Some words, such as ‘roll’, have more definitions than is strictly decent. And since it sounds identical to the word ‘role’, it is easy to get these terms mixed up. But if you check out our guide to using ‘role’ and ‘roll’ correctly, you can be confident your written work will be spelling error free.
We’ll begin with ‘role’, since this term has fewer meanings. Its main use is to indicate a position within an organisation or system. In particular, being in a specific ‘role’ usually implies having a purpose or duty:
My role as a proofreader is to check texts for errors.
Proofreading plays an important role in the publishing industry.
The other key use of ‘role’ is to mean ‘part for an actor’:
I auditioned for the lead role in the play.
One thing to note here is that ‘role’ is always a noun, never a verb.
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‘Roll’ has several uses as a verb and a noun. As a verb, these include:
And as a noun, we can use ‘roll’ to refer to the following:
This isn’t even a full list of the uses of ‘roll’. For example, a tear can ‘roll’ down your cheek, and a ship might ‘roll’ from side to side in rough seas. However, we have covered the main uses of ‘roll’ above. And the main thing to take away from this is that ‘roll’ is a term with many definitions!
The key here is remembering what ‘role’ means, as this term has fewer uses:
In essence, then, if you’re referring to a position or part in something, the correct spelling will be ‘role’. And in any other situation, ‘roll’ will be correct. But if you want to make doubly sure that your writing is free from errors, you can always have it proofread by our expert editors.
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