Telling Letters Apart

Any scribe will tell you the most common reason for an FDS is usually the result of a Misspelling, and that the Misspelling was the result of not hearing a commonly mixed up letter correctly. Due to variations in signal quality, speaker clarity, and station equipment, subtle differences between similar sounding letters can be challenging to hear. If the customer does not provide you with a phonetic alphabet spelling for the name or term, you will have to rely on your listening skills and as many context clues as you can to try to tell these letters apart.

Letters With Similar Sounds

B - D - V - Z

C - E - G

T - P

M - N

F - S

S and F are the most notoriously difficult letters to tell apart when transcribing. Calls with lower audio quality can have a bit of a background "hissing" sound to them, which adds an extra layer of difficulty in distinguishing between the two.

• F is slightly deeper and is also slightly shorter in length. F is rarely ever paired with any consonants, and usually trails after another consonant if it does (LF, PF, NF)
  • When paired with the letter P in PF, the P becomes silent. An example is the company name Pfizer.
• S often has a longer length than F and a much more pronounced "hiss" at the end. S is also more commonly paired with other consonants, such as ST, SH, SCH, SL, SP, SK, SW, and sometimes SR.

L - R - O

S - X

A - H

Other Letters To Watch

C - K

C and K are letters that do not sound very similar when pronounced, but they should be treated with caution when spelling a name. In particular, it's very common for a name to be spelled that commonly starts with one letter, but the speaker uses the other letter instead. A hard C can have a similar sound to a hard K, and in certain combinations they share the same phoneme. So if the Scribe is not paying close attention, they may hear the name, think they will know how this is going to be spelled out, and completely miss that another letter was used!

• Example: Let's say a customer dictates the following: "Cathy Jones. Cathy C-A-T-H-Y." You may hear the initial pronunciation of "Cathy" and, being familiar with common American English names, assume the name will be spelled "Kathy." Your brain may even trick you on first listen into thinking you hear the letter K despite the customer clearly spelling it with a C!

These kinds of letter mix-ups are why it is important to train your ear to treat any spelling or acronym with caution, and ensure that you are not zoning out and making assumptions about the spelling.

G - J

This letter pair is often mixed up in the same way that C and K are.

• Example: A customer dictates the following: "Gerry, G-E-R-R-Y." The name sounds similar to "Jerry," and you may assume it is spelled with a J. But listen closely, as they are using a rarer spelling with a letter G.

I - Y

I and Y are usually easy enough to tell apart on their own, but when spelled with certain consonants, they become harder to distinguish.

CE - EE - GE - TE - PE

KA - JA

Context Clues

Phonetic Name Spelling

Listen Further

Companies and Tickers

Still Unsure

If you have exhausted all other options