Spelling, capitals and common mistakes: learn

In this lesson you will

Use four spelling rules: doubling consonants, changing y to i, dropping a silent e, and -ful / -fully
Choose correctly between words that sound the same, such as their / there / they're and quiet / quite
Use capital letters for names, days, months, nationalities and languages, but not for seasons or most school subjects
Find and correct common B1 grammar mistakes such as I am agree and some informations

Before you start

Think about these questions, or answer them aloud.

→Which English words do you often spell wrongly? Write two of them.
→When you finish writing an email, do you check it? What do you look for?

Why small mistakes matter

Small mistakes can make a good message look careless. A reader who sees alot, thier or monday starts to notice the mistakes instead of your ideas.

In exams, accuracy is part of your score. In IELTS, spelling is part of Lexical Resource and grammar mistakes are part of Grammatical Range and Accuracy. In TOEFL and TOEIC writing tasks, raters also look at grammar and vocabulary. In every exam, you must check your own spelling, so a few simple rules help a lot.

Four spelling rules
Rule	Examples	Be careful
Short word ending in one vowel + one consonant: double the consonant before -ed, -ing, -er, -est	stop → stopped, plan → planning, big → bigger, swim → swimming	Not with w, x or y: snow → snowing, fix → fixed, play → played
Longer word with the stress at the end: also double	begin → beginning, prefer → preferred	Stress at the start: visit → visited, open → opened. UK travel → travelled, US traveled
Consonant + y: change y to i	study → studies, studied; happy → happier, happiness	Keep y before -ing (studying) and after a vowel (play → played, enjoy → enjoys)
Silent e at the end: drop the e before -ing, -ed, -er	make → making, hope → hoping, write → writer	Keep it before a consonant: hope → hopeful, use → useful

-ful and -fully

The adjective ending -ful has only one l: beautiful, useful, careful, successful.
The adverb adds -ly, so it has two: carefully, successfully, beautifully.
Other adverbs work the same way: final → finally, real → really, usual → usually.
Words learners often misspell: accommodation, necessary, different, government, environment, receive, believe, until, definitely, a lot (two words).

Words that sound the same (or almost the same)
Words	Meaning	Example
their / there / they're	belonging to them / a place, or there is / they are	They're leaving their bags over there.
your / you're	belonging to you / you are	You're going to love your new job.
its / it's	belonging to it / it is or it has	It's a good company, and its offices are modern.
to / too / two	direction or verb / also, more than needed / 2	I went to the shop two times, and it was too busy.
then / than	after that / in comparisons	We ate, and then we walked. Walking is cheaper than driving.
where / were / wear	place / past of are / put on clothes	Where were you? I didn't know what to wear.
quiet / quite	not noisy / fairly	The library is quiet, and it is quite big.
lose / loose	not have something any more / not tight	Don't lose your keys. These jeans are loose.
advice / advise	noun / verb	Thanks for your advice. I advise you to book early.

Capital letters

Use a capital letter for:

the first word of a sentence, and the word I
names of people, cities, countries and companies: Maria, Tokyo, Canada, Greenline Travel
nationalities and languages: French, a Brazilian student, I speak Japanese
days, months and holidays: Monday, July, New Year
titles before a name: Dr Lee, Mr Hughes, Professor Kim

Do not use a capital letter for:

seasons: in the summer, last winter
school subjects (except languages): maths, history, but English
general words: my manager, the university, unless they are part of a name (Oxford University)

Common B1 mistakes
Wrong	Right	Why
I am agree with you.	I agree with you.	Agree is a verb, not an adjective.
The people is friendly.	The people are friendly.	People is plural.
some informations / advices	some information / advice	These nouns are uncountable: no -s.
She explained me the plan.	She explained the plan to me.	explain something to someone
We discussed about the price.	We discussed the price.	Discuss has no preposition.
The most of people…	Most people…	No the or of before a plural noun on its own.
more better	better / much better	Better is already a comparative.
I look forward to hear from you.	I look forward to hearing from you.	to here is a preposition, so use -ing.

The task

Ana has just started a new job. She writes a short email to her English friend Tom. Read her first draft, then the version she wrote after checking her work.

First draft (17 mistakes)

hi Tom,

Thank you for your message. I'm sorry I didn't write sooner, but I have been very busy since I started my new job in march. I am agree with you that it's a good company, and the people is very friendly. My manager gave me alot of usefull advices in my first week, and she explained me how everything works.

The office is quiet near the river, so I usualy walk their on monday's and wednesday's. Next month I am planing to visit you in london. I look forward to hear from you.

