Spelling.School · How to spell

How to spell occasionally

hear itoc·ca·sion·al·ly/ə'keɪʒənəli/adverbSilent and tricky

What it means: Happening from time to time.

In a sentence: Occasionally, I like to bake cookies with my grandma.

The part people get wrong

Watch for double c and double l, and an unstressed vowel that is hard to hear. Often misspelled as ocasionally or occassionally.

Same family: occasional, occasion, sometimes, infrequently. If you can spell one, the shared part carries to the others.

Where it comes from: “Occasionally” comes from the noun “occasion,” which entered English from Old French and ultimately from Latin ‘occidere,’ meaning ‘to happen’ or ‘to fall upon.’ The -al and -ly endings were added later to turn the noun into an adjective (occasional) and then into an adverb (occasionally).

Patterns it uses: The unstressed vowel (schwa)

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