Spelling.School · How to spell

How to spell compare

What it means: To examine similarities and differences.

In a sentence: Let's compare our drawings to see who is the best artist! ▶

The part people get wrong

Watch for an unstressed vowel that is hard to hear. Often misspelled as compair or comapre.

Same family: comparison, comparable, comparative, compared, comparing. If you can spell one, the shared part carries to the others.

Where it comes from: Compare comes from Latin ‘comparare,’ which meant ‘to couple, match, or bring together as equals.’ It literally combines ‘com-’ meaning ‘together’ and ‘par’ meaning ‘equal,’ the same root that appears in ‘pair’ and ‘parity.’

Patterns it uses: The unstressed vowel (schwa)

Try spelling it

You will hear the word and a sentence. Type it and press Enter. Then four more words from the same level, so you know where you stand.

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