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Words Congo

Suggest improvements for the highlighted problem areas:

After a difficult bout with asthma, Katokwe went to her doctor. The prognosis omitted any reference to medication: only rest was proscribed. Her esteemed doctor ensured her that if she relaxed for a while, her condition would improve. Even her weekend trips as a balloonist had to be curtailed.

She decided to lounge on the shore next to a waterfall and read a magazine. But before Katokwe could even peruse it for an interesting article, her magazine was sopping wet from the mist. So instead of reading, she napped peacefully next to the murmurring river.

Answer:

- Spelling -

At the end of the opening paragraph a word has been misspelled:

    So instead of reading, she napped peacefully next to the murmurring river.

The spelling issue here involves whether or not to double the final consonant when adding a suffix that starts with a vowel. In this case we have violated a prime rule of spelling:

    Rule:     Before a suffix, double the final consonant if:
    Conditions:
          (1) The word ends in: (vowel, consonant),
    and (2) The suffix begins with a vowel,
    and (3) The accent is on the final syllable.
    Examples: omitted, admitting, occurred, sopping deterred, referring, napped
    Exceptions:
    (1) when the word ends in: (vowel, vowel, consonant),
        Examples: esteemed, balloonist
    (2) when a single consonant has just always been used.
        Example: relaxed

Because our word murmur does not meet condition (3), we should not double the final consonant:

    So instead of reading, she napped peacefully next to the murmuring river.

- Common Spelling Errors -

In this lesson on words, we end with some practice on commonly misspelled words:

apparent

definitely

marriage

fascinate

repetition

beginning

embarrass

existence

noticeable

therefore

Note that we have underlined the letters where most spelling mistakes are made.

 

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