I’m just wondering why so many native English speakers often misspell the word “definitely”. While reading through the posts on this forum I see many variants of this word: “definately, definatly, deffinatly…” you name it. I’m just curious if it’s intentional or not. Here in Finland we are taught to “say” de-fi-ni-te-ly to remember how it should be spelled. 
omk i admit to spelling it wrong…i guess we cant be boherd (sp? haha) to look to find it out
i uisually spell it ‘definatly’…but it is just because it looks like that particular word lol
I think I usually spell it definantly. is that right?
Are you suggesting that if native English speakers were proficient in Finnish and frequented Finnish newsgroups that we wouldn’t find among your impetuous, impatient, and eager to be heard yet having little to say Finnish teens and pre-teens a regular and predictable misspelling of some Finnish words?
I’ll say it again: I was wondering if this misspelling was intentional or not. It’s about whether you know how a word is spelled or not, or just don’t care to spell it right. I’m absolutely not suggesting that we Finns were perfect or anything like that… 
Everybody makes mistakes.
English is a language intended to be spoken and not written down. 
The problem with “definitely” is that it is usually pronounced with the ending “nately”. It definitely sounds like there is an “a” in there at the end when spoken. That “a” can be more or less pronounced depending on the local accent.
I know I have spelled it incorrectly at times. I’m sure a search of my posts will find some examples.
I try to remember to spell it correctly by remembering that its root is the word “definite” then just add an “ly”. Very few people misspell the word “definite” as “definate”. Yet we all get it wrong when the word becomes “definitely”.
It’s because we support diversity!
…
Definite, infinite, finite, definitely, infinitely, finitely - there is only a finite number of ways these words can be spelled.
I remeber being taught as a kid that to spell ‘definitely’ correctly you just had to remember that it was related to the word ‘finite’.
I can never remember how to spell it - and many other words. I would say I am somewhat dyslexic.
Some words are easier for non-native speakers and some are harder. It’s because we learned the language a different way. First and second languages actually go into different locations in the brain.
Some other examples are
Then - than
Your - you’re (the other outrageousness in Mark Foley’s e-mails)
Their - there - they’re.
I spell it defiantly.
it’s kinda like probably. most say probally.
Foreign imports, such as myself, are often quite shocked at the inability of the British to spell correctly. One of my friends, who married a Brit, was actually in tears when she discovered her husband’s spelling was far worse than her own.
My own pet hate is “loose” instead of “lose”. So often in error.
Nao
As far as I know, the British don’t speak English…
[I]Definite (1553) means “defined, clear, precise, unmistakable;” definitive (c.1386) means “having the character of finality.” Definition is recorded from 1645 as a term in logic; the “meaning of a word” sense is from 1551.
De-
L. adv. and prep. meaning “down from, off, concerning.” Used as a prefix in Eng.
-Finite
1410, from L. finitus, pp. of finire “to limit, set bounds, end,” from finis[/I]
claps
heh i usually spell it deffinitly
Just food for thought, I think we covered this already. I defintily agree on your choice for the most misspelled word.
Is this the right thread for this?
The teacher asked little Johnny to use the word “definitely” in a sentence.
Little Johnny replies, “Teacher, do farts have lumps in them?”
The Teacher says, “Of course not Johnny”.
To which Johnny replies, “Then I have definitely pooped my pants”.