Top 50 IELTS spelling errors

📘 Top 50 IELTS Spelling Errors (with corrections & explanations)

1. Accomodation → ✅ Accommodation

🔹 Double "c" and double "m" are essential.

2. Definately → ✅ Definitely

🔹 Common vowel mix-up. Think: “finite” inside “definitely”.

3. Enviroment → ✅ Environment

🔹 Missing “n” – remember: “iron” is inside “environment”!

4. Goverment → ✅ Government

🔹 Silent “n” must be included!

5. Recieve → ✅ Receive

🔹 Follows the “i before e, except after c” rule.

6. Seperate → ✅ Separate

🔹 Always ends in -arate, not -erate.

7. Adress → ✅ Address

🔹 Needs double “d” for accuracy.

8. Occurance → ✅ Occurrence

🔹 Double c and double r – one of the most misspelled!

9. Buisness → ✅ Business

🔹 “u” comes after “b”, not “i”.

10. Writting → ✅ Writing

🔹 Only one “t” after removing “e”.

11. Acomodate → ✅ Accommodate

🔹 Double “c” and double “m” again.

12. Tommorow → ✅ Tomorrow

🔹 One m, double r – not the other way around.

13. Febuary → ✅ February

🔹 Don’t forget the “r” after “b”.

14. Beggining → ✅ Beginning

🔹 Double g and n after adding “ing”.

15. Happend → ✅ Happened

🔹 Ends with -ened, not -end.

16. Intresting → ✅ Interesting

🔹 Spelled as it sounds: “interest + ing”.

17. Thier → ✅ Their

🔹 Common mix-up with “i” and “e”.

18. Freind → ✅ Friend

🔹 Always “i before e”, unless after c.

19. Knowlege → ✅ Knowledge

🔹 Include the “d”!

20. Comittee → ✅ Committee

🔹 Double m and double t.

21. Realy → ✅ Really

🔹 Needs double “l”.

22. Suprise → ✅ Surprise

🔹 The “r” after “u” is silent but must be written.

23. Neccessary → ✅ Necessary

🔹 One “c”, two “s” – remember: “one collar, two sleeves”.

24. Tendancy → ✅ Tendency

🔹 Spelling must end with -ency.

25. Persue → ✅ Pursue

🔹 The “u” comes right after “p”.

26. Maintanence → ✅ Maintenance

🔹 Tricky pronunciation – root word is “maintain”.

27. Pronounciation → ✅ Pronunciation

🔹 No “ou” in spelling – root is “pronounce” but noun is “pronunciation”.

28. Apreciate → ✅ Appreciate

🔹 Double p required.

29. Articel → ✅ Article

🔹 Switch the “el” to “le”.

30. Behavour → ✅ Behaviour (UK spelling)

🔹 US: Behavior; UK IELTS: Behaviour.

31. Embarass → ✅ Embarrass

🔹 Double “r” and double “s”.

32. Existense → ✅ Existence

🔹 Ends in -ence, not -ense.

33. Facillity → ✅ Facility

🔹 Only one “l” and ends in “ity”.

34. Hieght → ✅ Height

🔹 Inverted spelling – the “e” comes before “i”.

35. Insurence → ✅ Insurance

🔹 Ends with “-ance”, not “-ence”.

36. Knowlegeable → ✅ Knowledgeable

🔹 Base word “knowledge” + “able”.

37. Librery → ✅ Library

🔹 “Library” has two “r” sounds.

38. Mischevious → ✅ Mischievous

🔹 “i-e-v-o-u-s” is the correct ending.

39. Oppurtunity → ✅ Opportunity

🔹 Double “p”, ends with “-tunity”.

40. Parliment → ✅ Parliament

🔹 “i” after “l” – not before.

41. Preceed → ✅ Proceed

🔹 “Precede” means to go before, “Proceed” to continue – don’t confuse both!

42. Referance → ✅ Reference

🔹 Ends in “-ence”.

43. Reserch → ✅ Research

🔹 Missing an “a”.

44. Responsable → ✅ Responsible

🔹 Ends in “-ible”, not “-able”.

45. Seperately → ✅ Separately

🔹 Same “a” problem again – separ-ate-ly.

46. Succesful → ✅ Successful

🔹 Double “c” and “s”.

47. Tution → ✅ Tuition

🔹 Add that missing “i”!

48. Untill → ✅ Until

🔹 Just one “l” at the end.

49. Wensday → ✅ Wednesday

🔹 Remember: Wed + nes + day.

50. Yatch → ✅ Yacht

🔹 A truly deceptive word – no "tch" sound!

💡 Quick Tips to Remember

Always proofread Task 2 essays for spelling errors.

British spelling is preferred in IELTS (favourite, organise, behaviour, etc.).

Build a “Spelling Correction Notebook” and test yourself with daily dictations.