Spelling facts

Published December 10, 2016

• You can spell out all the numbers from 1 to 99 without using the letter A, B, C, or D.

• ‘You’ and ‘ewe’ are pronounced the same but have no letters in common.

• ‘Io’ is one of the shortest two-syllable words in the English language.

• The most commonly used word in written English is ‘the’. The most commonly used word in spoken English is ‘I’.

• ‘Misspell’ appears frequently on lists of commonly misspelled words.

• More words in English begin with an ‘S’ than with any other letter.

• The longest English word that can be spelled without repeating any letters is ‘uncopyrightable’.

• If you spell out ‘TWELVE’ in Scrabble tiles, their values add up to 12. No other number equals its value in Scrabble tiles.

• There are only two common words that end with ‘-ERY’ — CEMETERY and STATIONERY (writing paper, etc.) All the other ones end with ‘-ARY’ (auxiliary, boundary, dictionary, elementary, honorary, imaginary, infirmary, library, revolutionary, secretary, secondary, vocabulary, etc.)

Published in Dawn, Young World, December 10th, 2016

Opinion

Editorial

Sustainable path?
Updated 13 Jun, 2026

Sustainable path?

The FY27 budget is the first clear signal that the government is ready to transition from stabilisation to growth.
Prioritising education
13 Jun, 2026

Prioritising education

THOUGH the improvement in the country’s literacy rate may be slight, as highlighted by the Economic Survey, it ...
Poverty’s rise
13 Jun, 2026

Poverty’s rise

AS attention turns to the government’s plans for the coming fiscal year, one set of figures deserves particular...
A difficult story
Updated 12 Jun, 2026

A difficult story

Unless productivity becomes the dominant target of economic policy, Pakistan will continue to oscillate between crises and fragile recovery.
Rough waters
12 Jun, 2026

Rough waters

AMONGST the key potential triggers for fresh conflict in South Asia is water. The Indian state is behaving in an...
Politicised football
12 Jun, 2026

Politicised football

ALMOST three-and-half years since Lionel Messi led Argentina to FIFA World Cup glory, the latest edition of...