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English Spelling Rules Section 1
Word endings
English Spelling Rules
Section 2 Making plurals
English Spelling Rules
Section 3 Adding suffixes
English Spelling Rules Section 4 Adding prefixes
English Spelling Rules Section 5 Using ‘soft’
c and ‘soft’ g
English Spelling Rules Section 6 Rules for
using w and qu
English Spelling Rules Section 7 Using i and
e together to make one sound
English Spelling Rules Section 8 Using ti, ci
or si to make the sound (sh)
English Spelling Rules Section 9 Doubling l
and t in multisyllabic words before suffixes
(Note here the typical doubling of the r in a stressed syllable before the addition of a suffix beginning with a vowel.)
Rule
#1: “I before E except after C”;
Rule
#2: “Dropping Final E”
Rule
#3: “Dropping Final Y”
Rule
#4: “Doubling Final Consonants”
Rule
#5: “Adding Prefixes”
Changing a Final Y to I
Doubling a Final
Consonant
EXAMPLES:
stop + ing = stopping admit + ed = admitted occur + ence = occurrence
stoop + ing = stooping benefit + ed = benefited delight + ful = delightful
SPELLING
RULES
1.) SPELLING RULES FOR THE
PRESENT PROGRESSIVE TENSE
a.)
Add –ing to the base form of the verb.
read - reading, stand - standing, jump – jumping
read - reading, stand - standing, jump – jumping
b.)
If a verb ends in a silent –e, drop the final -e and add –ing.
leave - leaving, take - taking, receive – receiving
leave - leaving, take - taking, receive – receiving
c.)
In a one-syllable word, if the last three letters are consonant-vowel-consonant
combination (CVC), double the last consonant before adding –ing.
sit - sitting, run - running, hop - hopping
sit - sitting, run - running, hop - hopping
However,
do not double the last consonant in word that end in w, x, or y.
sew - sewing, fix - fixing, enjoy – enjoying
sew - sewing, fix - fixing, enjoy – enjoying
d.)
In words of two or more syllables that end in a consonant-vowel-consonant
combination, double the last consonant only if the last syllable is stressed.
admit - admitting, regret - regretting
admit - admitting, regret - regretting
e.)
If a verb ends in –ie, change the –ie to y before adding -ing.
die – dying
die – dying
2.) SPELLING RULES FOR THE
SIMPLE PRESENT TENSE
a.)
Add –s for most verbs
work - works, buy - buys, ride - rides, return – returns
work - works, buy - buys, ride - rides, return – returns
b.)
Add –es for words that end in –ch, -s , -sh, -x,
or –z.
watch - watches, pass - passes, rush - rushes, relax - relaxes, buzz – buzzes
watch - watches, pass - passes, rush - rushes, relax - relaxes, buzz – buzzes
c.)
Change the –y to –i and add –es when the base form ends in
a consonant +y.
study - studies, hurry - hurries, dry - dries
study - studies, hurry - hurries, dry - dries
Do not
change the –y when the base form ends in a vowel +y. Add –s
play - plays, enjoy – enjoys
play - plays, enjoy – enjoys
d.)
A few verbs have irregular forms.
be - is, do - does, go- goes, have – has
be - is, do - does, go- goes, have – has
3.) SPELLING RULES FOR SIMPLE
PAST TENSE OF REGULAR VERBS
a.)
If the verb ends in a consonant, add –ed.
return - returned, help - helped, cook – cooked
return - returned, help - helped, cook – cooked
b.)
If the verb ends in –e, add –d.
live - lived, create - created, die – died
live - lived, create - created, die – died
c.)
In one-syllable words, if the verb ends in a consonant-vowel-consonant
combination (CVC), double the last consonant and add -ed.
hop - hopped, rub - rubbed
hop - hopped, rub - rubbed
However,
do not double one-syllable words ending in –w, -x, or –y.
bow
- bowed, play - played, mix – mixed
d.)
In words of two or more syllables that end in consonant-vowel-consonant
combination, double the last consonant only if the last syllable is stressed.
prefer - preferred (The last syllable is stressed.) visit - visited (The last syllable isn’t stressed)
prefer - preferred (The last syllable is stressed.) visit - visited (The last syllable isn’t stressed)
e.)
If the verb ends in a consonant, + y, change the -y to -i
and –ed.
worry - worried, copy - copied
worry - worried, copy - copied
f.)
