Busstop or bus stop
Grammar > busstop vs bus stop, how do you spell it?
Published in March 2023
Written by: Mary S., high school English teacher
This is a common source of confusion.
The correct way to write this word is bus stop and not busstop.
Let’s find out more.
Contents
Meaning of the word
Definition according to the dictionary:
a bus stop is a a place where a bus regularly stops, usually marked by a sign.
Which is correct way to spell, busstop or bus stop?
This is a common question I get asked in class.
The correct way to spell is with two words – bus stop.
The English language does contain some words that combine together like snowman or gravestone.
However, busstop is not one of them. It is incorrect spelling. This is likely due to the two s letters making the word difficult.
Bus stop
This is the correct spelling.
Here are some examples of the word used in a sentence:
- “I am at the bus stop, hopefully it will arrive soon as I am running late to work.”
- “Can you get off at the next bus stop?”
- “The local residents at selling fruits and vegetables at the main square right behind the bus stop“
Busstop
Busstop is the incorrect spelling. Do not spell it this way.
Someone who writes busstop will still mean a bus stop, as in the following examples, but their spelling is not correct.
- “I will wait for Sam at the busstop next to my work.”
- “James got off at the wrong busstop. Now he will be late.”
- “I love my new apartment. There is a busstop just outside”
In all the examples here, the spelling is wrong.
Remember to use correct spelling.
Popularity of the terms online
You may have seen us comparing the popularity of terms online in the past.
It is often said that searching for terms on a search engine and assessing popularity (ie the number of times a phrase is written online) is a good clue to finding the right way to write or say something.
While in our case the answer is straightforward, let’s still put it to the test.
Searching for the exact term “busstop” gets only about 3 million results on Google in March of 2023.
Searching for the exact term “bus stop” on the same search engine at the same time received 239 million results in comparison.
You can see that “bus stop” is used significantly more online re-enforcing it is the correct spelling.
Sound it out
Reading terms out out loud can be handy to get better with English and to find the correct form and spelling of words and terms.
If you sound out bus stop with a pause in between the words, phonetically, it sounds correct.
On the other hand, if you try to say busstop as one word without the pause, the two s letters get in the way and I think you would agree with me that it does not sound right.
Do you have any tips to remember how to remember to write this or similar words?
Also let us know if there is any other confusing English words or phrases you would like us to cover on Compare it Versus.
Leave your comments in the section below.
References
Resources used in the writing of this article to ensure it is accurate
- Dictionary.com official web page, accessed in February 2023 in relation to meanings and definitions of the words mentioned, link to dictionary home page here.
- Google search engine for popularity of search terms, search completed in March and April 2023.
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