it’s the word “finite” with de- in the beginning and -ly at the end. That’s how I remember.
this post was submitted on 04 Dec 2024
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That's actually helpful. Thanks.
Also helps to think of the word "definitely" as meaning "by definition"
Yeah i don't know to spell defenition
Did you mean "defenestration"?
That helps, but it doesn't help me remember if it's "definitely", "definitley", or "definitly".
It's not like this superficially either. That's literally what the word is.
finite - to have a limit, be bounded
The de- part is acting like it does in words like defraud. It's not a negative, like you might see in detox, where it means to remove something or undo something. Instead, it simply insists something has been done, not unlike the suffix -ify. You've been defrauded. In a manner of speaking, you could say you've been "fraud-ified".
You could say something that has been defined has been "finite-ified". The possibilities of what it could be were limitless, but you restricted them to something specific. You've made it finite. You've defined it. It is definite.
Is it fin-it or fine-ite
Defiantly going to remember how to spell it now!
It also works for ‘infinitely’
Indefiantly? 🤔😅
I always told people "definitely is spelled like infinitely, so just remember how to spell infinite"
But I suppose "finite" is even better than "infinite" since there's less to remember.
It's more that finite is easier because it has the long I sound at the beginning which clearly designates it as I. The short i sound in most English dialects is a middling kind of "ehh" sound that can be confused for an e a lot when sounding out a word. When I misspell definitely it's because I spell it defenitely.
My reasoning for why "infinite" would be easy to remember is because "infinity" is notably a word with only i as a main vowel (excluding the y)
But I see what you mean too
My reasoning is that infinite is pronounced like definite, unlike finite which is pronounced nothing like definite.
People online tell me that language is fluid and spelling is interpretive. Just let your reviewers know that if they mark anything!
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i hope i never have to write beruacracy in an academic context
I can tell.
Me, writing an entire sentence describing process, rules and hierarchy within an organization so that I don't have to try to spell the single word which describes this concept:
Definitively definite defined definition.
this is why i'm enjoying learning steno, if i forget how to spell a word i can usually just sound it out :^)
It's rreeccoommeenndd and so many others for me ...
"Commend" is not as difficult for me so I just remember it as re-commend
Oohh, I'll try to remember thqt, thanks!
Assuming the error is with accidentally writing defiantly in lieu of definitely, I used to tell myself "There is definitely not an a in definitely."
I always remember the phrase, "If you spell definitely with an 'a' you're definitely an asshole". Harsh, but it stuck in my head really well.
I defiantly agree that you need a doctorate degree to type that word.
De-finite-ly