Truly or Truely? The Correct Word to Use

Does truly or truely confuse you often? We have the perfect explanation for you below that will sort this confusion for you for life.

Do you know that even the most accomplished experts can struggle with spellings? We berate kids for their poor spellings but the truth is some words can even confuse the grownups. And they often do, including founding fathers like Benjamin Franklin.

In fact, his spelling strength was so poor that he initiated an advocacy campaign to allow people to spell words the way they sound. How we wish he had been successful and we could save ourselves so many language-related embarrassments.

Surely you suffer with much similar confusion too like us. Truly and truely has been plaguing writers since years and even to date, many are unsure of the correct spelling.  It helps to turn to useful resources, such as summer workbooks and printable worksheets to clarify grammar concepts.

So which is correct, truly or truely? Keep reading to find out!

The Correct Spelling – Truly!

So first things first: the correct spelling is “TRULY” and we will present a few sentences to you below to demonstrate its correct usage. Truly means to do something in an honest manner. Whenever you are crafting a written piece in which you have to use the word, the correct spelling will always be truly.

In fact, the other is not the standard accepted word. “Truely” is merely a misspelling and usually people spell it that way because they confuse it with its root word. The originating word is “true” which ends with an e. This is why many people believe that they only have to add ly to it to make it sound correct.

Delving into the History of Truly

Perhaps a bit of history might further help clear your confusion. Truly takes its roots in ancient history of the Old English. This is before the 1000 AD, during the time when the English language was in its earliest development.

Back then, people did accept truly as an alternate spelling, when Anglo-Saxon or Old English was in use. Perhaps the Germanic tribes from Europe influenced this form back then. Moreover, the very earliest version of the word truly was treowlice. Yes, it was exactly what you have just read. In fact, treowlice sustained till 1066 till the Old English kept evolving.

Finally, when the Middle English language began to take shape, people started transforming the correct spelling of truly. From treowlice, they thought treuli was a better choice. If you pay a little attention here, you can see the bit by bit transformation till what our Standard English language now accepts.

Despite being transposed, we can see that the e and u in treuli stood side by side. This here explains why many still believe truely is a logical choice.

The Truth – Truly or Truely?

Now let’s return to the truth of today’s English language. Once the evolution was complete and language experts had merged and shifted vowels to determine the correct spellings, truly emerged as the victor.

They titled the language as Modern English which will now last for life and as per the standard words of a Modern English dictionary, truly rules.

The Simplest Trick

Many reading this article may be wondering that how will they manage to remember the correct spelling, when they assumed incorrectly all this while? We are here to sort that problem for you too.

We found a simple trick that would help students and adults alike in remembering the difference between truly and truely. For that, you simply have to remember that the e in truely stands for error. When error pops instantly to mind, it won’t take you long to correct it truly while writing.

We promised you a few sample sentences to demonstrate the correct use of the word to you. Let’s take a look them below.

Sample Sentences:

• I had a truly wonderful time at my previous workplace. I wish I could go back there.
• Ronaldo truly believes his football team would benefit from his skills and win the championship.
• Marian signed the letter, “Yours truly, Executive Secretary, CPA.”
• He truly believed in his potential yet there came a time during his training when he feared he wouldn’t make it.
• He truly didn’t believe she was sincere but time proved him wrong.
• Truly speaking, this has been one of the most poignant experiences of my life.

Final Thoughts

There is always some confusion between the correct and incorrect spelling of certain words, mainly because of the vowels in them. We know that the correct spelling is truly but often it tends to confuse people while writing.

If you too suffer this confusion, remember a little trick to help you avoid the mistake. Associate the extra e in your truely with error. Every time the word error pops up in your mind, you’ll spell it correctly.