I'm beginning to wonder if anyone can still spell, these days. I
see awful spelling everywhere, including from high school students (in
their work, not just the awful abbreviations used in SMSs),
and they don't even seem to be aware that it's wrong. They're
nearly all basic words, too; the sort of words that I learnt how to write
correctly part way through primary school. And they're the kind of
things that you really need to get right when writing job
applications.
This is an Australian site, as such this page is only about Australian
writing. There are some people who will say when writing for an
international audience, or some other specific audience, that you should
use their writing rules. I refute that point of view. I write
in my own language, and I know its rules. I don't know the rules of
other languages, so I can't follow them without research, and it strikes me
that it's really too much to ask someone to go into such intricacies.
It's far-from-simple to write in someone else's language, you have
spelling, grammar, and punctuation to contend with, it's quite
complex. Besides we're forever having to put with American
impositions on the rest of the world, and we manage to read their material,
they ought to be able to manage to read other people's material.
Using the correct words in the right places
- It's not going to work. (Abbreviation of “it
is.”)
- The computer destroyed its data. (Something that
belongs to “it.”)
- Don't lose the keys.
- They are losing the game.
- This shirt is too loose.
- There are too many people.
- We went to the party, too.
- We are going to go shopping.
- There are two apples.
- He took a dose of medicine.
- The gardener does the lawn.
- I can't decide which shoes to wear.
- The witch cast a magic spell.
- They're going out tonight.
- They didn't notice that their dog had fleas.
- There is nobody over there.
- You wait in a queue. (A line, handled in order.)
- A DJ has a queue of discs to play.
(A collection of things to be done, in order.)
- An actor takes their cue. (The word is about
readiness, it's a signal to start.)
- A DJ cues up their next
disc. (The word is about readiness, they're getting their next
track ready to be played.)
- The weather has been really nice, lately.
- I don't know whether I'll need an umbrella.
- We walked past the house.
- We passed the information along.
- A viola is a musical instrument (like a violin), it's also
a type of flower.
- Voilà is a French exclamatory remark to draw your
attention to something (there's supposed to be a grave accent above the
a, but it's frequently omitted). It may be pronounced somewhat
like “whah-lah,” but it's certainly not spelt anything like it, and
it's certainly not pronounced as “woller.”
- You insure something against theft.
- You ensure that something does, or doesn't, happen.
- Don't waste food.
- A belt goes around your waist.
- You wait for a bus.
- You can measure your weight with set of scales.
- You buy milk from the shops.
- You say bye to someone who's leaving.
- The broom is by the back step.
- The prefix bi means two (e.g. bilingual,
biped, bi-monthly etc.).
- A location is a site (building site, website, and so
on).
- Sight is what you see with.
- By modern convention, there's eight bits in most bytes.
- The Great Australian Bight is a part of the South
Australian coastline.
- You bite into an apple.
- The dog bit the postman.
- You have veins in your arm.
- Don't be so vain (self-obsessed).
- They tried to repair the computer, in vain (without
success).
- Turn the light on.
- The meal is light.
- That box isn't heavy, it's light.
- Most people go to bed at night.
- The knights of The Round Table.
- The appliance came with a warranty offering repair or
replacement should it fail.
- The person the warranty applies to (the owner), is the
warrantee.
- The computer came with no guarantee that it would
work.
Using the word “lite” to do with illumination or
weight is incorrect, and there's no such word as
“nite”. They're deliberate spelling errors used in advertising.
I before E, except after C
It's a general rule that works in most cases where “ie”
sounds like “ee.” Here's a few examples of words where the:
- belief (I before E, they're not after a C)
- believe (I before E, they're not after a C)
- ceiling (E before I, they are after a C)
- deceitful (E before I, they are after a C)
- friend (I before E, they're not after a C)
- receive (E before I, they are after a C)
- relief (I before E, they're not after a C)
But there's numerous exceptions to the over-simplified rule.
Above, friend doesn't have an “ee” sound, yet it's I before E; and
there's other examples, where it does. And there are “ee” sounds,
that are spelt with “ei.” You end up having to learn a lot of
them by rote, as there's plenty that don't match a simple set of
rules. So that “I before E rule” is no-longer taught for that
reason.
Various exceptions (E before I, and without caring
about C)
Often, but not always, where it sounds like “ay” or “eye”.
Again, here's a few examples:
“ay” sounding words using “ei”
- eight
- neighbour
- vein
- weight
“ee” sounding words using “ei”
- either (NB: can be said with “ee” or “eye” pronunciation)
- neither (NB: can be said with “ee” or “eye” pronunciation)
- weird
“eye” sounding words using “ei”
- Albert Einstein
- either (NB: can be said with “ee” or “eye” pronunciation)
- neither (NB: can be said with “ee” or “eye” pronunciation)
- Tim Seifert
- Jerry Seinfeld
- a sleight-of-hand trick
Yes, there's some deliberate duplications, above.
As noted, some of them are pronounced either way.
ISE or IZE, and YSE or YZE word-endings
Although not a hard and fast rule, it's traditionally being favoured
to spell words that could be written ending with “ise” or “ize,” that
they're written with an “ise” ending (likewise when there's an “ing”
suffix, as well). While both “ise” or “ize,” endings being
not-incorrect, it's generally preferred that “ise” is used (though there
are some government and educational officialdoms that set their own,
conflicting, rules). And it needs to be remembered that some words
can only be spelt one way.
For example, the usual proferred Australian spelling for a few word
thats can be spelt both ways:
- advertise, advertising
- authorise
- colourise, colourising
It's a similar situation with words that end with “yse” or “yze,”
such as “analyse.” In that the Australian way is to use the ending
with an “s” in it.
The rule is losing ground to creeping Americanisms, be that from the
proliferation of reading material already spelt that way, and automated
spell-checkers that are set to the wrong locality, or don't support
Australian English.
Apostrophes
Apostrophes denote abbreviations, and are used in ownership (only with
names). They're not used with plurals, except in
some cases (with single letters and numbers, or where
multiple-ownership is involved).
Abbreviations
- There's (there is) a right way to do it.
- It's (it is) time to go to lunch.
- Don't (do not) do that.
- Tim's (Tim is) cooking dinner.
- The thing's (thing is) glowing bright green.
Ownership
- Tim's shoes are black.
- Its handle fell off. (Not a name, so no
apostrophe.)
- The trophy was theirs. (Not a name, so no
apostrophe.)
- The dog's ears were droopy. (Dog is a name, it's a
species of animal, it doesn't have to be a personal name.)
- The computer's hard drive was full. (Computer is a
name of a device.)
- The thing's lid broke off. (The lid, that fell off,
belonged to the thing. As well as “thing” being used as a name
for something, even if it's not specific.)
- The enquiry was conducted according to the organisation's
rules. (Rules owned by a single organisation.)
- The zookeepers drugged the lions' food before entering the
cage. (Food belonging to several lions.)
The apostrophe goes after the “s,” where “s” hasn't been
added to indicate ownership—such as words already ending in “s”, or where
the “s” indicates plurals (apostrophes with plurals are used regarding
ownership, not because they're plurals, with the exception of single
letters and numbers).
Plurals
- All the teams competed in the final event.
- Apples for $2 a kilo.
- The 1980s had, generally, horrible pop music.
- The airline had twenty 707s.
- There are four 7's (sevens) in a deck of playing
cards.
- There are three e's in the word “remember.”