拼寫英語單詞是一項具有挑戰性的工作。事實上，很多以英語為母語的人在拼寫上都有問題。造成這種情況的一個主要原因是，很多英語單詞的拼寫并不像他們說的那樣。發音和拼寫之間的差别會引起很多混亂。

ough組合就是一個很好的例子:

• Tough - pronounced - tuf (“u”的讀音與“cup”相同）
• Through - pronounced - throo
• Dough - pronounced - doe (long 'o')
• Bought - pronounced - bawt

這是用英語拼寫單詞時最常見的問題。

三個音節讀成兩個音節

• Aspirin - pronounced - asprin
• Different - pronounced - diffrent
• Every - pronounced- evry

四個音節發音為三個音節

• Comfortable - pronounced - comfrtable
• Temperature - pronounced - temprature
• Vegetable - pronounced - vegtable

聽起來一樣的詞（同音字）

• two, to, too - pronounced - too
• knew, new - pronounced - niew
• through, threw - pronounced - throo
• not, knot, naught - pronounced - not

相同的聲音-不同的拼寫

像“Let”中的“ Eh”

• let
• bread
• said

“Ai”就是“I”

• I
• sigh
• buy
• either

下列字母在發音時是無聲的。

• D - sandwich, Wednesday
• G - sign, foreign
• GH - daughter, light, right
• H - why, honest, hour
• K - know, knight, knob
• L - should, walk, half
• P - cupboard, psychology
• S - island
• T - whistle, listen, fasten
• U - guess, guitar
• W - who, write, wrong

不尋常的字母組合

• GH = 'F': cough, laugh, enough, rough
• CH = 'K': chemistry, headache, Christmas, stomach
• EA = 'EH': breakfast, head, bread, instead
• EA = 'EI': steak, break
• EA = 'EE': weak, streak
• OU = 'UH': country, double, enough