Moving Abroad: Everyday English Words Newcomers Misspell

You can discuss your field in English. You passed the exam, maybe with a good score. Then you arrive in a new country, sit down to fill in a rental application, and find yourself unsure how to spell "guarantor". The bank form asks for your "current address" and you write "adress", the way it is spelled in French or German. At the pharmacy, the word on your prescription looks nothing like the word you know from home.

This is normal. Exam English and everyday English overlap less than people expect. The words of daily life, the ones for renting a home, paying bills, opening a bank account, seeing a doctor and enrolling a child in school, are rarely the words of an academic reading passage. Some of them are also spelled differently from one English-speaking country to the next, and a few are traps even for native speakers.

This guide is for anyone settling into life in English: a student moving to Canada, a nurse starting work in the UK, a family relocating to Australia or New Zealand, an engineer taking a job in the United States or Ireland. It covers the words you will write on forms and in messages in your first months, why they go wrong, and which spelling to use where you live.

Renting a home: lease, landlord and deposit

Renting is usually the first place you meet this vocabulary, and the documents are legal ones, so it pays to understand them precisely.

The person who owns the property is the landlord. The person who rents it is the tenant, spelled with one n in the middle and -ant at the end. "Tennant" is a surname, not the word you want. In the United States and Canada, the contract you sign is usually called a lease. In England, the UK government's guidance calls it a tenancy agreement, and many rentals are managed by a letting agent rather than the landlord directly. A lease is "signed", with a silent g that comes from "sign"; the same g appears in "signature".

Before you move in, you will probably pay a deposit, money held against damage or unpaid rent. In the US it is often called a security deposit. In England, the government's How to Rent guide allows a refundable payment to reserve a property, often called a holding deposit, of no more than one week's rent, and then a tenancy deposit, which the landlord must protect in a government-approved scheme. In Australia the same idea is called a bond. In Queensland, for example, it is lodged with the Residential Tenancies Authority, a state body. Deposit has an o in the middle, not an a, and its verb is the same word.

If your income is not yet established, you may need a guarantor, someone who agrees to pay if you cannot. The u after the g is silent, as it is in "guarantee" and "guard". Other words on rental forms include references, inventory (a list of what is in the property, with -ory at the end), furnished and unfurnished, and maintenance. That last one is a classic error. The verb is "maintain", but the noun is "maintenance", with the ai changed to e: main-te-nance.

Bills, utilities and the money that leaves each month

Once you have the keys, the bills begin. Utilities are the basic services a home needs: electricity, gas and water, and often internet. The singular is "utility", and the plural follows the usual rule for a consonant plus y: drop the y and add -ies. Electricity has a c before the final -ity, and two i's after the t; it helps to see "electric" inside it.

In the UK, households usually also pay council tax, a local charge set by the council. The government's guidance says households where everyone is a full-time student do not have to pay it, which is useful to know if you are studying there. You may also need a "TV licence" in the UK. "Licence" is the British spelling of the noun. American English writes "license" for both noun and verb.

Bills generate receipts, a word with a silent p and the i-before-e exception after c. You will also see invoice, direct debit (in the UK, an automatic payment from your bank account), autopay in the US, and overdue, which is one word. A meter measures your electricity use. In British English, a "metre" is a unit of length, while the measuring device is still a "meter". American English uses "meter" for both.

Opening a bank account

Banking vocabulary is short, but it carries some of the most visible differences between American and British English.

The everyday account you pay bills from is a checking account in the US and a current account in the UK. A paper payment order is a check in American English and a cheque in British, Canadian, Australian, Irish and New Zealand English. You may never write one, but the word still appears on forms, and the spelling tells the reader which variety you are using.

Other banking words to know: withdrawal, the act of taking money out, which keeps the whole word "withdraw" and then adds -al. "Withdrawl" is a common error, because the a near the end is hard to hear. Balance ends in -ance. Transfer doubles its r in "transferred" because the stress is on the second syllable. Statement keeps the e from "state".

You will also be asked for an identification number. Each country has its own. In Canada, the government describes the Social Insurance Number, or SIN, as a nine-digit number you need to work or to access government programs and benefits. In the UK, the National Insurance number records your contributions and tax. Spell these exactly as the official forms do, capital letters included, and copy the numbers from the document rather than from memory. Our guide to spelling numbers, dates and addresses covers the small details forms are strict about.

The doctor and the pharmacy

When you are unwell in a new country, the last thing you want is a spelling problem. A little vocabulary in advance makes the first visit easier.

In the UK, your family doctor is a GP, a general practitioner, and you register with a GP surgery. The NHS website says you do not need ID, proof of address or proof of immigration status to register; you give your name, date of birth and address. In the US and Canada, people more often say "family doctor" or "primary care doctor". Wherever you are, you will book an appointment, which has two p's because it is "ap" plus "point" plus "ment".

