Commonly Misspelled Words

Their, They’re, There• Their

– Belongs to a them (The teacher stole their M&M’s.)

• They’re - They are (They’re the world’s best candies.)

• There – In that place; as an introductory adverb. (There they are! There can never be enough M&M’s.)

Two, Too, To

• Two-The number (Two or three packages of M&M’s provide a nutritious after-school snack.)

• Too-Also or more than enough (He, too, eats too many M&M’s.)

• To- Preposition meaning “toward” or used with infinitive of a verb (I’m going to M&M heaven, where I’m going to eat many M&M’s.)

Your, You’re

• Your

-Belongs to a you (Your M&M’s are my M&M’s.)

• You’re

-You are (You’re in my power; hand over your M&M’s.)

Its, It’s

• Its

- Belongs to an it (The dog ate its M&M’s and wanted mine.)

• It’s

- It is (It’s that kind of day when I crave M&M’s.)

Who’s, Whose• Who’s

Who's is short for who is or who has. (This is a 100% rule - it has no other uses.) If you can replace the word with who is or who has, use who's. If not, use whose. (Who’s eating my M&M’s? Who’s been eating my M&M’s?)

• Whose is the possessive form of who. (Whose M&M’s are these?) Test: Who is M&M’s are these?

A lot, allot• A lot

THERE IS NO SUCH WORD AS ALOT! Trust me. It is a two word expression for a large quantity. It is also not a rich sensory word. I can eat a lot of M&M’s.

• allot is a verb which means to give out, divide, or distribute. (allots, allotted, allotting) All blue M&M’s will be allotted to me.

Supposively, Supposedly• Supposively, again—not a word. Spell

check does not like it.

• Supposedly-- allegedly, at a guess, by all accounts, hypothetically, presumably, purportedly, theoretically  (Supposedly, someone wants to take away my M&M’s.)

Could of, Could have

• Could of, does not exist in proper English. It is often misused, because when we use the contraction—Could’ve, it is slurred and audibly sounds as if we’re saying (orally) could-of. However, when we write could have—there is no “of”.

• Could have/could’ve (I could have shared my M & M’s, but I’m too selfish.)

Top 10 Misspelled (By 6th graders) Words

1. mansion

2. language

3. restaurant

4. beginning

5. soldier

6. definitely

7. probably

8. instead

9. doesn’t

10.necessary