Spelling.School · How to spell

How to spell lightning

What it means: A flash of light during a storm.

In a sentence: The lightning lit up the dark night sky. ▶

The part people get wrong

Watch for a silent g. Often misspelled as lightining or lightnening.

Sounds like, but is not: lightening. Same sound, different spelling and meaning.

Same family: light, flash, thunder, storm, thunderstorm. If you can spell one, the shared part carries to the others.

Where it comes from: Lightning comes from the Old English word “lihting,” related to “light,” because of the bright flash it makes in the sky. Over time, the spelling changed to the modern form “lightning,” but the silent “g” stayed behind.

Patterns it uses: Silent letters

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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