5

Checking Your Spelling

ESTABLISHING THE GROUND RULES

English spelling is not easy to learn. There are some rules
but often there are many exceptions to the rule. Some spell-
ings and pronunciation appear to be illogical. It is therefore
important that certain spellings are learnt.

Creating words
There are twenty-six letters in our alphabet. Five are vowels
and the rest are consonants. The vowels are A, E, I, O, U.
All words have to contain at least one vowel. (‘Y’ is
considered to be a vowel in words like ‘rhythm’ and
‘psychology’). Consonants are all the other letters that are
not vowels. So that a word can be pronounced easily, vowels
are placed between consonants. No more than three con-
sonants can be placed together. Below are two lists. The first
contains words with three consecutive consonants and in the
second are words with two consecutive consonants. The sets
of consonants are separated by vowels:

(a) Christian, chronic, school, scream, splash, through.

(b) add, baggage, commander, flap, grab, occasion.

Forming plurals
To form a plural word an ‘s’ is usually added to a noun. But
there are some exceptions.

53
54 / P A R T O N E : T H E B A S I C S

Changing ‘y’ to ‘i’

If a noun ends in ‘y’, and there is a consonant before it, a
plural is formed by changing the ‘y’ into an ‘i’ and adding
‘-es’:

berry – berries
company – companies
lady – ladies
nappy – nappies

If the ‘y’ is preceded by another vowel, an ‘s’ only is added:

covey – coveys
monkey – monkeys
donkey – donkeys

Adding ‘es’ or ‘s’

If a noun ends in ‘o’ and a consonant precedes the ‘o’, ‘-es’ is
added to form a plural:

hero – heroes
potato – potatoes
tomato – tomatoes

If there is a vowel before the ‘o’, an ‘s’ only is added:

patio – patios
studio – studios
zoo – zoos

It would be difficult to add an ‘s’ only to some words because

it would be impossible to pronounce them. These are words
that end in ‘ch’, ‘sh’, ‘s’, ‘x’ and ‘z’. In this case an ‘e’ has to
be added before the ‘s’:
 C H E C K I N G Y O U R S P E L L I N G / 55

brush – brushes
buzz – buzzes
church – churches
duchess – duchesses
fox – foxes

Changing the form of a verb

When a verb ends in ‘y’ and it is necessary to change the
tense by adding other letters, the ‘y’ is changed into an ‘i’
and ‘es’ or ‘ed’ is added.

He will marry her tomorrow.

He was married yesterday.

A dog likes to bury his bone.

A dog always buries his bone.

Using ‘long’ vowels and ‘short’ vowels

There is often a silent ‘e’ at the end of the word if the vowel
is ‘long’:

bite, date, dupe, hope, late.

Each of these words consists of one syllable (one unit of

sound). If another syllable is added, the ‘e’ is removed:

bite – biting
date – dating
hope – hoping
56 / P A R T O N E : T H E B A S I C S

If there is no ‘e’ at the end of a word, the vowel is usually

‘short’:

bit, hop, let

If a second syllable is added to these words, the consonant is

usually doubled:

bit – bitten
hop – hopping
let – letting

There are, of course, some exceptions. If the ‘e’ is preceded

by a ‘g’ or a ‘c’, the ‘e’ is usually retained. To remove it
would produce a ‘hard’ sound instead of a ‘soft’ one:

age – ageing
marriage – marriageable
service – serviceable

Adding ‘-ly’ to adjectives

When forming an adverb from an adjective, ‘ly’ (not ‘ley’) is
added. If there is a ‘y’ at the end of the adjective, it must be
changed to an ‘i’:

adjective adverb
beautiful beautifully
happy happily
quick quickly
slow slowly

If a word ends in ‘ic’, ‘-ally’ is added to it:

enthusiastic – enthusiastically
 C H E C K I N G Y O U R S P E L L I N G / 57

‘i’ before ‘e’ except after ‘c’

This rule seems to have been made to be broken. Some
words keep to it but others break it. Here are some that
follow the rule. All of them are pronounced ‘ee’ – as in
‘seed’.

