While spelling used to be taught via simple memorization, experts now believe that understanding key

spelling rules is the best way to master new words.

Rules help you learn new spelling words in several different ways. For example:

They take the mystery out of spelling by demonstrating patterns among seemingly unrelated words.

They show connections between unfamiliar words and words you already know.

They help you identify specific speech patterns that can offer clues as to how a word is spelled.

They explain how new words are built using prefixes and suffixes.

Basic Spelling Rules

One of the most common spelling rules taught to elementary students is "I before E, except after C, unless it
says A as in neighbor and weigh." However, there are a number of other rules that you can use to help
decode the spelling of an unfamiliar word. For example:

The letter Q is always followed by U. In this case, the U is not considered to be a vowel.

The letter S never follows X.

To spell a short vowel sound, only one letter is needed. Examples of this rule include at, red, it, hot,
and up.

Drop the E. When a word ends with a silent final E, it should be written without the E when adding
an ending that begins with a vowel. In this way, come becomes coming and hope becomes hoping.

When adding an ending to a word that ends with Y, change the Y to I if it is preceded by a consonant.
In this way, supply becomes supplies and worry becomes worried.

All, written alone, has two L's. When used as a prefix, however, only one L is written. Examples of
this rule include also and almost.

Generally, adding a prefix to a word does not change the correct spelling.

Words ending in a vowel and Y can add the suffix -ed or -ing without making any other change.
ENGLISH SPELLING RULES
Short and Long Vowels

1. To spell a short vowel sound, only one letter is needed:

at

red

it

hot

up

2. To spell a long sound you must add a second vowel. The second may be next to the first, in the VVC pattern (boat,
maid, cue, etc.) or it may be separated from the first one by a consonant in the VCV pattern (made, ride, tide, etc.). If
the second vowel is separated from the first by two spaces, it does not affect the first one. This is the VCCV pattern in
which the first vowel remains short. Thus, doubling a consonant can be called "protecting" a short vowel because it
prevents an incoming vowel from getting close enough to the first one to change its sound from short to long:
maid, made, but madder;

dine, diner, but dinner.

Spelling the Sound /k/

This sound can be spelled in any one of four ways:
1. c

2. cc

3. k

4. ck

1. The single letter, c , is the most common spelling. It may be used anywhere in a word:
cat
scat

corn
actor
bacon public

victim direct
cactus inflict

mica
pecan

2. Sometimes the letter c must be doubled to cc to protect the sound of a short vowel:
stucco
Mecca
occupy

baccalaureate
tobacco
raccoon

hiccups
buccaneer
succulent

3. The letter k is substituted for c if /k/ is followed by an e, i, or y.

kin
skin

make
token

sketch
skill

poker
keep

kind
liking

risky
flaky

(Boring examples? How about kyphosis, kylix, keratosis, and dyskinesia?)

4. Similarly, the spelling ck, is substituted for cc if the following letter is an e, i, or y:
lucky
blackest
Kentucky

picking
mackintosh
picnicking

rocking
frolicked
stocking

finicky
ducking
Quebecker

5. The letters, k and ck are more than substitutes for c and cc. They are used to spell /k/ at the end of a
monosyllable. The digraph, ck, ALWAYS follows a short vowel:
sack

duck

lick

stick

wreck

clock

(Forget about yak. Your student will never need it.)

The letter, k, follows any other sound:
milk
tank

soak
peek

make
bike

bark
cork

tusk

hawk

duke

perk

The Sound, /j/

The sound, /j/ is spelled in three ways: j ge and dge.
1. The letter j is usually used if the sound if followed by an a, o, or u.
just
jam
jungle injure major adjacent
jog
jar
Japan jury
job
Benjamin
adjust jacket jolly
jaguar jump jalousie

2. Since the letter g has the soft sound of /j/ when it is followed by an e, i, or y, it is usually used in this situation:
gentle
Egyptologist

ginger
gem

aging
origin

algebra
gym

2. If /j/ follows a short vowel sound, it is usually spelled with dge. This is because the letter j, is never doubled in
English.
badge

ridge

dodge

partridge

gadget

judge

edge

smudge

judgement

budget

The Sound, /ch/

The sound /ch/ has two spellings: tch after a short vowel, ch anywhere else:
witch

sketch

botch

satchel

catch

hatchet

kitchen

escutcheon

Exceptions:
Which, rich, much, such, touch, bachelor, attach, sandwich, and ostrich.
The Sound, /kw/
This sound is ALWAYS spelled with the letters, qu, never anything else.
Using -le
Words ending in -le, such as little, require care. If the vowel sound is short, there must be two consonants between

the vowel and the -le. Otherwise, one consonant is enough.

bugle

li tt le

ha nd le

ti ck le

a mp le

bo tt le

pu zz le

cru mb le

a ng le

able

poodle

dawdle

needle

idle

people

Odds and Ends

1. The consonants, v, j, k, w, and x are never doubled.
2. No normal English words ends with the letter v. A final /v/ is always spelled with ve, no matter what the preceding
vowel sound may be:
have
receive

give
love

sleeve
connive

cove
brave

Adding Endings
There are two kinds of suffixes, those that begin with a vowel and those that begin with a consonant. As usual, the
spelling problems occur with the vowels:

