Every language has its tricks of the trade – the French are big on using all the letters they have in each word, only to actually spell two of them; the Germans are absolute champions in forming the longest words imaginable; while the Portuguese might make you think you weren’t born with the right set of vocal cords to correctly pronounce all of their words. As for English, well, although it might be the easiest language to learn – partly because there’s so much of it in most people’s daily lives – it does have a few tricks up its sleeve, too. Yup, we’re talking about hard words to spell, and the people on this Reddit thread (mind you, most of them are probably native speakers) have shared the English word spelling gems they cannot remember to this day.
So, what are hard words to spell that get these Redditors wishing for AutoCorrect or Grammarly every time they type? First off, there are the classics like ‘necessary,’ ‘definitely,’ and even the friggin’ ‘tomorrow.’ If they’re considered hard words for native speakers, then what about those of us for whom English is merely a secondary language? Should we be carrying a tiny little notebook with us at all times with these hard words to spell written down to check up on their spelling if need be? But wait, there’s also ‘bureaucracy,’ ‘renaissance,’ and ‘maneuvering,’ for god’s sake! Thankfully, though, commenters on this AskReddit were also kind enough to offer easy ways to remember these hard spelling words and their correct versions, so who knows, their spelling might be cracked one day after all.
Right, ready for a lesson in word spelling? Don’t worry, it’s also quite an amusing one, and if you struggle with these words, too, at least now you’ll know you’re not the only one!
#1
EdgyGoose said:
“Necessary. I can never remember if it’s two C’s and one S or two S’s and one C, or if it’s two of each.”
kpgirb replied:
“Somebody told me to think of this word as a T-shirt — one [C]ollar, two [S]leeves. It’s so dumb and I roll my eyes every time I spell necessary right. Ugh.”
Image source: EdgyGoose
#2
User said:
“Diarrhea.”
mikeyohh replied:
“I’m from the UK and we spell it diarrhoea (I’m not sure if it’s different in other countries).
I’ve always remembered it as ‘Dining In A Rough Restaurant, Hurry Or Expect Accidents’.”
Image source: reddit.com
#3
Technical-Berry8471 said:
“Wensday.”
clinicalneuro_nerd replied:
“I have to out loud say “Wed”, “nes”, “day” to get it right.”
Image source: Technical-Berry8471
#4
User said:
“Winchester-fire sauce.”
Lieb98 replied:
“Worcestershire sauce?”
Image source: reddit.com
#5
“Naeacious… neacious… neasius…
Naw-shuss.”
Image source: Abalone_Admirable
#6
First-Ad-5152 said:
“Rennasance? Renaissance?”
VarangianDreams replied:
“It’s the same “re” as in “reawaken”, “reapply”, and “return”, so no double consonants after. It’s a re-naissance, not another nnaissance, which isn’t a word in any language.”
Image source: First-Ad-5152
#7
“Entrepreneur. So many “e’s”.”
Image source: Quirky_Mongoose_401
#8
“Conscious, sounds nothing like it’s spelled.”
Image source: decepjr
#9
“For a person who does not have English as a first language, the words wich, witch, with, though, thought, through.”
Image source: nate36sat
#10
“Manoeuvering.
I had to use the speech-to-text option on my keyboard to get it correctly.”
Image source: Born-Sympathy-7625
#11
“I often misspell Mediterranean and Caribbean.”
Image source: reddit.com
#12
“Beutiful and nessessary, this biusiness keeps my guard up.”
Image source: Orzine
#13
“Hemorrhoids. Have to look it up every damn time.”
Image source: matt314159
#14
wheres_the_revolt said:
“Bureaucracy.”
User replied:
“In German, that word sounds similar but is way easier to pronounciate. Bürokratie. F**k that eau.”
Image source: wheres_the_revolt
#15
“Ceiling.
Honestly, those stupid ei words get me every time.”
Image source: reddit.com
#16
HellYeahTinyRick said:
“Apparently, it’s “Definitely.” I swear to god no one can spell it correctly.”
permacloud replied:
“Just remember it has “finite” in it. The rest spells itself.”
Image source: HellYeahTinyRick
#17
Riq4 said:
“Onomatopoeia.”
who-are-we-anyway replied:
“This is the exact word that would immediately cause me to lose in a spelling bee.”
Image source: Riq4
#18
ginga_balls said:
“Thorough.”
Ergotnometry replied:
“I always put a u after the first o and then go back and delete it when it looks too long.”
Image source: ginga_balls
#19
“Reconnaissance.
Or destroy. I know perfectly well how to spell it but I typed “destory” twice in a row in a context where that was a very interesting mistake, and now my muscle memory won’t forget it.”
Image source: Cyborg_Ninja_Cat
#20
“I often times have to double check if I’m using enough ‘c’s and ‘m’s in ‘recommendation’.”
Image source: Climinteedus
#21
“Conciousness. Don’t even know if that’s spelled right. It gets even better when you negate it and make it an adverb.”
Image source: Yami_Kitagawa
#22
uncertainusurper said:
“Excersize.”
NSFAnythingAtAll replied:
“There’s definitely not a Z in it. Just remember, no sleeping in the gym.”
Image source: uncertainusurper
#23
ilovefanfictionz said:
“Nausea.”
ccurlyism replied:
“You spelled it right!”
Image source: ilovefanfictionz
#24
throwawaysadgurl69 said:
“Vacuum!”
EddieRando21 replied:
“Yes! I spell it many times a day and I can never remember if it’s 2 Cs and 2 Us or 2 Cs and 1 U or 1 C and 2 Us.”
Image source: throwawaysadgurl69
#25
“Occurred. 2 c’s, 2 r’s? Can never remember.”
