Eye Halve a Spelling Chequer…
Preparation
We suggest you do the vocabulary activity below before you read or listen. Then read and/or listen to the poem and do the task to check your comprehension.
Text
Eye halve a spelling checker…
…It came with my pea sea".
In this poem some words have been substituted by homophones - words with the same sound but different spelling. It proves that computer spelling checkers are not infallible!
Eye Halve a Spelling Chequer
Eye halve a spelling chequer
It came with my pea sea
It plainly marques four my revue
Miss steaks eye kin knot sea.
Eye strike a quay and type a word
And weight four it two say
Weather eye am wrong oar write
It shows me strait a weigh.
As soon as a mist ache is maid
It nose bee fore two long
And eye can put the error rite
Its really ever wrong.
Eye have run this poem threw it
I am shore your pleased two no
Its letter perfect in it's weigh
My chequer tolled me sew.
(Sauce unknown)
Correct English version
I have a spelling checker
It came with my PC
It plainly marks for my review
Mistakes I cannot see
I strike a key and type a word
And wait for it to say
Whether I am wrong or right
It shows me straight away
As soon as a mistake is made
It knows before too long
And I can put the error right
It’s rarely ever wrong
I have run this poem through it
I am sure you’re pleased to know
It’s letter perfect in its way
My checker told me so
(Source unknown)
Task
In this exercise, there are sentences with mistakes. Try to find and correct the mistakes. You can always check the answers if you are not sure.
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Comments
I don't understand
Very funny poem, I do not understand where is the fun in this game though - some words sound same, we all know it and, seeing them one beside other, it is not really difficult task to put them together. Should we just guess them it would be some fun..
I don't see how is it for advanced learners.. There are no real exercises one so desperately needs. I passed all the exercises and games for 100%, but still can't pass thru school exam :-( - maybe should play less actually :-)
Love this site for very comprehensive grammar though.
Hello, Thanks for your
Hello,
Thanks for your comment. I agree with you that the preparation task is not as difficult as the the rest of the page. I think the reason the page is marked as 'advanced' is that the poem requires includes some complex vocabulary that can't be guessed from context.
However, when we have some spare time, we'll try to add some more complex activities to this page.
In general, I agree with you that we need some more activities for advanced learners on the site. This is something we want to work on in the next year.
Best wishes,
Adam
The LearnEnglish Team
It's really handy as well as
It's really handy as well as inspiring!
Many thanks!
In order that we improve our
In order that we improve our English , we should practise it.
what make a language
what make a language difficult to understand is its daily use. We, not native speakers, can improve our English through stories and poems. Hoping you will have more such interesting sources for us to learn. Thanks U!
I really admire the author of
I really admire the author of the poem who have so big an imagination to produce such a great poem. I like it.
it is really cool , hats off
it is really cool , hats off to whosoever has made it ....rocking
I'm sorry but the true
I'm sorry but the true phrase is :
Eye doughnut sea watt you right !
Forgetting the ocean (the sea) makes no sense!
Hi Thierry, That's
Hi Thierry,
That's funny!
Adam
Too easy......looking for
Too easy......looking for harder ones.