Word rules for spelling

Teaching English spelling is a daunting challenge, especially to the kids. A lot of it has to do with the mismatching correlation between the spellings and the pronunciations.

For example, let’s consider the word “knee.” It might sound like “nee” but it spelling suggests something like “kuh – nee!”

We, adults, are already familiar with unusual spellings — we know that there’ a silent K in knife and knee. But kids are only getting to know these rules and laws.

So today, we would try to talk about some of the established spelling rules.

How Many Spelling Rules Are There in the English Language?

You should understand one thing — there is no fixed number of hard and fast rules when it comes to English spelling. Linguistic experts have only identified and categorized some spelling patterns.

That’s why you’re seeing different numbers online!

Some are preaching 5 Spelling rules, some talk about 31 spelling rules, and so on. Also, the English language has its fair share of exceptions when comes to spelling grammar.

How so?

There is a common spelling rule that says English words don’t end in I. If that’s true, what about the words — alumni, broccoli, or graffiti? Some may argue that these words are originated from other languages.

True! But it’s also true that the English language has picked these words.

As we’re talking about exceptions, let’s talk about the doubling consonant issue. Some suggest that while adding suffixes, like -ed or -ing after a verb, you should double the final consonant.

Thus, refer becomes referred, or incur becomes incurring following this rule.

Nice! Oh wait, there’s an issue!

What about enter?

It doesn’t become enterred or enterring! Rather, it becomes entered or entering.

This why many experts refrain from making every spelling pattern a rule. And, that’s why we don’t have a fixed of spelling rules in the English language.

So, while studying the English spelling rules, you should always keep in mind that — rules are made to be broken!

But mastering the common spelling rules will help the language users in many ways. You can stop yourself from making common and silly mistakes.

7 Basic Spelling Rules for Kids

1. Every Syllable (And Word) Must Have One Vowel

Example: It, cat, old — all have a vowel.

2. I, E, or Y Changes the Sound of C to /s/

The letter C has two sounds — /s/ or /k/. If C is followed by I, E, or Y, it sounds like /s/. in all other cases, it sounds like /k/.

Example: City, cement, and cyber (C followed by I, E, or Y) have the /s/ sound — but cold, catch, or cool has the /k/ sound.  

3. I, E, or Y Changes the Sound of G to /j/

Similar to the previous rule, the letter G has two sounds — /g/ or /j/. So, if G is followed by I, E, or Y, it sounds like /j/. Otherwise, it has the /g/ sound.

Example: Gist, gem, and gyro (G followed by I, E, or Y) have the /j/ sound — but game, get, or good has the /g/ sound. 

4. Q and U Are Used in Pairs! (Has Exceptions)

The letter Q is almost always paired with the letter U in the English language. So, blindly put a U after every time you spell anything with a Q.

Example: Queen, Quit, Quite, Quill — all of these words have Q and U paired together.

Exceptions: faqir, cinq, qi – these words don’t follow the QU pairing rule. However, all of these words have different etymological roots.

5. -CK Is Used Only After a Short Vowel

There two ways to create the sound /k/ at the end of the words — using -CK or -K. Which one should you use?

Remember one thing — -CK is used only after a short vowel!

So, after short vowels, that sound like — -ah, -eh, -ih, -oh, and -uh, you’ll use -CK. But we use -K after long vowels.  

Example: Sack, deck, pick, rock, buck — these words have at the end -CK as there are short vowels. But words like meek, milk, book, hook — these words have -K at the end.

6. F, L, And S Doubles at the End of Mono-Syllable Words

Mono-syllable or one-syllable words are the words with one vowel. Now, if such a mono-syllable word ends with the letters F, L, or S, they become double!

Example: Riff, spell, fuss — are mono-syllable words ending with F, L, and S.

Exceptions: Bus, sis.

7. Capitalize Proper Nouns

Proper nouns, meaning the names of people, titles, places, or things must be capitalized.

Example: Jerry, Tom, President, London, Bitcoin — these proper nouns have capital letters in the beginning.

Are you looking for a spelling baseline assessment? Here’s a guide that discusses everything revolving around the topic with a convenient way for conducting one. 

