Self-tutoring about English: the tutor mentions an interesting notion. In English, consonants are easy, but vowels can be a challenge. Perhaps that’s why we might forgive wrong consonants but can’t forgive wrong vowels. For instance, consider the word “meant”: spelling…

Self-tutoring about spelling: the tutor shares a find. Tendinitis or tendonitis – which one is correct? Both are, it turns out: they mean the same. Source: Mish, Frederick C. (editor). Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Springfield: Merriam-Webster, 2004.

Self-tutoring about spelling: the tutor researches, to him, an age-old question. Which is correct – barbecue or barbeque? Either, according to the Oxford Canadian dictionary. However, this spell-checker prefers barbecue. Source: Barber, Katherine et al. Oxford Canadian Dictionary of Current…

Self-tutoring about English: the tutor checks about esthetic and aesthetic. Apparently, aesthetic and esthetic have the same meaning. Source: Mish, Frederick C (editor). The Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Springfield: Merriam-Webster, 2004.

Self-tutoring about spelling: the tutor had his doubts in one case…. I read the word “sceptical” with surprise. One of the word processing programs I use doesn’t like it either. Yet, Webster’s Dictionary and Oxford Canadian Dictionary agree: sceptic is…

Tutoring English, suffixes are interesting. The tutor mentions a word ending with -ible. In a post from December 30, 2012, I mention some -ibles – for example, credible. By an -ible I mean a word that ends in -ible but…

Self-tutoring about English: the tutor mentions a discovery. Typing an article, I keyed relatable, but the checker doesn’t like it. Am I wrong? I found relatable in the dictionary. Curious, eh? Source: The Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Springfield, Merriam-Webster, 2004.

Tutoring English, a specific question arises: the tutor investigates if hilarity can pluralize to hilarities. In my Feb 14 post I use the word hilarities, which the spell-checker doesn’t like, though it’s happy with hilarity. So, is the word hilarities…

Tutoring English, you never run out of material. The tutor shares an observation – will it be relatable? relatable (adj): 1. sensibly connected to some other event or state; 2. understandable by others. The word relatable is listed by a…

Tutoring English, some hilarities just present themselves. Numbskull can also be spelled numskull, according to two dictionaries I’ve checked. Who knew? Source: Mish, Frederick C (editor). The Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Springfield: Merriam-Webster, 2004. Gilmour, Lorna (editor). Collins Essential Canadian English Dictionary…