Spelling Rules!!

Rule #1

Write

i

before

e

except after

c

, or when sounded like “ay” as in neighbour and weigh.

Examples

field, achieve, believe, chief, piece, pierce, niece, relief, yield, shield, priest

BUT, AFTER

“C”, use “ei”:

receive, deceive, perceive, ceiling, conceit

WHEN

ei

SOUNDS LIKE “AY”:

sleigh, freight, eight

EXCEPTIONS:

Rottweiler, seize, either, weird, height, foreign, leisure More exceptions… caffeine, science

Remember…

*When the

ie/ei

combination is not pronounced

ee

, it is usually spelled

ei.

Rule #2:

Double a final consonant before adding a suffix that begins with a vowel if: The consonant ends a one syllable word (eg. bat) The consonant follows a single vowel (shop) The consonant ends a stressed syllable in a multi-syllable word (eg. begin)

Examples:

bat – batting; shop- shopping; begin – beginning

Rule #3: If a word ends with a silent

e

, drop the

e

before adding a suffix which begins with a vowel.

Examples: like – liking – likeness; use – using – useful; nine – ninety, nineteen

Notice:

you do not drop the

e

when the suffix begins with a consonant. Exceptions include

judgement, truly, argument,

and

ninth).

Rule #4:

When y is the last letter in a word and the y is preceded by a consonant, change the y to i before adding any suffix except those beginning with i.

Examples:

fry – fries hurry- hurried lady – ladies happy – happiness beauty – beautiful

Rule #5: The suffix “able” is added to words when there is a clear base word.

Example: agree + able = agreeable change + able = changeable

Note:

When there isn’t a clear base word, add “ible”: Examples: permiss + ible = permissible ed + ible = edible incred + ible + incredible

Rule #6: The suffix “ally” or “ly”: words ending in c form the adverb: usually add “ally” to basic – basically; drastic – drastically; music -- musically Other words generally add “ly” to form the adverb: complete – completely; natural – naturally