Spelling.School · How to spell

How to spell primarily

What it means: Mainly or for the most part.

In a sentence: A bird's diet is primarily made up of seeds and insects. ▶

The part people get wrong

Watch for an unstressed vowel that is hard to hear. Often misspelled as primarly or primarilly.

Same family: primitive, prime, principal, main. If you can spell one, the shared part carries to the others.

Where it comes from: “Primarily” comes from the Latin word “primarius,” meaning “of the first rank” or “chief.” Over time, English turned “primary” (first, main) into the adverb “primarily” to mean “mainly” or “for the most part.”

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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