Useless Ideas About Spelling

Useless Idea 2: You Can Tell How To Spell A Word By The Way It Sounds.

Not in English you can't. There are lots of possible examples - here's one. Consider the word 'relevunt'. Or is it 'reluvent'? Or 'reluvant'? Or 'relluvunt'? Or 'relevent'? Or 'relavunt'?

You can say this word to yourself as often as you like and you still won't find out how to spell it. Any of the spellings above could be the right one. They all sound possible, don't they?
But they are all wrong. The word is 'relevant'. But you can't tell that by listening. The second 'e' in the word, and the 'a' are both pronounced as if they were 'uh'. That 'uh' sound is very common in English. In fact it is the most common sound in English. And it can be spelt in lots of different ways. With an 'e', or an 'a', an 'o', a 'u', and lots of other things as well. For instance, here are some ordinary English words with the common sound spelt as 'uh':

A very big animal - an eluhphuhnt
The centre - thuh midduhl
The middle - thuh centuh
This country - Engluhnd
A big thing in Paris - the Eiffuhl Towuh

And so on, and so on. The fact that the 'uh' sound is so common is one major reason why you can't spell English words by hearing them. There are lots of other (or othuh) reasons as well, but that's a main one.

Question: Yes, but what about the fact that I come from Teesside (or Liverpool, or Birmingham, or London, or Aberdeen, or Manchester, or anywhere you like) and I speak differently?

Answer: Sorry, but that has got nothing to do with it. The 'uh' sound is still the most common sound in English, wherever you come from. That is true of you, and it's true of me. It's true of Jonathon Ross, and it's true of the Queen.

Here's the principle: In English, you can't spell with your ears. You have to spell with your eyes.