The words ‘argument’ and ‘arguing’ are often misspelled. This is usually because people include the ‘e’ from ‘argue’. But how can you avoid similar errors in your own writing? Check out our guide below to find out!
What Does ‘Argue’ Mean?
The verb ‘argue’ has two meanings. The first is to disagree angrily:
They would argue over who should wash the dishes.
The second is to give reasons for an idea or belief:
The lawyer stood up to argue her case.
In both cases, the noun form of this word is ‘argument’:
The disagreement grew into an argument.
This essay makes a convincing argument.
But these words can be confusing, so let’s look at some common errors.
Common Misspellings
People often misspell the noun ‘argument’ and the ‘-ing’ form of the verb ‘argue’. In both cases, the problem is including the ‘e’ from the end of ‘argue’:
I had an arguement with my husband.
They were argueing about money.
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But why are these errors so common? And how can you avoid them?
Spelling Tips for ‘Argument’ and ‘Arguing’
Normally, we keep the ‘e’ at the end of a word when adding a suffix that starts with a consonant. For example:
Tune + ful = Tuneful
Close + ness = Closeness
However, with words that end in -ue, such as ‘argue’, you should always drop the ‘e’ when adding a suffix that starts with a consonant:
Argue + ment = Argument
Likewise, as with most words that end in ‘e’, you should drop the final ‘e’ when adding a vowel suffix. For instance, we see this in ‘arguing’:
Argue + ing = Arguing
To keep it simple, we can sum up as follows: when it comes to ‘argue’, always drop the ‘e’ when adding a suffix. As well as ‘argument’ and ‘arguing’, this also applies to words like ‘arguable’ and ‘argumentative’.
Hopefully, this will help you avoid spelling mistakes in your work. However, don’t forget that our expert editors and proofreaders are available 24/7 in case you ever need extra help making sure your writing is error free.