Image source: alilbored1
#26
“Apparently, the cemetery has three e’s and is not spelled cemetary.”
Image source: Efficient_Heart_2760
#27
“Sternocleidomastoid. Every time I try to vanish it from existence I fail, unlike all the other words that I have obliterated from reality.”
Image source: Dystopian_Divisions
#28
“I can only spell “Mississippi” if I say it in Spanish in my head. No clue why.”
Image source: Whisper2103
#29
“Approximately is the one I’m known to mess up a lot. Some countries I’m also useless at spelling, Kyrgyzstan, Nicaragua, Vanuatu, etc. My main problem is not spelling but typing, especially on mobile.”
Image source: GamingPredator69
#30
“Beleaguered. Had to google the spelling.”
Image source: Useful_Ad_165
#31
BCphoton said:
“Restaurant, idk why.”
First-Ad-5152 replied:
“I never know where the damn “a” goes.”
Image source: BCphoton
#32
HumpieDouglas said:
“Banana and bananas I have to sing ‘It’s bananas, B-A-N-A-N-A-S’.”
alectromantia replied:
“Hollaback Girl by Gwen Stefani saved many of us from learning to spell Bananas. I sing it in my head every single time.”
Image source: HumpieDouglas
#33
knnss1 said:
“Not sure if it’s center or centre.”
ccurlyism replied:
“I think it depends on where you’re from but both work. kind of like theater and theatre.”
Image source: knnss1
#34
abdel_allim said:
“Unfortunately (I’m not a native speaker).”
Extesht replied:
“That could be considered unfortunate since English is extremely difficult to learn as a second language.”
Image source: abdel_allim
#35
“Gorgeous. I always wanna spell goregous.”
Image source: worm_mom
#36
“Substantiation we actually use this one somewhat often where I currently work.”
Image source: Taco_ivore
#37
“Liaison. Which used to be in my job title argh.”
Image source: rotatingruhnama
#38
“Intussusception. Can’t spell it, can’t pronounce it, no matter how many times I try. Impossible.”
Image source: Ants_in_my_hair
#39
Toastand_beans said:
“Beautiful idk why but that’s it.”
kpgirb replied:
“I think of the Bruce Almighty scene whenever I try to spell this.”
Image source: Toastand_beans
#40
ElSenorOwl said:
“Tomorrow.”
raebz12 replied:
“Grandpa taught me to look at it like a name. Tom Orrow.”
Image source: ElSenorOwl
#41
yParticle said:
“✓ four.
✗ fourty.
✗ forteen.
What the hell, man?”
_jamesbaxter replied:
“Is it, not fourteen??? Maybe in the US, it’s different? I’m in the US and my autocorrect says fourteen.”
Image source: yParticle
#42
“Volcano. For some reason I always spell Vulcano.”
Image source: JunkyJunooo
#43
91NA8 said:
“Guarantee?”
User replied:
“My answer. I always remember it’s spelled weirdly, but then forget if it’s because there is a U or isn’t a U. I hate it.”
Image source: 91NA8
#44
“Inconvenience…
which is honestly quite the inconvenience whenever I need to write out that stumping word.”
Image source: smallemochick
#45
“That town in Wales called Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch.”
Image source: reddit.com
#46
Tonto811 said:
“A person that flies an airplane. I always struggle to spell that word for some reason.”
ccurlyism replied:
“Pilot?”
Tonto811 replied:
“Yes, a pielot.”
Image source: Tonto811
#47
“Medieval sounds so much like midevil to me.”
Image source: reddit.com
#48
GobanToba said:
“Quite and quiet, not super hard to spell but I have to think about it every single time.”
_daithi replied:
“Just remember that you drink (T)ea in silence.”
Image source: GobanToba
#49
“Fortunately.
I butcher this word so much that the autocorrect struggles to find the correct word so I have to google it lol.”
Image source: toysoldier96
#50
“For some reason, I cannot spell phantom. Like every time I try to spell phantom I mess up. Let me try Fatom… factom… fantum… pantom… phatum.
GOD DAMMIT I JUST WON’T SPELL PHANTOM.”
Image source: Euphoric-Gene-2188
#51
“Michael. I usually transpose the “a” and “e” in my first attempt.”
Image source: brettschip
#52
“Cinnamon. For some reason, I always type it with one n and an extra I where the A is. It’s not a hard word. My brain just never gets it.”
Image source: scooterbaby46
#53
“Eichhörnchenscheiße.
Good luck with that to all non-natives.”
Image source: ohneHonig
#54
“I would say neighborhood (even then I had to write it 5 times to get it right).”
Image source: Wazzapolo
#55
“Gullible. I am usually good at spelling but can almost never remember how to spell this one. It should be easy but I try to put extra vowels in.”
Image source: A_Salty_Moon
#56
Criz_Chan06 said:
“Receive. For God’s sake, I get it wrong 85% of the time.”
_daithi replied:
“I before E except after C.”
Image source: Criz_Chan06
#57
“Environment. I always get it to “environement”.”
Image source: Common-Wish-2227
#58
“Woolly. Always 100% of the time will write ‘wolly’. And yes, I surprise myself with how much I use the word.”
Image source: gainington
#59
“Privilege. I want to put an I where an e goes and vice versa every time.”
Image source: Imaginary_Attempt_82
#60
“Psycho. Every damn time I see “physco”. Like please for the love of God sound out what you just wrote.”
“Just realized I’m more ranting about a word that’s hard for other people. For me the first word that pops into my mind is occurrence. Sometimes I forget an r, sometimes I spell it with ance.”
Image source: SirUntouchable
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