Spelling.School · How to spell

How to spell photosynthesis

hear itpho·to·syn·the·sis/,foʊtoʊ'sɪnθɪsɪs/nounSchwa and roots

What it means: The process plants use to make food from sunlight.

In a sentence: Plants use photosynthesis to turn sunlight into food.

The part people get wrong

Watch for an unstressed vowel that is hard to hear. Often misspelled as fotosynthesis or photosinthesis.

Same family: photosynthetic, photosynthesize, photosynthesizing, chlorophyll, respiration. If you can spell one, the shared part carries to the others.

Where it comes from: The word “photosynthesis” comes from Greek: “photo” meaning “light” and “synthesis” meaning “putting together.” It literally describes how plants 'put together' food using light.

Patterns it uses: The unstressed vowel (schwa)

Try spelling it

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