Spelling Rules Flashcards
All 15 cards in this deck
What is the i before e rule, and what are its main exceptions?
i before e except after c, when the sound is ee: believe, field, but receive, ceiling. Learn the exceptions: weird, seize, protein, caffeine.
When do you double the final consonant before adding -ing or -ed?
When a word ends in one vowel + one consonant and the stress is on the last syllable: stop → stopping, forget → forgetting, prefer → preferred. No stress at the end, no doubling: visit → visited, open → opening.
What happens to a silent e when you add a suffix?
Drop it before a suffix starting with a vowel (hope → hoping, write → writing). Keep it before a consonant (hope → hopeful, care → careless). Exceptions: argument, truly.
Why do noticeable and courageous keep their e?
The e keeps the c or g soft. Without it you would read noticable with a hard k sound. So: noticeable, manageable, courageous.
What happens to a final y when you add a suffix?
After a consonant, change y to i: happy → happiness, carry → carried. But keep the y before -ing (carrying), and keep it after a vowel (play → played, enjoy → enjoyment).
How do you make plurals of nouns ending in -s, -x, -z, -ch or -sh?
Add -es, because you can hear the extra syllable: bus → buses, box → boxes, church → churches, wish → wishes.
How do you make plurals of nouns ending in -y?
Consonant + y: change to -ies (baby → babies, city → cities). Vowel + y: just add -s (day → days, key → keys).
How do you make plurals of nouns ending in -f or -fe?
Usually change to -ves: knife → knives, leaf → leaves, half → halves. Learn the exceptions: roofs, chiefs, beliefs.
How many l's in the suffix -ful?
One: hopeful, beautiful, grateful. Adding -ly gives two: beautifully, carefully. Full on its own has two.
What happens to the spelling when you add a prefix such as dis-, mis- or un-?
Nothing changes: just join the two parts. That is why some words have double letters: mis + spell = misspell, un + necessary = unnecessary, dis + satisfied = dissatisfied.
How do you spell adverbs made from adjectives ending in -l or -e?
Just add -ly: final → finally, usual → usually (double l), sincere → sincerely (keep the e). Two exceptions: true → truly, and -le words like gentle → gently.
How can you tell whether a word ends in -able or -ible?
A rough guide: if a whole word is left when you remove the ending, it's usually -able (acceptable, dependable). If not, it's usually -ible (horrible, visible). There are exceptions, such as sensible.
When does a word end in -cian rather than -tion?
-cian is used for people, usually made from a word ending in -ic or -ics: music → musician, politics → politician, magic → magician. Things and ideas usually take -tion or -sion.
Add -ing to refer, offer and make.
referring (stress on re-FER, so double the r); offering (stress on OF-fer, so no doubling); making (drop the silent e before a vowel).
How should you proofread your writing for spelling?
Read slowly, word by word, rather than for meaning. Check your own danger words and every homophone (there/their, where/were). Cross out neatly and write the correction above. Examiners don't penalise tidy corrections.