Common spelling mistakes in English: no, know versus now.
You may recognise that a minor spelling mistake in an e-mail can quickly influence your perception of the sender. In business e-mail communication, you obviously want to appear professional, but a small mistake can quickly slip into your message.
However, you can avoid spelling mistakes if you pay extra attention to them.
We have listed a number of common spelling mistakes. If you become aware of these mistakes, you will be one step closer to professionalising your business English.
No, know of now
Should you write no, know or now? These words look so much alike spoken and/or written that mistakes are easily made, however, they mean something completely different:
No is 'not any'.
Examples
- I have no idea.
- No problem.
To know, is a verb that means ‘to have knowledge of’, ‘to understand’ or ‘to recognize’. The 'k' and 'w' are not pronounced and therefore the word sounds the same as 'no'.
Examples
- Do you know him?
- I know how to do that.
Now is an adverb meaning 'a present time', ‘at the moment' or ‘immediately’. This word looks similar to "no" and "to know" but the "o" is pronounced differently (for Dutch speakers, this sounds like "au").
Examples
- I can't wait any longer, I need your answer now.
- He is in France now.
Example of a common mistake
- Incorrect: *He should now that by know
- Correct: He should know that by now.
More tips on English grammar and common mistakes in English? These articles might also interest you:
- English spelling: its or it's
- English spelling: full or ful
- English spelling: live, lives or life
- English spelling: than or then
- English spelling: there, they're or their
- English spelling: to, two or too
- English spelling: your or you're
- English spelling: were, wear, where or we're
- English spelling: with, which or witch
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