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Why "seperate" gets it wrong: a spelling insight

Reviewed and edited by

Anwar Kareem 14/10/2024, 08:30

English.me team member

What kind of error is it?

Seperate or separate. What's correct?

Spelling Error

Why do people make this mistake?

The error occurs because the pronunciation of "separate" often makes the second "a" sound less distinct, leading people to mistakenly write "seperate" with an "e" instead of the first "a". Additionally, words with similar endings, like "desperate", may influence this error.

What is correct?

The correct spelling is "separate".

Examples of correct usage

Please separate the documents into two piles.
We need to separate the living area from the dining area.
The art teacher asked us to use separate brushes for each color.

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