Best wishes,

ana

After checking

Hi Tom,

Thank you for your message. I'm sorry I didn't write sooner, but I have been very busy since I started my new job in March. I agree with you that it's a good company, and the people are very friendly. My manager gave me a lot of useful advice in my first week, and she explained to me how everything works.

The office is quite near the river, so I usually walk there on Mondays and Wednesdays. Next month I am planning to visit you in London. I look forward to hearing from you.

Best wishes,

Ana

How a strong writer does it

Ana checked her email three times, looking for one kind of mistake each time.

Capitals: Hi, March, Mondays, Wednesdays, London, Ana.
Spelling and sound-alike words: a lot, useful, usually, planning, quite (not quiet), there (not their). Days in the plural need no apostrophe: on Mondays.
Her own common mistakes: I agree, the people are, advice (no -s), explained to me, look forward to hearing.

Checking for one thing at a time is faster and more reliable than reading once and hoping to see everything.

Gap fill

Spelling rules

Write the correct form of the word in brackets.

1. Yesterday the bus (stop) outside my house. 2. My sister is (study) for her exams this week. 3. My brother (study) engineering at university. 4. I feel (happy) in my new flat than in the old one. 5. Can you help me? I'm (make) dinner for six people. 6. The film was exciting at the (begin) , but the ending was boring. 7. They (try) to call you three times last night. 8. We are (swim) in the lake this afternoon. 9. Last summer we (travel) around Italy by train. 10. The view from the hotel was really (beauty) .

Gap fill

Correct the mistake

Each wrong sentence has one mistake. Complete the correct sentence.

1. Wrong: I am agree with your idea. → Right: I with your idea. 2. Wrong: The people in my town is very kind. → Right: The people in my town very kind. 3. Wrong: Can you send me some informations? → Right: Can you send me some ? 4. Wrong: She explained me the rules. → Right: She explained the rules me. 5. Wrong: We discussed about the problem. → Right: We the problem. 6. Wrong: The most of people have a phone. → Right: people have a phone. 7. Wrong: This hotel is more better than the last one. → Right: This hotel is than the last one. 8. Wrong: I look forward to hear from you. → Right: I look forward to from you. 9. Wrong: I made a lot of homework yesterday. → Right: I a lot of homework yesterday. 10. Wrong: It depends of the weather. → Right: It depends the weather.

Writing task

Your turn: write and check an email

Write for about 10 minutes. Then spend 3 minutes checking: first capitals, then spelling and sound-alike words, then the common mistakes in this lesson.

You have just started an English course in another country. Write an email to an English-speaking friend.

In your email:

say where you are studying and when the course started
describe your teacher and your classmates
say what you are planning to do next weekend

Write at least 100 words.

Write at least 100 words · about 13 minutes

13:000 / 100 words

Save words to review them later with flashcards.

proofread
to read a text carefully to find and correct mistakes
“Always proofread your email before you send it.”
misspell
to spell a word wrongly
“Many learners misspell the word accommodation.”
capital letter
a large letter, such as A, B or C
“Days of the week start with a capital letter.”
apostrophe
the mark ' used in short forms (it's) and to show possession (Tom's)
“There is no apostrophe in the word its when it means belonging to it.”
consistent
always the same
“Be consistent: use British or American spelling, not both.”
accommodation
a place to live or stay
“The school can help you find accommodation.”
necessary
needed in order to do something
“Is it necessary to book a table?”
definitely
certainly, without any doubt
“I'll definitely visit you next summer.”
receive
to get something that someone gives or sends you
“Did you receive my email?”
patient
able to wait or deal with problems calmly
“Our teacher is very patient with beginners.”

Key points

Double the final consonant after one short vowel (stopped, swimming), change consonant + y to i (studies), and drop a silent e before -ing (making).
-ful has one l (useful); the adverb has two (usefully).
Check sound-alike words: their / there / they're, its / it's, then / than, quiet / quite, lose / loose.
Use capitals for names, places, nationalities, languages, days and months, but not for seasons or most school subjects.
Check your work in three passes: capitals, spelling, then your own common mistakes.

Check your answers in the practice exercises to record a score.

Up next · Writing B1 Foundation

Short messages at work

Go to lesson

Warm-up

In this lesson you will

Before you start

Why small mistakes matter

Capital letters

Quick check: which spelling is correct?

The task

First draft (17 mistakes)

After checking

How a strong writer does it

Spelling rules

Sound-alike words and capitals

Correct the mistake

Your turn: write and check an email

Key points

Warm-up

In this lesson you will

Before you start

Why small mistakes matter

Capital letters

Quick check: which spelling is correct?

The task

First draft (17 mistakes)

After checking

How a strong writer does it

Spelling rules

Sound-alike words and capitals

Correct the mistake

Your turn: write and check an email

Key points