How to spell development

hear itde·vel·op·ment/dɪ'vɛləpmənt/nounLong vowels

What it means: A process in which something passes to a different stage.

In a sentence: The plant's development was quick as it grew taller each day.

The part people get wrong

Watch for an unstressed vowel that is hard to hear. Often misspelled as developement or develpoment.

Same family: developer, developing, developed, developmental, photo-processing. If you can spell one, the shared part carries to the others.

Where it comes from: “Development” comes from the French word “développer,” meaning “to unwrap” or “unfold.” In photography, it keeps this idea: chemical development ‘unfolds’ or reveals the hidden image on film so it becomes visible.

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.

Words like this

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