How to spell dictation

hear itdic·ta·tion/dɪk'teɪʃən/nounSchwa and roots

What it means: Words spoken aloud for someone else to write down.

In a sentence: The teacher gave a fun dictation to the class.

The part people get wrong

Often misspelled as dicatation or dictasion.

Same family: dictate, dictator, dictionary, prediction, verdict. If you can spell one, the shared part carries to the others.

Where it comes from: “Dictation” comes from Latin ‘dictare,’ meaning ‘to say often’ or ‘to declare,’ plus the noun-forming ending ‘-tion.’ It’s related to many “dict-” words like “dictator,” “verdict,” and “dictionary,” all connected to speaking or saying something.

Patterns it uses: -tion, -sion or -cian?

Try spelling it

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Words like this

authorization · formation · documentation · expiration · occupation · dissertation · confirmation · resignation

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