If the verb ends in a vowel +y, add -ed. (Do not change the –y
to –i.)
play - played, annoy - annoyed
play - played, annoy - annoyed
Exception:
pay - paid, lay - laid, say – said
4.) SPELLING RULES FOR THE
COMPARATIVE (-ER) & SUPERLATIVES (-EST) ADJECTIVES
A]
Add –er to one-syllable adjectives to form the comparative. Add -est
to one-syllable adjectives to form the superlative.
cheap - cheaper - cheapest, bright - brighter – brightest
cheap - cheaper - cheapest, bright - brighter – brightest
B]
If the adjective ends in –e, add –r or –st.
nice - nicer - nicest
nice - nicer - nicest
c.)
If the adjective ends in a consonant +y, change to y to i
before you add –er or –est.
pretty - prettier - prettiest. Exception: shy - shyer – shyest
pretty - prettier - prettiest. Exception: shy - shyer – shyest
d.)
If the adjective ends in a consonant-vowel-consonant combination (CVC), double
the final consonant before adding –er or –est.
big - bigger - biggest
big - bigger - biggest
However,
do not double the consonant in words ending in –w or –y.
slow
- slower - slowest, coy - coyer – coyest
5.) SPELLING RULES FOR
ADVERBS
a.)
Add
–ly to the corresponding adjectives
nice - nicely, quiet - quietly, quick - quickly, beautiful - beautifully
nice - nicely, quiet - quietly, quick - quickly, beautiful - beautifully
- If the adjective ends in
consonant +y, change the y to i before adding –ly
easy - easily
- If the adjective ends in –le,
drop the -e and add –y.
possible - possibly
However,
do not drop the –e for other adjectives ending in –e.
extreme - extremely, Exception: true – truly
extreme - extremely, Exception: true – truly
d.)
If the adjective ends in –ic, add -ally.
basic - basically, fantastic - fantastically, terrific - terrifically
basic - basically, fantastic - fantastically, terrific - terrifically
Many words ending in YSE or ISE have
been changed to YZE or IZE in America (see analyse, categorise, standardise)
Many words ending
in ISATION have been changed to IZATION in America (see categorisation, standardisation)
Words containing a double
consonant before ING and ED have been changed to one consonant (see travelling)
aeroplane (1 word)
[UK] = airplane, aero
plane [US]
catalogue [UK] =
catalog [US]
cheque [UK] =
check [US]
earnt, earned [UK] =
earned [US]
gaol, jail [UK]
= jail [US]
grey [UK] =
gray {US}
inharmonious/unharmonious [UK] = inharmonious [US]
liquorice [UK] =
licorice [US]
manoeuvre [UK] =
maneuver [US]
neighbour [UK] =
neighbor [US]
TV programme/computer program [UK] = TV/computer
program [US]
pyjamas [UK] =
pajamas [US]
program (computer) [UK] =
program (computer, TV or radio show, show list) [US]
programme (TV or radio show, show list) [UK] = program
(computer, TV or radio show, show list) [US]
tyres [UK] =
tires [US]
English Spelling Rules Section 1
Word endings
• No English word ends in ’v’ except spiv.
Use ve instead.
• No English word ends in ’j’. Use ge or dge instead.
• No English word ends in ‘i’. Use y instead. Exceptions:
macaroni, spaghetti, vermicelli (Italian) and taxi (short for taxicab)
• The word endings ‘dge’, ‘tch’, may only be used after a
short vowel e.g. badge, hedge, lodge, fetch, Dutch, catch. Exceptions to this
rule are: much, such, rich, which.
• We double ‘l’, ‘f’, ‘s’ and ‘z’, after a single vowel
at the end of a short word.e.g. call, tell, toss, miss, stiff, stuff, fizz,
jazz.
Exceptions to this spelling rule: us,
bus, gas, if, of, this, yes, plus, nil, pal.
English Spelling Rules
Section 2 Making plurals
• Regular plurals are made by adding ‘s’.
e.g. dogs, horses, monkeys, cliffs.
• To form plurals of words with a hissing ending, add ‘es’.
Use suffix ‘es’
after s, x, z, sh, ch, ss in words like bonuses, boxes, fizzes, wishes, churches
and misses.
• To make nouns ending in a single ‘f’ plural change the ‘f’ to ‘v’ before adding ‘es’ to form the plural. e. g. loaf,
loaves; wolf, wolves, shelf, shelves. Exceptions to this rule: dwarfs, roofs,
chiefs.
