Especial, Especially Or Special, Specially ? Learn with Mind Trick

Reading an article, I found the words Especial and Special many times. I found these words so same that I couldn't differentiate them at first sight. But meticulous reading stimulates your brain to look them up the difference between these two words. Let's know more about these words.

Special (Adj./N)

• Special means different from normal
• Someone or something that is special is better or more important than other people or things
• As a Noun, a special is something which is not normally available, or which is made for a particular purpose.

1. We have a special charge for the bad act.
2. The teachers need special training.
3. The menu changes regulary and there daily specials to choose.

Especial (Adj.)

• greater or better than usual; exceptional, noteworthy

1. The lecture will be of especial interest to history students.

Point to be noted:

• The words especial and special can be used almost interchangeably. They both mean something which was “out of the ordinary” or even “exceptional”.
• Both words are used before noun.
• Special can be noun; it can be used alone in a sentence, e.g, You are Special (not especial). On the other hand, Especial is an adjective, and it can't be used alone.

What about specially and especially !?

Specially is an adverb, and it means in a special way or for a particular purpose. It means opposite of generally or ordinarily.

1. I came here specially to meet you.

Especially, an adverb, means to a great extent, above all.

1. I hate green vegetables, especially ladyfinger.

When to use Specially and Especially?
> Specially is used to modify verbs only.

1.  The ring was specially made for her wife. 

Especially can be applied to nouns, verbs, adverbs, and adjectives.

1. The ring was especially beautifully made. 
2. I have an especially beautiful ring.
3. I especially hate ladyfinger
4. I hate green vegetables, especially ladyfinger.

Confusions:
In some contexts, specially or especially can be used with some slight difference in meaning.

"He sang a song especially for her

or 

He sang a song specially for her."

Here in the first example, especially for her suggests more for her than for others, for her only and for no one else.
In the second example, sang a song specially means he sings a song in a special way, in a very different way. As we know, specially modifies verbs only.

Common error in using Especially:
Especially can't come at the beginning of a sentence; we use it after the subject not before the subject.
Especially girls need a lot of security. Wrong
Girls especially need a lot of security. Right

Mind Tricks:
In the course of time, we forget things. Hence, we need  mind trick to memorise the difference between these words.

We can learn the difference using below tricks:
      Specially = Specifically
      Especially = Exceptional.

Second, If we look at the word special and Especial, we find the only one difference that is an "E". With the help of "E", we can guess the meaning of Especial: Extra out or something/someone stand out, as E seems to be an extra in Especial.

What Garner's Says:

Especial is so rarely used in America today-even in learned journals-that some might term it obsolescent. But it does occasionally appear, most often when modifying a noun whose corresponding adjective would naturally take the adverb especially.

Usages of Especial, Especially, Special, Specially                    

In a nutshell

Especially and Specially are often used in the same way and it can hard to hear the difference when people speak. But in writing, we must stick to the rule.

The adjective for both especially and specially is usually special.  - Oxford

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