- - - age
- - - ant
- - -ance
- - - al
- - -ism
- - -able

Vowel Suffixes
- - -ist
- - - ish
- - -ing
- - -ar
- - -o
- - -on

- - -an

- - -ous

---a

- - -or

- - -es

- - -ual

- - -ed

- - -unt

- - -er

- - -um

- - -est

- - -us

- - -y

- - -ive

Consonant Suffixes
- - - ness
- - - cess
- - -less
- - -ment
- - -ly
- - -ty
- - -ful
- - -ry
- - -hood
- - -ward
- - -wise

1. Words that end in the letter y must have the y changed to i before adding any suffix:
body - bodily
many - manifold
happy - happiness
beauty - beautiful
company - companion

marry - marriage
family - familiar
puppy - puppies
vary - various
fury - furious

plenty - plentiful

merry - merriment

2. In words that end in a silent e you must drop it before you add a vowel suffix. The silent e is no longer needed to
make the preceding vowel long as the incoming vowel will do the trick:
ride - riding
fame famous

cure - curable use - usual

refuse force - forcing
refusal

pure - purity

ice - icicle

nose - nosy

globe - global race - racist

pole - polar

age - aging
slice - slicing
convince convincing
offense - offensive

3. Words that end in an accented short or modified vowel sound must have the final consonant doubled to protect
that sound when you add a vowel suffix:
Quebec - Quebecker
upset - upsetting

remit - remittance
shellac - shellacking

confer - conferring
occur - occurred

refer - referred
concur- concurrent

Note that this doubling is not done if the accent is not on the last syllable. If the word ends in a schwa, there is no
need to "protect" it.
open - opening
focus - focused

organ - organize
refer - referee

4. Normally you drop a silent e before adding a vowel suffix. However, if the word ends in -ce or -ge and the incoming
vowel is an a, o, or u, you cannot cavalierly toss out that silent e. It is not useless: it is keeping its left-hand letter soft,
and your a, o, or u will not do that. Thus:
manage - manageable
courage - courageous
surge - surgeon
notice - noticeable

peace - peaceable
revenge - vengeance
change - changeable
outrage - outrageous

Gorgeous George bludgeoned a pigeon noticeably! Tsk.

5. Adding consonant suffixes is easy. You just add them. (Of course you must change a final y to i before you add any
suffix.)
peace - peaceful
pity - pitiful

harm - harmless
child - childhood

age - ageless
rifle - riflery

/sh/
When this sound occurs before a vowel suffix, it is spelled ti, si, or ci.
partial
special

cautious
deficient

patient
suspicion

vacation
suction

inertia
musician
electrician

delicious
physician
nutrition

ratio
optician
statistician

pension
quotient
expulsion

/ee/ before a vowel suffix

When /ee/ precedes a vowel suffix, it is usually spelled with the letter i:
Indian
ingredient

obvious
zodiac

medium
material

Spelling Determined by Word Meaning

1. Mist and missed sound alike, as do band and banned. To determine the spelling, remember that -ed is a past-tense
tending.

a. The mist drifted into the harbor.

b. I nearly missed my bus.
c. The movie was banned in Boston.
d. The band played on.
2. The endings of dentist and finest sound alike. Deciding which one to use can be tricky. One rule helps but doesn't
cover all cases:

a. --ist is a suffix meaning someone who does something:

artist

- machinist

- druggist

b. --est is the ending used on superlative adjectives:

finest

- sweetest

- longest

3. The sounds at the end of musician and condition sound alike. but....

a. cian always means a person, where...

b. tion or sion are never used for people.
4. How do you tell whether to use tion or sion?

a. If the root word ends in /t/, use -tion: complete, completion

b. If the root word ends in /s/ or /d/, use sion: extend, extension
suppress, suppression

c. If the sound of the last syllable is the "heavy" sound of /zhun/ rather than the light sound, /shun/, use s:
confusion, vision, adhesion

Exception: The ending, --mit becomes -mission:

permit - permission

omit - omission

submit - submission

commit - commission

The Hiss
1. The letter s between vowels sounds like a z:
nose
present
preside

result
partisan
resound

noise
tease
reserve

2. The light "hissy" sound is spelled with either ss or ce. Predictably, ss, like any proper doubled consonant, follows
accented short vowels. Soft c is used anywhere else. (A soft c is one that is followed by e, i, or y).
notice
recent
essence

reticent
gossip
vessel

massive
russet
discuss

bicycle
rejoice
pass

3. The plural ending is always spelled with a single letter s unless you can hear a new syllable on the plural word. In
that case, use -es:
loss, losses

bank, banks

twitch, twitches

box, boxes

list, lists

judge, judges

tree, trees

No compendium of spelling rules would be complete with the most important rule of all:
WHEN IN DOUBT, ASK (or look it up)
But ask first - it's quicker.