• Words ending in an ‘o’ preceded by a consonant usually end in
suffix ‘es’
to form the plural
e.g. potato-es, volcano-es, torpedo-es. Some exceptions:
pianos, solos, Eskimos.
English Spelling Rules
Section 3 Adding suffixes
• Short words ending in both a single vowel and a single
consonant always double the last consonant before adding a suffix (ending)
beginning with a vowel. e.g. hop, hopped, hopping; flat, flatter, flatten; win,
winner, winning; bit, bitty, bitten .
We sometimes refer to these base words as 1,1,1 words
because they have ONE vowel, ONE consonant after the vowel, and ONE syllable.
Examples of vowel suffixes are: ed, es, ing, en, y, al, able and ible.
• Do NOT double the final consonant when the base word
has two vowels or two final consonants, e.g. leaf, leafy; shout, shouting;
fool, foolish; self, selfish; mend, mending.
• Drop the final ’e’ from a root word before adding a suffix beginning with a vowel, but
keep it before a consonant suffix.
• e.g. love, loving, lovely; taste, tasting, tasty; ride,
bubble, bubbling, bubbly: drive, driving, driver; rattle, rattled, rattling.
• ‘Ful’ is a suffix added onto the end of a root (or
base) word. It has only one ‘l’. e.g. hopeful, useful, cheerful. Because this
suffix begins with a consonant, just add it to the base (root) word, without
changing the root word. Notice that we keep the silent e in ‘hopeful’ and
‘useful’ above.
• Other consonant suffixes follow the same rule as above.
They include ‘ment’, ‘ly’, ty, ‘ness’, ‘less’.
They are used to make words like statement, lonely,
cruelty, lateness and homeless.
Remember to keep the final e of thee base word in word
spellings like this.
• If a word ends in a consonant plus ‘y’, change the ‘y’
to ‘i’ before adding any suffix except ‘ing’. • e.g. lady, ladies; party,
parties; heavy, heavier, heaviest; marry, married; funny, funnily;
but
there are some exceptions, e.g. cry, crying; hurry, hurrying.
• If a base word ends with the letters oy,
ay, or ey, DO NOT change the final y to i when adding any vowel suffix,
e.g. annoying, played, displayed, surveyed, boyish. Exceptions
to this are the words said, paid and laid.
English Spelling Rules Section 4 Adding prefixes
• The letters ‘al’ are a
prefix, followed by another syllable, in words like also, already, always, although.
Although the word ‘all’ has two lls, the prefix ‘al’ has only one l.
• Other prefixes are: re, pre, de, in, im, un, en, under, over, dis, and
mis, as in rethink,
preset, deactivate, incapable, impossible, undecided, enslave, underachieve,
overcook, discontinue and misdeed.
English Spelling Rules Section 5 Using ‘soft’
c and ‘soft’ g
• When ‘c’ is followed by ‘e’, ‘i’, or ‘y’, it says ‘s’. Otherwise it says ‘k’.
e.g. city, centre, ceiling, circle, cycle,
receive, access.
• When ‘g’
is followed by ‘e’, ‘i’,
or ‘y’ it says ‘j’. Otherwise it says ‘g’ as in gold
e.g. gentle, giant, gymnastic, gyroscope. Exceptions:
get, begin, girl, give, gear, geese, gift, girth.
English Spelling Rules Section 6 Rules for
using w and qu
• When ‘w’ or ‘qu’ comes before ‘a’ it often says (wo) or (kwa)
as in wash, want, wander, wallet, quarrel and quads.
• When ‘w’ comes before ‘or’ it often says (wer) as in worm, word, work, worth, worship.
Exceptions include worry, worried,
wore, worn.
• When ‘w’
or ‘qu’ come before
‘ar’, it often says
(wor) or (quor) as in war, ward,
warden, quarter, quart,
• The sound (kw) is written as ‘qu’. It never stands by
itself. The letter u is a “silent” partner. It is not a “sounded vowel” when
used after the letter q.
English Spelling Rules Section 7 Using i and
e together to make one sound
• ‘i’ comes before ‘e’ when it is pronounced
‘ee’, except when it follows ’c’, e.g. brief, field, priest, receive, deceive,
ceiling.
• ‘e’ comes before ‘i’ when sounded like (ay) as in
neighbour and weigh.
The letters i and e are sometimes used together and
sounded as separate vowels, e.g. in diet, quiet and client. Further information
on teaching syllable division will be added soon.
