Spelling.School · How to spell

How to spell where

What it means: Used to ask about a place or location.

In a sentence: Where is the little puppy hiding? ▶

The part people get wrong

Watch for an unstressed vowel that is hard to hear. Often misspelled as ware or were.

Sounds like, but is not: ware, wear. Same sound, different spelling and meaning.

Same family: wherever, somewhere, anywhere, nowhere, whereabouts. If you can spell one, the shared part carries to the others.

Where it comes from: “Where” comes from Old English “hwǣr,” which also began with an “hw” sound like many question words. Over time, the order of the sounds flipped to “wh,” but the spelling stayed, which is why it looks similar to other question words like “what” and “when.”

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.

Words like this

whose · one · to · ear · some · hear · hour · were

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