There was a time when the spelling of words was up for debate. Benjamin Franklin, one of America’s founding fathers, was a notoriously poor speller, and he actually advocated for spelling words in a way that matched how they sounded.
Today though, most English words have a standard spelling, and serious writers must avoid spelling mistakes at all costs to maintain credibility.
Truly is a great example. How do you spell truly? Or it is truely? Many writers aren’t sure. Let’s take a look at these two spellings to figure out which one is correct.
What is the Correct Spelling? Truely or Truly?
In this article, I will compare truely vs. truly. I will outline the correct spelling of this word and use it in a few example sentences to illustrate its proper context.
Plus, I will give you a mnemonic tool that you can use to choose either truly or truely in your own writing.
When to Use Truly
What does truly mean? Truly is an adverb that means being done in an honest manner. Truly is also used as a closing in many formal letters.
Here are a few examples,
- Eddie signed the letter, “Yours truly, Eduardo Gonzolaez, CPA.”
- Flagstaff truly believed that his baseball team could win the championship.
- “I had a truly wonderful time at your dinner party,” Alana told Alyssa.
- I truly believed in my ability, and yet, there was another part of the game that was filled with fear of not making it. –The Washington Post
In any bit of writing, truly is the spelling you will want to choose. It is the only standard, accepted spelling of the word.
When to Use Truly
How do you spell truly? Truely is a misspelling of truly. It probably stems from the fact that the root word, true, is spelled with an E as well. Nonetheless, truely is not an accepted spelling of this word.
Here is a graph that shows the relative usage of truly vs. truely in English,
As you can see, truely is used so infrequently that its line on the graph approximates zero. While this graph isn’t exhaustive in its scope, it still shows us a clear, long-term usage trend.
Trick to Remember the Difference
Truly is the only correct spelling of this word. Luckily, there is an easy trick you can use to remember not to spell the word with an E.
Since the letter “E” is also at the start of the word error, remembering that truely is an error should be a simple task.
Summary
Is it truely or truly? Truly means done in an honest manner. This word is an adverb, and it is often used as the closing of a letter
- Truly is the correct spelling.
- Truely is a misspelling.
It can be difficult to remember how to spell this word, but you can set yourself up for success by remembering that the extra E in truely also appears in the word error. Truely is an error, so by linking these words together in your mind, you can easily remember not to use truely.
Now that you know the difference between these confusing words, be sure to check this site for answers to all your other writing questions, as well.
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