Lindsay McMahon
"The English Adventurer"

English spelling can be tough.

We do not always spell words the way they sound and sometimes two words can sound the same and be spelled differently.

Those words can have completely different meanings.

Even native speakers struggle with this.

Today we’ll help you clear up your confusion with three of the most common word pairs.

Tricky spelling pairs:

  • Cereal: The food that you eat in the morning (Cheerios, Wheaties)
  • Serial: A series of events, something that happens many times at once.  We use this in “serial killer.”
  • Break: To take a rest, to take time off or time away from something. It can also be used in a bunch of phrasal verbs such as “break up.”
  • Brake: The pedal in a car that stops the car.
  • Sight: Your vision or your ability to see. It can also mean your field of vision or something that is seen or a place or thing that is worth seeing such as “a beautiful sight.”
  • Site: The location of something. We can say “The excavation site.” The place where something is happening. This is also used when we say “website.”

* Listen to the episode to hear the role play conversation to see how these words are used!

What questions do you have from today’s episode?

Let us know in the comments.

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