Lightening vs Lightning vs Lighting | Ask Linda! | English Grammar

Lightening, lightning and lighting are often confused. Here we look at the differences. Lightening is the present participle of the verb to lighten for example “I was lightening the load on my horse because it was exhausted.” Lightning is a streak of static electricity through the sky usually accompanied by thunder for example “I was struck by lightning while playing golf in a storm.” Lighting is the arrangement of light especially in photography for example “The photo was dull because the lighting wasn’t good enough”.


This is one of the most common spelling mistakes ever.

Let’s take a closer look.

Lightening is the present participle of lighten.

We can for example say:
I was lightening the load on my horse because it was exhausted.

Lightning describes a streak of static electricity through the sky, usually accompanied by thunder.

You got struck by lightning? That must have been a shocking experience!

Lighting is the arrangement of light, especially in photography.

The photo was dull because the lighting wasn’t good enough.


I hope I brought light into the matter and cleared up any confusion.


That’s it for today. See you next time.
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