Spelling.School · How to spell

How to spell rapidly

hear itrap·id·ly/'ræpʌdli/adverbRules and real life

What it means: With speed.

In a sentence: The rabbit ran rapidly to the carrot garden.

The part people get wrong

Watch for an unstressed vowel that is hard to hear. Often misspelled as rapdily or rapidley.

Same family: rapid, rapidity, rapidness, quickly, swiftly. If you can spell one, the shared part carries to the others.

Where it comes from: “Rapidly” comes from the adjective “rapid,” which entered English from Latin ‘rapidus,’ meaning ‘seizing, hurrying, swift.’ The -ly ending is a common Old English suffix used to turn adjectives like ‘rapid’ into adverbs that describe how an action is done.

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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