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User:JackofOz/Spelling errors

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is a short list of the spelling errors I most commonly see on Wikipedia.

Incorrect Correct Comments
Adolph Hitler Adolf Hitler
affect (n.) effect (n.) See effect/affect below
ahold (get ahold of something) a hold
alot a lot
artical article
aswell as well Two words, not one
atall at all
atleast at least
avaliable available
awhile a while
bizzare bizarre One z, two r's
Britian Britain
calender calendar
can not cannot Can not is possible in a certain context, but the usual negation of "can" is "cannot"
concensus consensus This is Wikipedia, goddamit! If we can't spell consensus right, who the hell can?
consistant consistent
could of, would of, should of could have, would have, should have or could've, would've, should've
criteria used as a singular criterion One criterion, many criteria; see also phenomena
decent descent Easily confused: My mother, who is of Patagonian and Maltese descent, can't come to the door right now because she's not decent.
defiantly (to mean definitely) definitely
definately definitely
desert dessert Easily confused: Lawrence crossed the Arabian desert; to cool down, he ate some icecream for dessert, and reckoned he'd got his just deserts.
effect (v.) affect (v.) Effect is normally a noun (The effect this revelation had on my plans was enormous); it can be used as a verb meaning to bring about or bring into effect; but the verb meaning to change or have an effect on something is affect (This revelation will enormously affect my plans)
except (v.) accept To accept means to receive; to except means to exclude
existance existence
ex-patriot expatriate Unless you're really talking about a person who's no longer a patriot, i.e. a traitor
guage gauge
grammer grammar
heirarchy hierarchy Nothing to do with inheritance
incase in case
instore in store
it's (possessive pronoun: The dog was waving it's tail) its (The dog was waving its tail) it's is an abbreviation for the verb it is (It's a lovely day today) or it has (It's been a lovely day today)
loath vs. loathe to loathe (v.) means to hate or despise (I loathe people who make this mistake); loath (adj.) means reluctant (I am loath to publicly rebuke them for their errors)
loose (v.) lose loose is used as a verb only in archaic contexts ("... that they may be loosed from their sins"). Loose is usually used as an adjective, meaning the opposite of tight.
In the mean time In the meantime
miniscule minuscule From the Latin minusculus; nothing to do with mini-
mischevious mischievous
negligable negligible
noone no one "Nobody" is one word, but "no one" is 2 words
occassion occasion
occuring,
occurence
occurring, occurrence
onstage on stage
perjorative pejorative From the Latin peior (worse); nothing to do with purging and should not be pronounced like that
phenomena used as a singular phenomenon One phenomenon, many phenomena; see also criteria
plauge plague
predominately predominantly
preferance preference
publically publicly
recuring recurring
rediculous ridiculous
relevent relevant
renumeration remuneration The first one is about re-numbering a group of things. Nothing to do with payment for services rendered, which is usually what is intended.
rouge rogue
sacreligious sacrilegious
sentance sentence
speach speech
supposably supposedly
their/there/they're Their is a possessive pronoun: my dog, your cat, his pony, our tiger, their parrots. There is a preposition - over there. They're is a verb, an abbreviation of "they are": They're my best friends.
I am better then you I am better than you
That's to bad That's too bad
underage under age
underway under way
visa versa vice versa
were/where "were" is the past tense of the verb "to be" (They were walking up the hill). "Where" is an adverb (I know where you are. But where is Wally?)
who's (relative pronoun) whose Any man whose name is Peter, step forward. Any man who's less than 5 feet tall, take a step backward. Who's is an abbreviation for 'who is' or 'who has' (Who's in charge around here?)
your an asshole you're an asshole Your is a possessive pronoun, like my, her, his, our, their etc: Your opinion and mine are different, but we can still be friends. What we need here is a verb, you are, abbreviated to you're.