You shouldn't be allowed to use the word in a sentence in a Spelling Bee, amirite?

How does using it in a sentence give away the answer?

by Anonymous 2 years ago

Great question

by Anonymous 2 years ago

And NOT having this practice would put non-native speakers and people from a place with a different regional accent at disadvantage. It is just clarifying which word they are spelling

by Anonymous 2 years ago

The only thing I can think of is it could give a clue to the origin of the word. Like knowing that Bordeaux is French would clue you in to the possibility of the eaux

by Anonymous 2 years ago

Context could make it clearer if it has Medical, Latin, Greek, French etc roots and hint at the spelling therefore if you compare to similar words.

by Anonymous 2 years ago

I doubt a non-native speaker would be in a spelling bee if they're not able to speak the language fluently.

by Anonymous 2 years ago

Thank you. Was thinking the same thing.

by Anonymous 2 years ago

Non native speakers are often better at grammar and spelling than native speakers, because they actually spent time studying it unlike most native speakers who just trust they'll pick up on it naturally.

by Anonymous 2 years ago

I expect you're correct as it gets, buddy. I don't doubt that in the slightest.

by Anonymous 2 years ago

I came here to say the same thing haha

by Anonymous 2 years ago

Great minds think alike!

by Anonymous 2 years ago

OP doesn't know what a homophone is. The point of a spelling bee is to test spelling ability, not trick students by telling them to spell sense but really you meant cents or since and refuse to clarify which word you actually said.

by Anonymous 2 years ago

What about words that sound the same but are spelt differently?

by Anonymous 2 years ago

When I was in 3rd grade I got out on the word "shore" for this exact reason. I said S-U-R-E

by Anonymous 2 years ago

mine would be 'fur' and 'for'. can you use that in a sentence?

by Anonymous 2 years ago

Shore and Sure sound nothing alike if pronounced correctly

by Anonymous 2 years ago

shore they do.

by Anonymous 2 years ago

thats not what spelling bees are for.....  They test your spelling on a word not whether or not you actually know what the word is. You are supposed to know which word you're trying to spell.

by Anonymous 2 years ago

Linguistic prescriptivism moment

by Anonymous 2 years ago

Maybe with an American accent, but with an English one they sound differently

by Anonymous 2 years ago

How tf you getting context clues to spell? I can only think of like 4 exceptions.

by Anonymous 2 years ago

But… how does saying a word in a sentence, so that you know what it means, tell you how the word is spelt? If you were trying to spell the word "Xylophone", and the sentence was "My friend plays the xylophone" then how does that make it any easier to spell? Also, I'm a non-native speaker, I'm much better at spelling and grammar than pronunciation.

by Anonymous 2 years ago

It's how you make sure correct word is being spelled. If someone asks you verbally how to spell ‘there' how do you know if they are asking for there, their or they're?

by Anonymous 2 years ago

So… it's unfair to give everyone the same opportunity to ask for it to be used in a sentence

by Anonymous 2 years ago

I lot of confidence with that 'therefore'

by Anonymous 2 years ago