play video schwa
Usage Notes

The Schwa

The most common vowel sound in English causes many spelling problems.


The schwa is one significant reason that English is difficult to spell. A single sound that can be spelled many different ways leads to occasional confusion for almost all of us. And even the very best spellers sometimes have to admit, I fought the schwa and the schwa won.

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play video schwa
The Schwa

 

The most common vowel sound in English causes many spelling problems.

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A simple trick to keep them separate

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On Contractions of Multiple Words

 

You all would not have guessed some of these

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Soop, wimmen, and headake did not make the cut

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We're gonna stop you right there