I despair. My five-year-old son came home from school with a new group of words to learn. He’d learned his previous set but was, apparently, a bit shaky on recognising two of them. Imagine my dismay when I saw the note his teacher had written for me:

“He is now on to the next level but could he practice ‘big’ and ‘get’?”

Honestly! If a teacher doesn’t know when to use practice with a ‘c’ and practise with an ‘s’ then what hope for the younger generation? I am tempted to write a note back saying:

“Happy to help with ‘big’ and ‘get’ if you practise working out when to use practice and practise.”

For anyone unsure, here is the definition: practice is a noun and applies to, for example, a doctors’ practice, a dental practice or ‘the practice of …’ Practise is the verb and literally means ‘to practise’.

Hope this helps.