Hey Google, how do you spell...words?
Spelling is hard, even for the most articulate. How many “S”s are in Mississippi? Is it “there,” “their,” or “they’re”? What does “I” before “E” except after “C” even mean? Even some of the most commonly used words can make us break our pencil or keyboard as we stumble over our letters. While the internet is full of answers to some of life’s most important questions, we’ve been asking Google to help us spell words that are both simple in some respects and complicated in others. Whether we’re getting our resume together for our next job opportunity or writing a letter to our best friends, proper spelling is essential when we want to be taken seriously.
We at AT&T Experts reviewed the top searched "how to spell" words by state from March 24, 2020 to March 24, 2021 using Google Trends. After diving into these numbers, we see each state has its own spelling struggles, though there is some commonality across the US. And while some of these entries may surprise you, others definitly definitely will not.
Each state's most commonly misspelled words
How DO you spell the most misspelled words in America?
It makes sense that at the height of a global pandemic, "quarantine" and "coronavirus" were in the top three of most searched misspelled words. But while those seem like no-brainers, common words like "every" and "which" still broke into the top 10 as well. Let's take a deeper look at some of these common spelling mistakes.
Google inquiry | Number of states | Correct spelling | Most common misspelling |
How to spell quarantine | 12 | quarantine | corn teen |
How to spell favorite | 7 | favorite | favourite |
How to spell coronavirus | 6 | coronavirus | Caronavirus |
How to spell which | 5 | which | wich, witch |
How to spell every | 3 | every | evary |
How to spell believe | 3 | believe | beleive |
How to spell definitely | 3 | definitely | definitly, definately, defiantly |
How to spell separate | 2 | separate | seperate |
How to spell eighty | 1 | eighty | eigty |
How to spell receive | 1 | receive | recieve |
How to spell government | 1 | government | goverment |
How to spell pharaoh | 1 | pharaoh | paraoh, pharoh |
How to spell piece | 1 | piece | peace |
How to spell multiplication | 1 | multiplication | multiplycation |
How to spell watch | 1 | watch | whatch |
How to spell exercise | 1 | exercise | excersice |
How to spell confident | 1 | confident | confidant |
How to spell succeed | 1 | succeed | suceed |
Interesting finds
- "Quarantine" was the most searched misspelled word, with 12 states struggling to find the correct spelling. No, “corn teen” is not a new nickname for a teenager really into the yellow vegetable. "Coronavirus" also broke into the top three with six states trying to find the correct letters for the contagious disease.
- We hope the people overseas don’t get mad at us, but “favorite” was searched multiple times by many people across 7 states. A common misspelling in the United States is actually the correct spelling in the UK. We see “U” over there.
- The following words might hit too close to home. Common words like "which," "every," and "believe" all seem to have given us some struggles over our lifetimes. Together, they accounted for 11 states searching how to spell these words the most.
- Residents of Washington, DC were trying to find spelling success but couldn't quite figure out how many C's were in "succeed."
- Some other notable top searched misspelled words in states included “receive” (Arkansas), “watch” (Maine), and “piece” (Idaho).
The most misspelled words by state
State | "How to spell..." |
Alabama | How to spell which |
Alaska | How to spell eighty |
Arizona | How to spell which |
Arkansas | How to spell receive |
California | How to spell separate |
Colorado | How to spell quarantine |
Connecticut | How to spell quarantine |
Delaware | How to spell government |
District of Columbia | How to spell succeed |
Florida | How to spell pharaoh |
Georgia | How to spell favorite |
Hawaii | How to spell every |
Idaho | How to spell piece |
Illinois | How to spell coronavirus |
Indiana | How to spell quarantine |
Iowa | How to spell favorite |
Kansas | How to spell multiplication |
Kentucky | How to spell favorite |
Louisiana | How to spell which |
Maine | How to spell watch |
Maryland | How to spell favorite |
Massachusetts | How to spell quarantine |
Michigan | How to spell coronavirus |
Minnesota | How to spell quarantine |
Mississippi | How to spell every |
Missouri | How to spell quarantine |
Montana | How to spell every |
Nebraska | How to spell believe |
Nevada | How to spell quarantine |
New Hampshire | How to spell definitely |
New Jersey | How to spell coronavirus |
New Mexico | How to spell favorite |
New York | How to spell definitely |
North Carolina | How to spell exercise |
North Dakota | How to spell believe |
Ohio | How to spell favorite |
Oklahoma | How to spell which |
Oregon | How to spell quarantine |
Pennsylvania | How to spell coronavirus |
Rhode Island | How to spell separate |
South Carolina | How to spell which |
South Dakota | How to spell believe |
Tennessee | How to spell quarantine |
Texas | How to spell confident |
Utah | How to spell definitely |
Vermont | How to spell coronavirus |
Virginia | How to spell favorite |
Washington | How to spell quarantine |
West Virginia | How to spell coronavirus |
Wisconsin | How to spell quarantine |
Wyoming | How to spell quarantine |
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