Even though there are no specific spelling or vocabulary tests in IELTS, that doesn’t mean that spelling is not assessed. In the Reading, Listening and Writing tests, not only are you expected to use the correct words (e.g. nouns, adjectives, verbs), but also the correct spelling of these words. In fact, words with spelling mistakes in the Reading and Listening tests will be marked as incorrect, while spelling errors in the Writing test may make it difficult for the examiner to understand and follow your message.
In today’s post, we have made a list of some of the most common spelling mistakes that often affect IELTS test takers:
Single and double consonants
It is common for IELTS test takers to make spelling mistakes when single or double consonants occur nearby in a word:
Single consonant followed by double consonant: across, process, recommend, necessary
Double consonant followed by single consonant: apparent, exaggerate, occasion, parallel, immediate
Two pairs of double consonants: address, assess, accommodation, possess, success, occurrence
Adding suffixes to words
It is also common for test-takers to make spelling mistakes when adding certain endings to words such as –ed, -ing, -er, and –est, as sometimes the last consonant in the word is doubled. For example:
drop –> dropped, dropping
big –> bigger, biggest
run -> running, runner
begin -> beginning, beginner
regret -> regretted, regretting
Words changing form
A word’s spelling can also change when it changes form, and this is often another spelling difficulty that candidates encounter:
Changing adjectives to nouns: absent -> absence, different -> difference
Changing nouns to adjectives: benefit -> beneficial, influence -> influential
Changing verbs to nouns: maintain -> maintenance, pronounce -> pronunciation
Changing nouns to verbs: excess -> exceed, success -> succeed
Silent letters in consonant clusters
Test takers often struggle spelling words with silent letters in consonant clusters. For example:
nm in environment, government
mn in autumn, column
sc in conscious, discipline, science
xc in excited, exception
kn in know, knee, knob
th in ordinals: eighth, twelfth
Frequently confused words
Some spelling mistakes happen as a result of candidates confusing two words that sound alike but have different meanings and spellings. For example:
lose ≠ loose
affect ≠ effect
complement ≠ compliment
its ≠ it’s
passed ≠ past
principal ≠ principle
than ≠ then
their ≠ there ≠ they’re
costume ≠ custom
Difficult words to spell
Some words in the English language are simply difficult to spell. Some of the words IELTS test takers often misspell include the following:
hierarchy
entrepreneur
definitely
foreign
grateful
perseverance
rhythm
maintenance
