ortografía
/oɾtoɡɾafia/from spelling rules
The Spanish word for the English phrase spelling is ortografía.
ortografía refers to the subject of orthography, the system of rules for written words or the ability to form words correctly with letters.
Meaning: the practice, ability, or subject of forming words with letters, or of reading the letters of words, orthography (noun)
What does it mean word for word?
The word ortografía is a cognate of the English word orthography.
Which one should you use?
Use ortografía when referring to the rules of spelling or the correctness of written words. In contrast, use deletreo when referring to the process of spelling a word out loud letter by letter.
How do you pronounce it?
/oɾtoɡɾafia/
What mistakes should you avoid?
English speakers often mistakenly use deletreo to mean the rules of spelling. However, deletreo refers specifically to the act of reciting the letters of a word one by one.
Did you know?
- The Spanish language has a dedicated government body called the Real Academia Española that officially regulates ortografía for the entire Spanish-speaking world.
- In many Spanish-speaking cultures, ortografía is viewed as a marker of social class and education level, making a single mistake a potential source of social embarrassment.
- The word ortografía comes from the Ancient Greek words orthós meaning 'straight' and graphía meaning 'writing'.
Examples in context
- La ortografía es divertida.Spelling is fun.This sentence is useful for describing the nature of ortografía.Tatoeba #7964850 by Seael, translation #7964849 by Hybrid
- Por favor, corrige mi ortografía.Please correct my spelling.This sentence is useful for requesting a correction of one's ortografía.Tatoeba #9422481 by ignacio, translation #9422587 by DJ_Saidez
- Esta ortografía me parece familiar.This spelling seems familiar to me.This sentence is useful for expressing familiarity with a specific ortografía.Tatoeba #1602675 by hayastan, translation #10199792 by johannessleon
- ¿Podría corregir mi ortografía, por favor?Could you correct my spelling, please?
- No olvides activar el corrector ortográfico antes de enviar el documento.Don't forget to activate the spelling checker before sending the document.
- No entiendo, ¿cómo se escribe 'amigo' en inglés?I don't understand, how is 'amigo' spelled in English?
- 6 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Mateo is helping Elena with her homework.
- Elena¿Me puedes ayudar con la ortografía?Can you help me with the spelling?
- MateoClaro, Elena, ¿qué palabra es difícil?Sure, Elena, which word is difficult?
- ElenaNo estoy segura de la ortografía de esta palabra.I am not sure about the spelling of this word.
- MateoNo te preocupes, yo te la enseño.Don't worry, I will teach it to you.
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries ortografía, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
