Spelling.School · How to spell

How to spell useful

Useful is spelled U-S-E-F-U-L.

What it means: Helpful or serving a good purpose.

In a sentence: A flashlight can be very useful at night. ▶

The part people get wrong

Watch for an unstressed vowel that is hard to hear.

Same family: use, usefully, usefulness, useless, usable. If you can spell one, the shared part carries to the others.

Where it comes from: Useful comes from the verb 'use' plus the suffix '-ful', which means 'full of' or 'having.' The word 'use' itself comes from Old French 'user' and Latin 'uti,' meaning 'to employ or make use of.'

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.

Words like this

grateful · phenomenon · knowledge · phobia · additional · plume · cube · never

Everyone has words they always get wrong. Spelling.School finds yours, shows you exactly why you miss them, and uses spaced repetition until you spell them right every time. Five minutes a day. Try five words without signing up.