Spelling.School · How to spell

How to spell government

hear itgov·ern·ment/'ɡəvərnmənt/nounSounds

What it means: The group of people who rule and control a country or community.

In a sentence: The government helps make rules to keep us safe.

The part people get wrong

Watch for an unstressed vowel that is hard to hear. Often misspelled as goverment or gouvernment.

Same family: govern, governor, governed, governing, governance. If you can spell one, the shared part carries to the others.

Where it comes from: “Government” comes from the Old French word “governer,” from Latin “gubernare,” meaning “to steer” or “to guide,” like steering a ship. This is why people sometimes compare leading a government to steering a country in the right direction.

Patterns it uses: The unstressed vowel (schwa)

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