Spelling Rules

Spelling Practice Questions

There are various exceptions to this spelling rule, and it is better to think of it as a spelling guideline. It can be essential to words such as:

I before E

Example: Would you like to eat a piece of cake? Jamal will believe the story. They are planting new crops in the field.

Except before C

Example: Darnell received a trophy in the athletics competition. Nikita spotted a rat on the ceiling.

Unless the vowel sounds like A

Example: Our neighbours stay in a beige cottage. What is the height of the building?

Hint: It is a good idea to remember common exceptions to the spelling rule.

When you add a suffix that begins with E such as –ed, -est, or –er to any word ending with Y, the Y often changes to I. For example:

• Fry- Fried
• Dry- Dried-Drier
• Baby- babies
• Ugly – Ugliest

Add –ies if the word has a constant before Y after removing Y. For example:

Daddy- daddies

Difficulty – difficulties

Company – companies

Usually, an E after a constant at the end of any word is considered silent; hence, it affects how you pronounce the vowel coming before the constant. The E enables the vowel sound of the word to be long rather than short. It is critical to understand the silent E correctly because the presence or absence of silent E can change a word’s meaning.

Example 1: The dog bit me. Keep your leg out of the cage. The dog’s bite

Adding the E at the end of the word bit changes the meaning of the word from past to present.

Example 2: Beware of the sharp knives; you can cut yourself. The man is very cute.

Adding the silent E in the sentence above creates a different word.

When you add a suffix such as -est, -ed, or -er, the silent E is often dropped from the main word’s end.

Example: The cat bared his teeth at the child for a long. The kitten’s eyes were bluest of all.

You can drop the silent E when you add a vowel suffix at the end of a word. For example:

Bite – biting

Joke – joking

Opposite + ion = Opposition

Sense + ible = Sensible.

Most words that end in “-fe” or “-f” often change their plurals to “-ves.” For example:

Wife – wives

Thief – thieves

Leaf – leaves

Knife – knives

Calf – calves

Some of the words end their plurals with “-s” or “-ves.” For example:

Handkerchief – handkerchieves or handkerchiefs

Dwarf – dwarves or dwarfs

You can add -s to words that end with -ff to make plural. For example:

Scuff – scuffs

Cliff – cliffs

Add -s to some words that end in -f. Nouns ending in two vowels plus “-f” often form plurals in the usual manner with an “-s” at the end. For example:

Spoof – spoofs

Chief – chiefs

Oaf – oafs.

You can add -es when the word ends with -sh, -z, -x, -s, or -ch. For example:

I took one bus to town; you took two buses.

I only made one wish to the pastor; you made two wishes.

I am unloading one box of books; you are unloading the remaining five boxes.

Add –s for all other endings. For example:

I drank one cup of tea in the morning; you drank two cups.

I have one pair of a shoe; you bought three pairs of shoes.

4. Double Consonants

Double consonants are regularly found in words with suffixes.

Example: I dropped the luggage in the car. Daniel called for you.

Some words can be pronounced either as one or two syllables, but their spelling remains the same in a sentence.

Example: Blessed are the humble, for they shall inherit heaven.

In the sentence above is a fixed expression, hence blessed is pronounced as two syllables:

Bless-ed.

Example: The Bishop blessed the couples after their wedding.

In the sentence above, the word blessed is pronounced as one syllable: blest.

Double consonants can change the meanings and pronunciation.

Example: Sisal is native to the desert. Would you like ice tea for dessert?

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