5 Spelling Rule for Adults

1. I Before E, Except After C [*Not A Rule but A Spelling Tip!]

This is perhaps one of the most well-known spelling rules of the English language. And, there is a strong reason behind this. Despite the age, a large portion of English users often get confused with the IE or EI issue.

Let’s be honest, even you got confused while spelling words like believe or receive without any auto-correct tool.

So, the extended version of this spelling rule goes like this — I before E, except after C, or sounds like A.

That makes everything simple, write?

Despite having a three-layer guideline, there a number of words that don’t follow this spelling pattern. For example, weird, foreign, or leisure don’t follow the spelling pattern.

Example: Field, believe, lie, piece — I before E. Receive, ceiling, deceit — uses EI as there is a C. Neighbor, beige, weigh — sounds like A so EI is used.

Exceptions: As we said earlier, this is one of the spelling tips, not a concrete rule. There is a long list of exceptions to this spelling tip. This list should help you out (try to memorize them if you can) —

Exceptions of the I before E, except after C rule
Seize	Weird
Height	Foreign
Leisure	Conscience
Counterfeit	Forfeit
Neither	Science
Species	Sufficient

2. Spelling Rules for Adding Suffixes After the Words Ending with Y

Words ending with Y change in different ways as you add suffixes to them. So, we’d break this one rule multiple layers —

2(A). e-Based Suffixes (-er, -est, -ed, -es) Change the Y to I

Example: Cry > cried (-ed), dry > dried (-ed), baby > babies (-es), story > stories (-es), ugly > uglier (-er) > ugliest (-est).

2(B). -ing Suffix Doesn’t Change The Y

Example: Cry > crying, dry > drying, fry > frying.

2(C). -ly Suffix Changes the Y to I

Example: Happy > happily, merry > merrily, sloppy > sloppily, scary > scarily.  

Exceptions: Dry > dryly, shy > shyly.   

2(D). -ment Suffix Doesn’t Change the Y

Example: Employ > employment, enjoy > enjoyment, repay > repayment, deploy > deployment.

Exception: Merry > merriment.

3. Spelling Rules for Plural Nouns (-s or -es?)

This is another confusing spelling issue for the adults. Should we be using -s or -es for nouns?

Follow this one rule — add -es for words ending with -s, -sh, -x, -z, or -ch.

Everything else uses -s.

Example: Boss > bosses, dish > dishes, box > boxes, batch > batches — has -s, -sh, -x, -ch in the end. Monkey > monkeys, boy > boys.

Exceptions for the Spellings of Plural Nouns (Ending with -es or -s)
Singular	Plural
Mango	Mango/Mangoes (both are correct!)
Tomato	Tomatoes
Dwarf	Dwarves/Dwarfs (both are correct)
Knife	Knives
Wife	Wives
Embargo	Embargoes
Torpedo	Torpedoes
Volcano	Volcanos/Volcanoes (both are correct)
Echo	Echos/Echoes (both are correct)

4. Only Use Double Consonant While Adding Suffix for One-Syllable Words

There are many arguments regarding whether to use double consonant or not while adding the -ed or -ing suffixes.

To be on the safer side, you should only double the ending consonant for one-syllable words.

Example: Gut > gutted, rub > rubbed, rob > robbing, mop > mopping.

Exceptions: Burn > burning.  

5. Drop the Silent E in the End While Adding a Vowel Suffix

A lot of English words have silent E in the end. As you add a suffix, this silent E gets dropped.

Example: Bite > biting, care > cared, race > racing, come > coming.  

Expectations: Noticeable, truly.

Common misconceptions and False spelling rules

Many sources strongly enforce different spelling rules that are baseless and can easily be debunked. Here are some of these false spelling rules —

1. No English word has double I in it!

Proof that it’s false: Radii, skiing, shiitake.

2. English words don’t end in I, U, V, or J.

Proof that it’s false: Hi (ends in I), Emu (ends in U), Rev (ends in V), Hajj (ends in J)  

3. Consonant suffixes don’t the spelling.

Proof that it’s false: Argue > argument, judge > judgment/judgement (both are correct).

4. The silent E in the end always gets dropped while adding a suffix.

Proof that it’s false: Mile > mileage, canoe > canoeing.

5. In a compound word (room and mate form roommate, house and keeper form housekeeper), spellings of the separate words always remain unchanged.

