly is added, which is not what the ear suggests.

    Cue: Sincere plus ly. The e stays.

  • temperature38.6% · 158 children

    Most people say "tempracher", so two whole vowels go missing.

    Cue: Temp-er-a-ture. Four beats. Say all four while writing.

Other words that catch children out

Practice these words

Every word above links to its own page, with the word read aloud and a practice list. To print a worksheet from your own list, paste the words into the worksheet generator.

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