Practice=noun, Practise=verb Spelling, Any others you'd like to add? Options

[DomRUK]

I keep seeing these words spelt incorrectly, and until I'd come across the difference myself, I spelt them wrong too! :o

As teachers, if we spell them correctly, it'll affect loads of other people. :mellow:

Practice = the noun, Practise = the verb (spelling). :(

That is, "I did some practice, practice schedule, lots of practice" [practice as a thing], :)
but "I like to practise, practising can be hard, I practised this piece for hours" [practise as an action]. :D

Any other musical words you've often seen spelt wrong? :huh:
Any good ways of remembering them? B)

P.S. I know spelt can also be written as spelled - in the dictionary. :rolleyes:

[saxlover]

now i understand!

its always confused me, even though my english teachers and David have told me lol :lol:

[maggiemay]

It's easy if you remember that the verb is the one that adds "ING" to make "practising", and that looks more natural with an S before it than with a C.

Incidentally I believe American English spells it the same in both forms and doesn't use the version with S.

Maggie

[Farley_Teacher]

I can never spell the word which means the music the piano plays when someone else is playing the solo line, it starts "accomp...." (won't spell it because I can't). For some reason I start off accompania and then get lost. I now write "the piano part" or "the bass line" or "that left hand bit"

[Juze]

Do you mean accompaniment?

I do get sick of being called a accompanyist, I reckon I'm an accompanist!

[cecilia]

My school music teacher spelt "tremolo" T-R-E-M-E-L-O and when I pointed out that it might be incorrect, he looked it up in the music dictionary to show me, and found that I was right :lol:

[Rhapsodin]

Huh, some of the speeling ive sene on some ov theez bords, (u=you, 2=to or too, ur=you are (or maybe the grunt of a neanderthal pianist?) the practice/practise thing is a mere peccadillo surely.

But yes, we should praktiss wot we preech.
(I'll probably gt done for this)

:huh:

[tamsin]

I got caught in the middle of a "Surely it doesn't matter how you spell things as long as people understand you..." rant by my English teacher the other day. (some busy body had just corrected my spelling of something in a draft copy~ I know I cant spell well, I dont need it pointing out!!).

The funniest thing was he just laughed, said I made a good point (well I was in full debating mode!) and pulled out an email about how as long as the first and last letters in a word remain in their correct places, we can understand what is writtten anyway!

So terilotheacly polepe solhud be albe to udsenarnd tihs?

So, my point is, if people understand, why does it matter how we spell practise!!

Oh, and sorry for invading the teachers forum with a teenage students ranty drivel. :P

[folkie]

Oh Tamsin, please - I think you're trying to give me a heart attack! ;) Part of my job involves quite a lot of proof reading....sometimes I think that if I see one more grocer's apostrophe or "of" instead of "have" I'll scream (I saw that one in the Sunday Times this week!) Practice/practise is a common mistake - as is licence/license (follows the same rules) - and now nobody on this site has any excuse....oh well, I can dream! :)

I know that a lot of people who use this site are just typing quickly or using "text speak" to get the message across, but it drives me potty! :blink: I believe that correct spelling does matter, if only to make it easier to understand for people who don't have English as their first language, and I know that there are many such people using this site.

However, I'm well aware that I'm probably in the minority (yes, I even check my spelling and grammar when sending emails or text messages...sad, isn't it?) so I'll just have to live with it, despite it giving me high blood pressure :P - it takes all sorts to make up this wonderful community, just as long as we all understand each other most of the time.

[dacapo]

QUOTE (folkie @ Sep 2 2004, 05:54 PM)

I believe that correct spelling does matter, if only to make it easier to understand for people who don't have English as their first language, and I know that there are many such people using this site. However, I'm well aware that I'm probably in the minority (yes, I even check my spelling and grammar when sending emails or text messages...sad, isn't it?)

I'm part of that minority too. I've lived abroad (three years in the Netherlands) and know how hard it was to learn to understand colloquial written language even when it was spelt correctly. At least then there was some hope of being able to look things up in the dictionary.

I hardly ever use my mobile. It just lives in my back pack ready for the night I break down on our country roads. However, I definitely check my spelling and grammar on emails.

