These rules help form a strong foundation for good spelling habits!
1. “I” Before “E” Except After “C”
- Example: Believe, friend
- Exception: Receive, ceiling
2. Silent “E” Makes the Vowel Long
- Adding a silent “e” at the end of a word often makes the vowel say its name.
- Example: Hop → Hope, Mad → Made
3. When Adding Suffixes to Words Ending in “Y,” Change “Y” to “I”
- If a word ends in “y” and is preceded by a consonant, change “y” to “i” before adding a suffix.
- Example: Happy → Happier, Cry → Cried
- Exception: Keep the “y” if adding ing: Cry → Crying
4. Double the Final Consonant for Short Vowel Words When Adding a Suffix
- If a word has a single short vowel followed by a single consonant, double the consonant before adding a vowel suffix.
- Example: Run → Running, Hop → Hopping
- Exception: Do not double the consonant if the final syllable is not stressed: Open → Opening
5. Plural Rule: Add “-es” for Words Ending in “s,” “sh,” “ch,” “x,” or “z”
- Example: Box → Boxes, Church → Churches
6. Drop the Silent “E” Before Adding a Suffix That Begins with a Vowel
- Example: Love → Loving, Hope → Hoping
- Exception: Keep the “e” if the suffix begins with a consonant: Hope → Hopeful
7. “C” and “G” Soft Sounds Before “E,” “I,” or “Y”
- The letters C and G often have a soft sound before E, I, or Y.
- Example: City, Gentle, Cycle
- Exception: Some words break this rule, like Gift.
8. “Q” Always Needs “U”
- In English, “Q” is almost always followed by “U”.
- Example: Queen, Quick, Quiet
- Exception: Some borrowed words, like Qatar.
9. Words Ending in “F” or “Fe” Often Change to “V” Before Adding “Es”
- Example: Leaf → Leaves, Wolf → Wolves
- Exception: Some words just add “s”: Roof → Roofs
10. Use “-ck” After a Short Vowel Sound
- Words with a short vowel sound end in “-ck,” while long vowel words use “-k.”
- Example: Back, Duck, Stick
- Exception: Words like “picnic” don’t follow this rule.
11. “-dge” Instead of “-ge” After a Short Vowel
- Words with a short vowel sound use “-dge” instead of “-ge.”
- Example: Bridge, Badge
- Exception: Words like “huge” don’t follow this rule.
12. Prefixes Do Not Change the Root Word’s Spelling
- When adding a prefix, keep the original spelling of the root word.
- Example: Unhappy, Misunderstand, Disagree