Spelling.School · How to spell

How to spell system

hear itsys·tem/'sɪstəm/nounSounds

What it means: A group of interrelated elements forming a whole.

In a sentence: The school has a new computer system.

The part people get wrong

Watch for an unstressed vowel that is hard to hear. Often misspelled as systm or sistem.

Same family: systematic, systematically, ecosystem, nervous system, systematize. If you can spell one, the shared part carries to the others.

Where it comes from: System comes from the Greek word “systēma,” meaning “a whole made of parts” or “an organized whole.” It entered English through Latin and French and is now used in many fields, from biology to computers.

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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