English Spelling Rules Section 8 Using ti, ci
or si to make the sound (sh)
• ‘ti’, ‘ci’, ‘si’, are three spellings most
frequently used to say ‘sh’ at the beginning of all syllables except the first.
• e.g. nation, patient, torrential, infectious, spacious, ancient, optician,
financial, tension, session, admission, pension, division.
English Spelling Rules Section 9 Doubling l
and t in multisyllabic words before suffixes
• In words ending in a single ‘l’ after a
single vowel, double the ‘l’ before adding a suffix regardless of accent.
• e.g. cancelled, levelling, travelled,
signalling, metallic.
• If a word of more than one syllable ends in a ‘t’,
preceded by a single vowel, and has the accent (stress) on the last syllable,
double the final consonant.
• e.g. permit, permitted; admit, admitted; regret,
regretted; but do not double the final t in words like visit, visited; benefit,
benefited because the stress is on the first syllable of the root or base word.
English spelling rules are
incorporated in the phonic progression on this site. They vary from American spelling rules,
especially in the use of double consonants in multisyllabic words.
-oo- becomes
-ee-
foot > feet; tooth > teeth. Goose – geese
To form the plural of most nouns, simply add -s
cat > cats dog
> dogs
Surviving Old English plural forms:
deer > deer; sheep > sheep;
deer > deer; sheep > sheep;
A becomes ‘e’ to make plural
ox > oxen; man > men; woman > women;
ox > oxen; man > men; woman > women;
child > children; brother (in a religious sense) > brethren;
Some compound nouns: the main word carries ‘s’
Model I passer-by
> passers-by;
Model II mother-in-law
> mothers-in-law. Father-in-law – fathers-in-law,
sister-in-law – sisters-in-law,
Plural forms of not- fully naturalized
foreign words:
chateau > chateaux; crisis > crises; formula > formulae; index > indices; stimulus > stimuli
chateau > chateaux; crisis > crises; formula > formulae; index > indices; stimulus > stimuli
Plural forms of metric abbreviations:
100 km (kilometres)
60 g (grams)
2.5 l (litres)
100 km (kilometres)
60 g (grams)
2.5 l (litres)
Note that with non-metric measurements plural s is
optional: 60 lb or 60 lbs
To form the plural of nouns ending in s, sh, ss, z, x or ch,
add -es to facilitate
pronunciation
gas > gases dish
> dishes boss > bosses box > boxes watch > watches
To form the plural of nouns ending in y preceded by a
consonant, change the y to an I and
then add -es
lady > ladies baby > babies strawberry
> strawberries laboratory >
laboratories
lay-by > lay-bys (BrE); stand-by
> stand-bys
Family names: Mr. & Mrs. Brady > The Bradys
To form the plural of a number of long
established English nouns ending in f or fe
(but not ff or ffe!)
change the f to a v and then add -es
(but not ff or ffe!)
change the f to a v and then add -es
half > halves leaf > leaves life
> lives knife > knives
Most other nouns ending in f or fe simply add -s as usual, but
there are some cases in which the -ves plural formation is
optional:
belief > beliefs; chief > chiefs; handkerchief > handkerchiefs safe > safes
(but note handkerchieves is an option in British English);
belief > beliefs; chief > chiefs; handkerchief > handkerchiefs safe > safes
(but note handkerchieves is an option in British English);
To form the plural of imported nouns ending
in o and long established in English, add -es
cargo > cargoes domino > dominoes echo
> echoes embargo >
embargoes
hero > heroes potato > potatoes tomato > tomatoes tornado > tornadoes
torpedo > torpedoes veto > vetoes
hero > heroes potato > potatoes tomato > tomatoes tornado > tornadoes
torpedo > torpedoes veto > vetoes
For less naturalized nouns ending in o, add -s only:
kilo > kilos; piano > pianos; kimono > kimonos; radio > radios
kilo > kilos; piano > pianos; kimono > kimonos; radio > radios
In a few cases the -es plural
formation is optional.
archipelago > archipelagos/archipelagoes fiasco > fiascos/fiascoes halo > halos/haloes
mango > mangos/mangoes
mango > mangos/mangoes
A final silent e is usually
dropped before adding a suffix beginning
with a vowel -able
It is not so easy to predict when a final e should
be dropped before adding the suffix -able.
Generally speaking, this is more common in American English.
In some cases it is optional: e.g. likable or likeable
Generally speaking, this is more common in American English.
