What is the correct spelling for a government change?

The correct spelling of the word for a change to the Constitution is Amendment: a-m-e-n-d-m-e-n-t, with the root amend (a-m-e-n-d) plus the suffix -ment, no double consonants, and a silent middle d that is still pronounced softly. The word comes from the Old French amendement, from the verb amender (to improve or correct), ultimately from the Latin emendare (to free from fault). The most common spelling errors are doubling the m (Ammendment), forgetting the silent d (Amenment), or substituting the suffix (Amendmant). One memory aid: a-MEND-ment, where mend is the root meaning to fix or improve.

On the USCIS writing test sentences containing amendment are frequent, including "The Constitution has 27 amendments," "The First Amendment protects free speech," and "What is an amendment?" In U.S. constitutional law an amendment is a formal change to the Constitution adopted under the procedure in Article V: proposed by a two-thirds vote of both houses of Congress (or by a constitutional convention called by two-thirds of state legislatures) and ratified by three-fourths of the states.

The Constitution has been amended 27 times. The first ten amendments, ratified together in 1791, are collectively known as the Bill of Rights. Subsequent amendments include the Thirteenth (abolishing slavery), the Fourteenth (guaranteeing equal protection and due process), the Fifteenth and Nineteenth (extending voting rights), and the Twenty-Sixth (lowering the voting age to 18). Article V also establishes a never-used alternative path: a constitutional convention called by Congress on the application of two-thirds of state legislatures, with any proposed amendments still requiring three-fourths-state ratification.