A doctor writes a prescription, and here many learners write "perscription". The prefix is pre-, meaning before, as in "prepare" and "previous". You take it to a pharmacy. Speakers of Spanish, Italian and Portuguese often write "farmacy", from farmacia or farmácia, but English keeps the Greek ph. In the UK a pharmacy is also called a chemist, and in the US a drugstore. The person who prepares your medicine is a pharmacist.

Medicine names change too. The common painkiller called paracetamol in the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand is called acetaminophen in the US and Canada. It is the same medicine. Some medical words also follow the British and American split you see elsewhere: "pediatrician" and "anemia" in American English, "paediatrician" and "anaemia" in British English. On a form, describe symptoms (with a y), allergies (with a double l and a g), and any medication you take.

School forms for your children

If you are moving with children, you will fill in school forms early and often. A guardian is a person legally responsible for a child; the u comes before the a, as in "guard". An emergency contact is someone the school can call. Emergency ends in -ency, not -ancy.

School systems use different words for the same thing. In the US and Canada, children are in grades, from kindergarten upward; "kindergarten" is a German word and keeps its German spelling, with a t at the end. In England, children are in years, starting with Reception. You will also see immunization in American English and immunisation or immunization in British English, on forms asking about a child's vaccinations.

For more on supporting a child whose school language is not your home language, our guide to helping your child with English spelling is written for exactly that situation.

Addresses, names and dates

The word address itself is one of the most common errors among newcomers. English doubles both the d and the s. French writes "adresse" and German "Adresse", with one d, which is why so many confident speakers of those languages write "adress" without noticing. Similarly, apartment has one p in English, although the French "appartement", the German "Appartement" and the Italian "appartamento" have two.

The code at the end of an address changes name by country: a ZIP code in the US, a postal code in Canada, a postcode in the UK and Australia. Forms also ask for your surname, last name or family name, which all mean the same thing, and your first name or given name. If your culture puts the family name first, write it in the surname box regardless of order.

Dates are another trap. In the US, 04/06/2026 means April 6. In the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand it means 4 June. Canada uses several formats. When you can, write the month as a word, which removes the confusion entirely.

Here are the pairs you will meet most often in your first months.

For the full list of differences, and advice on which to use, see our complete guide to British and American spelling.

Making the words stay

Many of these words go wrong for a simple reason: your first language has a very similar word, and your hand writes that one. "Adress", "appartment" and "farmacy" all come from this. The fix is not to try harder in the moment. It is to practice the English form until it comes out first.

Research on memory is clear about how. Henry Roediger and Jeffrey Karpicke showed in 2006 that recalling information strengthens memory more than reading it again. A review by Nicholas Cepeda and colleagues the same year found that practice spread over several days lasts longer than the same practice in one sitting. So write the word from memory, check it, and return to the ones you miss a day or two later.

Spelling.School does this for you in a few minutes a day: you hear the word in a recorded American English voice, type it, see which letters went wrong and why, and the word comes back for review with spaced repetition. British spellings are accepted as correct.

What to do next

If you want to practice these words right away, Spelling.School has a list called Moving Abroad with 47 everyday words for renting, banking, the doctor and official forms. Add it to your daily practice, and each word comes back until you spell it without thinking.

Gather the papers from your first weeks: the rental agreement, a bank letter, a GP or clinic form, a school enrollment pack. Underline every word you were unsure of, and add any word from this guide that surprised you. Fifteen or twenty words is a good first list.

Then practice those words from memory for a few minutes each day for two weeks, and use each one in a real message when you can. Save your full address, exactly as written on official mail, in your phone's notes, so you can copy it instead of typing it. Within a month, the forms that once slowed you down will take a fraction of the time.

Questions people ask

Is it cheque or check?

Both are correct, in different countries. "Check" is the American spelling for a written payment order, and "cheque" is used in British, Canadian, Australian, Irish and New Zealand English. Use the spelling of the country you live in, and keep it consistent on forms and in letters.

How do you spell address in English?

Address is spelled with two d's and two s's: a-d-d-r-e-s-s. Speakers of French and German often write "adress" because their own word has one d. The same spelling is used for the verb, as in "address a letter".

What is the difference between a lease and a tenancy agreement?

They are two names for the same kind of document: the contract between a landlord and a tenant that sets out the terms of renting a home. "Lease" is the usual word in the United States and Canada. In England, the government's guidance for renters uses "tenancy agreement".

Is it prescription or perscription?

The correct spelling is prescription, with the prefix pre-, meaning before. "Perscription" is a very common misspelling, because the first syllable often sounds like "per" in fast speech. Linking it to words like "prepare" and "previous" helps the right spelling stay.

What is a flat in British English?

A flat is the British word for an apartment, a set of rooms for living in that forms part of a larger building. "Apartment" is also understood and used in the UK, especially for newer or more expensive buildings. In the United States, "apartment" is the standard word.

Why do I keep spelling English words like my own language?

When your first language has a similar word, such as "adresse" or "farmacia", your memory offers that spelling first because you have written it many more times. It is a sign of a strong first language, not a weak second one. Practicing the English form from memory, spread over several days, makes it the one that comes out first.

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