In some cases it is optional: e.g. likable or likeable
Words ending in -ce and -ge usually
keep their e to clarify the pronunciation of a preceding consonantal
sound:
noticeable, peaceable, knowledgeable, manageable
noticeable, peaceable, knowledgeable, manageable
The final e is also retained for words ending in -ee:
agreeable, foreseeable
agreeable, foreseeable
-age
store > storage
acreage and mileage
Note that linage and lineage
are entirely different words.
-ed clone > cloned
-est cute > cutest
-ing dive > diving write >
writing
You must retain the e when it is
needed to distinguish meaning
(cf. dying & dyeing or singing & singeing). Sometimes the e is kept to clarify pronunciation of a preceding consonantal sound (e.g. ageing).
(cf. dying & dyeing or singing & singeing). Sometimes the e is kept to clarify pronunciation of a preceding consonantal sound (e.g. ageing).
American English seems to be less particular about this (aging).
The final e is also kept for words
ending in -ee, -oe, or -ye:
fleeing, canoeing, eyeing -ous
fleeing, canoeing, eyeing -ous
fame > famous pore
> porous
Words ending in -ge keep their e
to clarify the pronunciation of a preceding consonantal sound:
advantageous, courageous For words ending in -ce this final e becomes an i:
space > spacious
advantageous, courageous For words ending in -ce this final e becomes an i:
space > spacious
-y ice > icy bone
> bony
The final e is not dropped before
adding the suffix -y if the preceding letter is u:
gluey (but note gluier). Note also pricey and spacey.
gluey (but note gluier). Note also pricey and spacey.
Remember that holy and holey
are very different words!
-ed stop > stopped admit
> admitted
In the following cases the stress in the final syllable
is secondary:
kidnap > kidnapped program > programmed
kidnap > kidnapped program > programmed
The consonants h, w, x and y
are never doubled (e.g. affix > affixing), and neither are silent
consonants found in words of foreign origin:
crochet > crocheting;
ricochet > ricocheting.
crochet > crocheting;
ricochet > ricocheting.
-er big > bigger
-ing begin > beginning refer
> referring
-ish red > reddish
ante- or
anti- ?
Choose the prefix ante- if
your word has connotations of before or ahead, and anti-
if it means opposite or against
if it means opposite or against
ante- does
not usually have to be followed by a hyphen:
antecedent, antedate, antenatal, anteroom
antecedent, antedate, antenatal, anteroom
Even with anti- most words require no
hyphenation:
antibiotic, anticlockwise, anticyclone, antidepressant, antifreeze
antibiotic, anticlockwise, anticyclone, antidepressant, antifreeze
anti- is always followed by a hyphen before an i or a capital letter to avoid a vowel
clash::
anti-inflammatory anti-French anti-aircraft fire, anti-establishment, anti-government, anti-gravity, anti-personnel mines, etc.
anti-inflammatory anti-French anti-aircraft fire, anti-establishment, anti-government, anti-gravity, anti-personnel mines, etc.
fore-
or for- ?
Choose the prefix fore- if your word has the meaning of before or ahead; otherwise you need for-
Choose the prefix fore- if your word has the meaning of before or ahead; otherwise you need for-
forefather, foresight, forecast, forerunner,
foreshadow, forestall, foretaste, foretell, forewarn, etc.
forbid, forfeit, forget, forgive, forgo, forlorn,
forsake, forswear, etc.
-able or -ible ?
The suffix –able is far
more common than -ible
Most roots, including all modern ones, add -able:
drink > undrinkable read > readable wash > washable
drink > undrinkable read > readable wash > washable
You'll find -ible only in a few old
words that are derived directly from (or modeled on) Latin:
flex > flexible comprehend > comprehensible respond
> responsible
Lat. edere (to eat) > edible
Lat. edere (to eat) > edible
-ance or -ence & -ant or -ent ?
Here we present a few useful rules for when
to add the suffixes -ance or -ence and -ant
or -ent.
However, because these rules are not 100% reliable, it's safest to consult a dictionary!
However, because these rules are not 100% reliable, it's safest to consult a dictionary!
-ance is
always added to a hard c or g:
elegance, significance.
If the preceding c or g is soft choose -ence:
innocence, intelligence.
elegance, significance.
If the preceding c or g is soft choose -ence:
innocence, intelligence.