Proof that it’s false: Past + time > pastime, where + ever > wherever.

Published October 7, 2015

You can teach yourself to be a better speller. It is important to realize that learning to spell is a process that is never complete. Spelling is something that everyone has to pay attention to and keep working at it.

Basic spelling rules

• Short-Vowel Rule: When one-syllable words have a vowel in the middle, the vowel usually has a short sound. Examples: cat, dog, man, hat, mom, dad, got. If the letter after the vowel is f, l, or s, this letter is often doubled. Examples: staff, ball, pass.
• Two-Vowels Together: When two vowels are next to each other, the first vowel is usually long (the sound is the same as the sound of the letter) and the second vowel is silent. Examples: meat, seat, plain, rain, goat, road, lie, pie.
• Vowel-Consonant-e Pattern: When a short word, or the last syllable of a longer word, ends in this pattern vowel-consonant-e, then the first vowel is usually long and the e is silent. Examples: place, cake, mice, vote, mute.
• Y as a long I: The letter y makes the long sound of i when it comes at the end of a short word that has no other vowel. Examples: cry, try, my, fly, by, hi.
• Y as a long E: When y or ey ends a word in an unaccented syllable, the y has the long sound of e. Examples: money, honey, many, key, funny.
• I before E: Write i before e when the sound is long e except after the letter c. Examples: relieve, relief, reprieve. When there is a c preceding, then it is ei : receipt, receive, ceiling, deceive, conceive.
• E before I: Write e before i when the sound is long a. Examples: weight, freight, reign. Another way to remember this is: “I before e except after c, or when sounding like a as in neighbor and weigh.” When the ie/ei combination is not pronounced ee, it is usually spelled ei.
• Oi or Oy: Use oi in the middle of a word and use oy at the end of a word. Examples: boil, soil, toil, boy, toy.
• Ou or Ow: Use ou in the middle of a word and use ow at the end of words other than those that end in n or d. Examples: mouse, house, found, mount, borrow, row, throw, crow.
• Double Consonants: When b, d, g, m, n, or p appear after a short vowel in a word with two syllables, double the consonant. Examples: rabbit, manner, dagger, banner, drummer.
• The ch sound: At the beginning of a word, use ch. At the end of a word, use tch. When the ch sound is followed by ure or ion, use t. Examples: choose, champ, watch, catch, picture, rapture.

Suffix and inflection rules

• Words ending with a silent e: Drop the e before adding a suffix which begins with a vowel: state, stating; like, liking.
• Keep the e when the suffix begins with a consonant: state, statement; use, useful.
• 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 y: beauty, beautiful; fry, fries; lady, ladies.
• When forming the plural of a word which ends with a y that is preceded by a vowel, add s: toy, toys; monkey, monkeys.
• When a one-syllable word ends in a consonant preceded by one vowel, double the final consonant before adding a suffix which begins with a vowel. This is also called the 1-1-1 rule, i.e., one syllable, one consonant, one vowel! Example: bat, batted, batting, batter.
• When a multi-syllable word ends in a consonant preceded by one vowel, and the final syllable is accented, the same rule holds true—double the final consonant. Examples: control, controlled; begin, beginning.
• When the final syllable does not have the end-accent, it is preferred, and in some cases required, that you NOT double the consonant. Examples: focus, focused; worship, worshiped.

I am not crazy about maths, but rules and formulas make mastery easy! That is why we are providing you with English spelling rules. By creating patterns amongst words, you can learn the logic of English spelling rules.

However, nothing is set in stone because the English language has words borrowed from other languages and is constantly adopting new ones. While this article cannot be considered the formula book for English spelling, it does provide you with basic rules to build from. Read on to learn ten Basic English spelling rules that will make mastering the language more accessible.

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italki does not have pre-prepared lessons, quizzes, and the like. Learners have the liberty to instantly connect with professional teachers online and get over their fear of speaking English. Once that is done, they can send their chosen instructor guidelines about what they want to learn and what areas of the language they want to pay more attention to.

In addition, you get the chance to practice your spelling with other learners and language enthusiasts on the app, thanks to its dual purpose as a social media application. By freely interacting with other learners and professional teachers, you can learn the spelling of new words and words that you may have found problematic.

