How to spell employment

Employment is spelled E-M-P-L-O-Y-M-E-N-T. Employ keeps its Y before -MENT, because the Y follows a vowel: em-ploy-ment.

hear item·ploy·ment/ɛm'plɔɪmənt/nounRules and real life

What it means: The state of having a job.

In a sentence: Getting a job is called employment.

The part people get wrong

Watch for an unstressed vowel that is hard to hear.

Same family: employee, employer, unemployment, employable. If you can spell one, the shared part carries to the others.

Where it comes from: “Employment” comes from the Old French word “employer,” meaning “to use” or “to put to work.” Over time, its meaning narrowed in English to refer mainly to paid work and jobs.

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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