Note the unique spellings of allegiance and vengeance
If other forms of the word end in an a-suffix,
then your choice is likely to be -ance/-ant:
dominate > dominance ignoramus > ignorant vigilante > vigilance violate > violence Verbs ending in -ear, -ure and -y have noun forms ending in -ance:
appear > appearance endure > endurance defy > defiance
dominate > dominance ignoramus > ignorant vigilante > vigilance violate > violence Verbs ending in -ear, -ure and -y have noun forms ending in -ance:
appear > appearance endure > endurance defy > defiance
Verbs ending in -ere will have
noun-forms ending in -ence:
interfere > interference persevere > perseverance
interfere > interference persevere > perseverance
The core syllables -cid-, -fid-,
-sid-, -vid-, -flu-, -qu- and -sist- are usually
followed by -ence:
incidence, confidence, subsidence, evidence, influence, consequence, insistence
incidence, confidence, subsidence, evidence, influence, consequence, insistence
assistance,
resistance
To form nouns from verbs ending in a stressed
-er or -ur, add -ence:
confer > conference concur > concurrence
confer > conference concur > concurrence
(Note here the typical doubling of the r in a stressed syllable before the addition of a suffix beginning with a vowel.)
To form nouns from verbs ending in an
unstressed -er, add -ance:
utter > utterance hinder > hindrance differ > difference
utter > utterance hinder > hindrance differ > difference
-ce or -se ?
During centuries of separation from the
motherland, American English retained the
original -se ending in
certain words borrowed from French.
British English modified it to -ce
AmE: defense, license (noun & verb), offense, pretense,
vise (tool)
BrE: defence, licence (noun form only [cf. to license]), offence, pretence,
vice
Note that even in British English any related
adjectives have to be spelt with an s:
defensive, offensive
defensive, offensive
Note from the example of licence/license
above that British English, perhaps under the influence of advice (n.)
and to advise, sometimes utilizes -ce/-se to help distinguish
between a noun and a verb:
-ch or -tch ?
Choose -ch if it is to be preceded by either a consonant or two vowels.
If it is to be preceded by a single vowel,
you need -tch filch, bench, church approach, touch, coach
Choose -ch if it is to be preceded by either a consonant or two vowels.
If it is to be preceded by a single vowel,
you need -tch filch, bench, church approach, touch, coach
One exception to this rule, namely the letter
h:
aitch catch, fetch, watch
aitch catch, fetch, watch
A handful of very common words are exceptions
to this rule and so you should try to memorize them:
attach, detach,
enrich, much, rich, sandwich, spinach, such,
which
-ction or -xion ?
The ending –ction is far
more common than -xion
reaction, reduction, etc. -xion is
only found in a few words like complexion, crucifixion, effluxion,
flexion, fluxion, prefixion, retroflexion and transfixion
connection, deflection, inflection, reflection In BrE only, you
may come across the following variants:
connexion, deflexion, inflexion and reflexion.
connexion, deflexion, inflexion and reflexion.
-er or -or ?
The ending –er is far more
common than -or
-er is added to most verbs (and certainly all modern ones)
for someone or something that performs an activity:
player, baker, singer,etc.
player, baker, singer,etc.
A few -er nouns are created
from nouns or adjectives:
law > lawyer prison > prisoner foreign > foreigner
law > lawyer prison > prisoner foreign > foreigner
a resistor is an electronic component. -or is found
in words of French or classical origin: mayor, donor. Many end in -ator,
-itor, -ctor, -essor and -utor:
curator, auditor, director, professor, tutor
curator, auditor, director, professor, tutor
-ise or -ize ?
The verbal suffix –ize is
far more common than -ise
criticize,
demoralize, realize, vandalize
In BrE, under the influence of
neighboring French, the -ise ending is a widespread alternative, but if
chosen it should be used consistently: criticise,
demoralise, realise, vandalise, etc.
-or or -our ?
Words of primarily French origin ending in -our in British English end in –or in American English BrE: colour, favour, honour
Words of primarily French origin ending in -our in British English end in –or in American English BrE: colour, favour, honour
AmE: color, favor, honor
British English also often uses -or:
error,
terror, stupor
Note that even British English drops the u
before the addition of a suffix to certain words:
vapour > vaporize; honour > honorific/honorary
vapour > vaporize; honour > honorific/honorary
-re or -er ?
While British English retains the -re ending in words of French origin,
American English generally prefers -er
While British English retains the -re ending in words of French origin,
American English generally prefers -er
BrE: centre, metre, theatre
AmE: center, meter, theater
-yse or -yze ?