Pros

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10 Basic English spelling rules

1.     Add apostrophes where letters are removed

Contracted word forms pose a challenge for English learners. Knowing where to place an apostrophe is critical to spelling the word correctly. The rule is to place apostrophes in the spot where there is a missing letter(s). For example, the term “cannot” become “can’t.” The apostrophe replaces the missing “n,’ and “o.” English learners may sometimes make the mistake of adding the apostrophe after the last letter of the word, e.g., “cant’” which is wrong.

2.     End single syllabus words with double F’s and L’s

The spelling rule is that in words with single-syllable words that end with the consonants “F” or “L,” the consonants should be double. Some examples of those words include “still,” “cliff,” etc. However, there is an exception to this rule. When spelling words that end with a consonant blend, the “F” or “L’ should not be doubled. For example, scarf, whirl, etc.

3.     Every syllable includes a vowel

Here’s a cheat code: every syllable of a word must include at least one vowel. This rule can be beneficial when spelling long words with multiple syllables. For single-syllable words, there is usually only one short vowel sound. When spelling words with several syllables, say the words aloud to identify each syllable, then compare them with your spelling to ensure that you have written the right thing.

4.     I before E except after C (most of the time)

Belief or beleif? Receive or recieve? This is tricky. Even native speakers have a problem mastering the correct spelling of these words. It will help if you master the spelling rule, which says to place “I” before the letter “E” if the two vowels are next. However, if the preceding consonant is c, the rule is reversed; “E” comes before “I.”

If you want to test your language skills, you can click here to do the language assessment.

5.     If a word ends in Y, keep all letters when adding a suffix

If the stem of the term you want to modify ends with a vowel and then a Y, add the suffix without changing the word. Words such as Jockey become “jockeying” in the present continuous tense and “jockeyed” in the past tense. Since the letter Y follows the vowel “e,” the word is not modified.

6.     Omit a silent E before adding a suffix

In American English, the English spelling rule omits the silent E before adding a suffix that begins with a vowel. Words such as “bake” become “baking” when this rule applies. However, this is not the same for British English. This formula does not apply to every situation. Below are exceptions:

• The suffix Y is unique. You may need to memorize the spelling of particular words rather than using a rule. The term “shine” becomes “shiny,” but the word “dice” becomes “dicey.”
• When adding the suffix –able, do not remove the silent E as “manageable.”
• Words that end with a double “e” are not modified before a suffix is added, e.g., “flee” becomes “fleeing.”

7.     S never follows X

People often confuse the “s” sound with the letter when spelling words like “excited.” The logic of the English rule is that S never follows X. To achieve the ‘s’ sound, the letter “C” is used. This is some bobby trap English learners seem to fall into. Well, not anymore!

8.     U always follows Q

You may be familiar with the words “queen,” “quite,” or “square.” What do you notice? U. always follows the letter Q; this is the rule in most cases. In such cases, the letter U is considered a vowel. While a few words do not follow this rule, they are hardly in use, and you may not run into them.

9.     Use –ck after a short vowel

Knowing when to use –ck and –k can be confusing for most English learners. They sound the same; how do we know the difference?! Here’s the rule; -ck follows a short vowel sound. For example: sick, quick, thick. A simple –k is used when the letter follows a long vowel sound or part of a consonant blend, as in peak or milk.

10. You can end 1-syllable words with two S’s

It is typical to have two S’s at the end of a one-syllable word, like pass, class, and bliss. However, there are many exceptions to this rule. By mastering the basics, you should know when to use what. The exceptions include the following:

• ‘This’ is an exception, with only one S at the end of the word.
• Words that have the /z/ sound are spelled with only one S at the end, e.g., was
• Three letter words below have only one S at the end as in yes, gas, etc.
• The plural forms of words that end with S do not take double S’s. for example, caps, hats, naps, etc
• If the present tense takes an S at the end, the S is not doubled.

Conclusion

Let’s wrap up. Spelling is an integral part of mastering the written language, and knowing these basic rules sets you off to a good start. Remember that –ck follows short vowel sounds; use an apostrophe to replace missing letters from a word, and every syllable contains at least one vowel sound. All of this can be a lot to remember, so why not get a professional teacher to help you out. Book lessons with italki today!