If you’re stuck between government and goverment, the good news is simple: only one is standard English. The other is a super common misspelling that shows up because of how the word often sounds when people say it out loud.
Spelling Check
Standard dictionaries record government as the accepted spelling; goverment is treated as a spelling error.✅Source
Table of Contents
Which Spelling Is Correct
Government is the correct spelling in standard English. Goverment is missing an “n”, so it’s not accepted in edited writing, schoolwork, or professional text.
Important detail: the mistake is not about meaning. Goverment is simply a spelling slip of government.
Why The Missing “n” Happens
The “n” in government often gets softened in everyday speech, so people’s hands type what their ears expect. That’s why goverment pops up so much in fast messages, search bars, and quick notes.
- Sound vs. spelling: speech may feel like it skips a beat, while the written form keeps the “n”.
- Word-shape habit: many English words keep letters that don’t stand out in quick pronunciation, so typos cluster around those spots.
- Typing rhythm: the jump from r to m is easy to do without hitting n.
Pronunciation and the Quiet “n”
Many dictionaries show government with pronunciations where the “n” sound can be optional or reduced. That mismatch—letter present, sound not always obvious—is the main reason the misspelling sticks around.✅Source
What This Means for Spelling
Even if you hear something close to “gover-ment”, the standard written form stays government. In other words: sound can be flexible; spelling is not.
Word Origin and Word Parts
A helpful way to see government clearly is to notice its core idea: it connects to governing. Some reference explanations trace the term back to Latin gubernare, commonly glossed as “to steer”—a metaphor for directing or managing a community.✅Source
- Base
- govern (to direct or manage)
- Ending
- -ment (a common word ending used to form nouns) ✅Source
- Whole Word
- government (the act, process, or system of governing; also the people running it)
Word Family and Related Forms
Once government is locked in, the related forms get easier. You’ll see governmental and governmentally in formal writing, plus standard plurals like governments when the meaning is “more than one.”✅Source
- government
- governments
- government’s
- governmental
- governmentally
Common in General Writing
- government (singular)
- governments (plural)
- government’s (possessive)
Common in Formal Tone
- governmental (adjective)
- governmentally (adverb)
Verb Agreement Note
In American English, government commonly takes a singular verb. In British English, it may appear with singular or plural verbs, depending on whether the writer treats it as one unit or a group.✅Source
Common Misspellings Table
Here’s where government usually gets bent out of shape. The patterns are simple: missing letters, swapped letters, or “sounds-like” spelling. The key thing is that none of these variants are standard.
| Form | Status | What’s Going On | Example (Neutral) |
|---|---|---|---|
| government | ✅ Correct | Standard spelling with the “n” intact | The government announced new guidelines. |
| goverment | ❌ Incorrect | Missing the “n”; often caused by speech-to-spelling | Incorrect: The goverment announced new guidelines. |
| governement | ❌ Incorrect | Extra “ne” added; a letter-order mistake | Incorrect: The governement announced new guidelines. |
| goverment’s | ❌ Incorrect | Same missing “n” plus a possessive ’s | Incorrect: The goverment’s plan was approved. |
| govermental | ❌ Incorrect | Missing “n” carried into the adjective; the standard form is governmental | Incorrect: govermental agency |
A clean way to spot the typo: if the word ends in -ment, make sure the base still looks like govern. When the “n” disappears, it’s almost always a misspelling.
FAQ
Common Questions About Government vs. Goverment
Is “goverment” ever correct?
No. Government is the standard spelling. Goverment is a misspelling caused by dropping the “n”.
Why do so many people drop the “n”?
In everyday speech, the “n” can be hard to hear in government. That sound-to-spelling gap is why goverment shows up so often.
Does “government” take a singular or plural verb?
It depends on the variety of English. American English usually treats government as singular. British English can use singular or plural, depending on whether it’s seen as one unit or a group.
What are the correct related forms?
The standard family includes government, governments, government’s, governmental, and governmentally.
Should “government” be capitalized?
Most of the time, government stays lowercase as a general noun. It can be capitalized as Government when it’s treated like a proper name in a specific style or context. The spelling stays the same either way.