The verbal suffix -yse is British and -yze is American
The verbal suffix -yse is British and -yze is American
BrE: analyse, paralyse
AmE: analyze, paralyze
-ae/oe
or -e ?
ae and oe in words of Greek or Latin origin are retained in British English and replaced
with a simple e in American English
ae and oe in words of Greek or Latin origin are retained in British English and replaced
with a simple e in American English
BrE: archaeology, gynaecology, haemoglobin, diarrhoea,
foetus, oesophagus
AmE:
archeology,
gynecology, hemoglobin, diarrhea, fetus, esophagus
Even in British English there is a slow trend
toward simplification: For example, the form encyclopedia is now much more
common than encyclopaedia.
-ie- or -ei- ?
In the case of 'ee' /i:/ sounds i goes
before e except after c
believe,
chief, siege ceiling, receive, deceit
Beware of words that have varied
pronunciation:
either, neither, heinous
either, neither, heinous
Some common names: Keith, Sheila,
Neil, Madeira
Latin words like species Others: caffeine, protein, inveigle, seize,
weird
q_?
q is almost invariably followed by u quack, quality, queen, question, quiz, quote Acronyms & non-English words: Qantas (Australian Airline),
Al Qaeda (Islamist terror franchise), Qatar (Gulf state), etc.
q is almost invariably followed by u quack, quality, queen, question, quiz, quote Acronyms & non-English words: Qantas (Australian Airline),
Al Qaeda (Islamist terror franchise), Qatar (Gulf state), etc.
alright / all right all right is widely regarded as the
correct form
already / all ready
Are you all ready to leave? It's already
8 o'clock. altogether /
all together There are altogether two occasions per year when the
family are all together.
anyone / any one Anyone can use the library
and borrow any one of 10,000 books.
cannot / can not cannot is the correct form in British
English, while can not is generally preferred in American English. Note
that even BrE sometimes allows you to use can not for emphasis:
She can not only speak French but
German too!
sometime / some time
She'll do it sometime when she gets some
time.
Rule
#1: “I before E except after C”;
This rule, designed to help us
remember how to spell words such as receive and chief, seems so
promising in its simplicity at first.
- achieve,
believe, bier, brief, hygiene, grief, thief, friend, grieve, chief, fiend,
patience, pierce, priest
- ceiling, conceive, deceive,
perceive, receipt,
receive, deceit,
conceit
Rule
#2: “Dropping Final E”
When adding an ending to a word
that ends with a silent e, drop the final e if the ending begins
with a vowel:
- advancing
- surprising
However, if the ending begins with
a consonant, keep the final e:
- advancement
- likeness
Rule
#3: “Dropping Final Y”
When adding an ending to a word
that ends with y, change the y to i when it is preceded by
a consonant.
- supply
becomes supplies
- worry
becomes worried
- merry
becomes merrier
This does not apply to the ending -ing,
however.
- crying
- studying
Nor does it apply when the final y
is preceded by a vowel.
- obeyed
- saying
Rule
#4: “Doubling Final Consonants”
When adding an ending to a word
that ends in a consonant, we double that consonant in many situations. First,
we have to determine the number of syllables in the word.
submit
submitting, submitted.
flap
flapped
Rule
#5: “Adding Prefixes”
- unnecessary,
dissatisfied, disinterested, misinform
Changing a Final Y to I
Change a final y to i
before a suffix, unless the suffix begins with i.
EXAMPLES:
defy + ance = defiance party + es = parties pity + ful = pitiful
try + es = tries try + ing = trying copy + ing = copying
occupy + ing = occupying
COMMON EXCEPTIONS: journeying, memorize
EXAMPLES:
defy + ance = defiance party + es = parties pity + ful = pitiful
try + es = tries try + ing = trying copy + ing = copying
occupy + ing = occupying
COMMON EXCEPTIONS: journeying, memorize
Doubling a Final
Consonant
Double a final single consonant
before a suffix beginning with a vowel when both of these conditions
exist:
(a) a single vowel precedes the consonant;
(b) the consonant ends an accented syllable or a one-syllable word.
(a) a single vowel precedes the consonant;
(b) the consonant ends an accented syllable or a one-syllable word.
EXAMPLES:
stop + ing = stopping admit + ed = admitted occur + ence = occurrence
stoop + ing = stooping benefit + ed = benefited delight + ful = delightful