We are so lucky to have this wonderfully rich language I'd like to encourage everyone to accept the challenge of learning to use it as precisely as possible.

[tamsin]

Well I was expecting a few comment to that extent~ I guess I did kinda (oh sorry, kind of oh isn't that bad grammar too??) I guess I did ask for it.

Sorry if anyone has fallen down dead overnight, but perhaps I should qualify what I meant:

Spelling in formal situations (ie, not a message board!) tends to have a handy computer spelling and grammar checker~ which I use. Generally speaking, I don't get my grammar wrong, and I certainly don't use 'of' instead of 'have'~ and I never have done! Its my spelling that I have trouble with, everything from 'thier' to 'tommorrow' and 'nessessary' or 'neccessary'. I know I spell these words wrong, I have been for years, and when you trying to get these ones right, a minor thing like an 's' instead of a 'c' in practise, pales into insignificance!

Saying that, my spelling and grammar can't be that bad, otherwise I would never have gotten my A*'s in English and English Lit, although if you read the papers, and believe what they say...!

[Rhapsodin]

Hi tamsin,

The reason people can still understand bad spelling (or even your little sentence a couple of posts previously!!) is just that language has lots of redunancy built in. You can even lop off the top half of a line of text and work out what's being said from what's left. Plus our use of anticipation.
Still, getting it right certainly reduces uncertainty.

Compare it with music. That has to be right. At times you can put a note in a wrong position or miss out an accidental - or even get a key signature wrong - and a musically literate person may work out what's what. (Not always possible with modern works). It has very little redundancy, contains a very high density of info per event etc.

Interesting subject - music and information theory.
:)

[tamsin]

Good point...

I think I'll stick to words to be honest, far easier than music!

[samanthafung]

QUOTE (folkie @ Sep 2 2004, 05:54 PM)

Oh Tamsin, please - I think you're trying to give me a heart attack! ;) Part of my job involves quite a lot of proof reading....sometimes I think that if I see one more grocer's apostrophe or "of" instead of "have" I'll scream (I saw that one in the Sunday Times this week!) Practice/practise is a common mistake - as is licence/license (follows the same rules) - and now nobody on this site has any excuse....oh well, I can dream! :) I know that a lot of people who use this site are just typing quickly or using "text speak" to get the message across, but it drives me potty! :blink: I believe that correct spelling does matter, if only to make it easier to understand for people who don't have English as their first language, and I know that there are many such people using this site. However, I'm well aware that I'm probably in the minority (yes, I even check my spelling and grammar when sending emails or text messages...sad, isn't it?) so I'll just have to live with it, despite it giving me high blood pressure :P - it takes all sorts to make up this wonderful community, just as long as we all understand each other most of the time.

[QUOTE]

[samanthafung]

Sorry about the last post which was sent by error.

I am neither a teacher nor a student. I am writing in response to this thread as an adult, and as a foreigner - I come from Hong Kong.

People who have English as their second language usually spend years at school to learn proper English. The difference between practice/practise, license/licence and different spellings by American English (if any) can be learnt since the age of about 12. Although we may not be able to write or speak English like a native Englishman, most of us can communicate in English reasonably well. So we can understand u=you, 2= too, ur=you are etc. But I would like to thank Folkie for being so considerate.

I think the use of u=you, 2= too is extremely common in message boards like this, and are frequently used by teenagers. I would regard these forms as the distinctive use of "language" in the world of internet. It does not necessary mean that people are not able to write proper English, it is just the unique way of communication. As long as people don't use offending words (including a user name), I think we adults may try to adapt to this new kind of language.

Teenagers may also have a second thought when writing up a post. The provision of internet has only become popular in recent 10 years, which means that online communications did not exist at all when we were teenagers. It is therefore quite understandable that adults prefer to use proper English in message boards like this. If you are able to write proper English, please do so. Your little extra effort will be highly appreciated by most of the adults.

My conclusion therefore is, music is the real international language. Music connects people, no matter the colour of your skin or the language you speak. We are affected by music in the same way. Music is very powerful - it is more than merely information.

Sam