How to spell operate

hear itop·er·ate/'ɑpə,reɪt/verbRules and real life

What it means: To perform medical surgery.

In a sentence: The doctor will operate on my doll to fix her arm.

The part people get wrong

Watch for an unstressed vowel that is hard to hear. Often misspelled as opperate or operete.

Same family: operation, operator, operational, cooperate, operating. If you can spell one, the shared part carries to the others.

Where it comes from: Operate comes from the Latin verb 'operari,' meaning 'to work' or 'to carry out.' It’s from the same root as 'opera,' which originally referred to 'works' or 'labor' before becoming the name for a musical performance.

Patterns it uses: The unstressed vowel (schwa)

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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