no ‘C’ in front after ‘C’

grief ceiling
niece deceive
piece receive

Exceptions to this rule are:

either, neighbours, vein, neither, seize, weird

AVOIDING COMMON MISTAKES

Because some words do not follow any rules, there are many
words in the English language that are frequently misspelled.
These words have to be learnt. Following is a list of the most
common:

absence abysmal acquaint acquire

accept across address advertisement
aggravate already alleluia ancient
annual appearance archaeology arrangement
auxiliary awkward because beginning
believe beautiful business character
carcass centre ceiling cemetery
cellar chameleon choose collar
committee computer condemn conscious
daily deceive definitely demonstrative
description desperate develop diarrhoea
difference dining disappear disappoint
discipline desperate dissatisfied doctor
58 / P A R T O N E : T H E B A S I C S

doubt eerie eight eighth

embarrass empty encyclopaedia envelope
exaggerate exceed except exercise
excitement exhaust exhibition existence
familiar February fierce first
foreigner forty fortunately frightening
fulfil government glamorous gradually
grammar grief guard haemorrhage
haemorrhoids harass height honorary
humorous idea idle idol
immediately independent island jewellery
journey khaki knowledge label
laboratory labyrinth lacquer language
league leisure liaison lightning
lonely lovely maintenance massacre
metaphor miniature miscellaneous mischievous
miserably misspell museum necessary
neighbour neither niece ninth
noticeable occasion occur occurred
occurrence omit opportunity opposite
paid paraffin parallel particularly
playwright possess precede precious
preparation procedure preferred privilege
probably profession professor pronunciation
pursue questionnaire queue receipt
receive recognise restaurant rhyme
rhythm said schedule science
scissors secretary separate sergeant
similar simile sincerely skilful
spaghetti smoky strength subtle
succeed surprise suppress temporary
thief though tragedy tried
truly unnecessary until usage
usual vacuum vehicle vigorous
vicious wavy Wednesday watch
weird woollen womb yield
 C H E C K I N G Y O U R S P E L L I N G / 59

Looking at homophones
Some words that are pronounced in the same way are spelt
differently and have different meanings. They are called
homophones. Here are some examples:

air gaseous substance heir successor

aisle passage between seats isle land surrounded by
water
allowed permitted aloud audible
altar table at end of church alter change
bare naked bear an animal
bark sound dog makes barque sailing ship
covering of tree trunk
bow to bend head bough branch of tree
bread food made from flour bred past tense of breed
by at side of something buy purchase
bye a run in cricket
awarded by umpire
caught past tense of ‘catch’ court space enclosed by
buildings
cent monetary unit sent past tense of ‘send’
scent perfume
check sudden stop cheque written order to bank
to inspect to pay money
council an administrative body counsel to give advice
current water or air moving in currant dried fruit
a particular direction
ewe female sheep yew a tree
you second person
pronoun
dear loved; expensive deer animal
faint become unconscious feint to make a
diversionary move
herd a group of cattle heard past tense of ‘hear’
here in this place hear to be aware of sound
hole a cavity whole something complete
60 / P A R T O N E : T H E B A S I C S

idle lazy idol object of worship

know to have knowledge no opposite of yes
passed past tense of ‘pass’ past time gone by
to pass by
peace freedom from war piece a portion
peal a ring of bells peel rind of fruit
place particular area plaice a fish
poor opposite of rich pore tiny opening in skin
pour tip liquid out of
container
quay landing place for ships key implement for locking
rain water from clouds reign monarch’s rule
rein lead for controlling
horse
sail sheet of material on sale noun from the verb
a ship ‘to sell’
to travel on water
sea expanse of salt water see to have sight of
seam place where two pieces seem to appear to be
of material are joined
sew stitches made by sow to plant seeds
needle and thread so indicating extent of
something
sole fish soul spirit
underneath of foot
some a particular group sum the total
son male offspring sun source of light
stake wooden stave steak cooked meat
suite furniture sweet confectionary dessert
piece of music
tail end of animal tale story
threw hurled through pass into one side and
out of the other
tire to become weary tyre rubber covering on a
wheel
 C H E C K I N G Y O U R S P E L L I N G / 61

to in direction of too as well or excessively

two the number
vain conceited vein vessel in body for
carrying blood
vane weathercock
waist middle part of body waste rubbish or
uncultivated land
weather atmospheric conditions whether introduces an
alternative

Checking more homophones

‘Their’, ‘there’ and ‘they’re’
‘Their’ is a possessive adjective. It is placed before the noun
to show ownership:

That is their land.

‘There’ is an adverb of place indicating where something is:

There is the house on stilts.

‘They’re’ is an abbreviation of ‘they are’. The ‘a’ has been

replaced with an apostrophe:

They’re emigrating to Australia.

‘Were’, ‘where’ and ‘wear’

‘Were’ is the past tense of the verb ‘to be’:

They were very happy to be in England.

‘Where’ is an adverb of place:

Where is your passport?

62 / P A R T O N E : T H E B A S I C S

‘Wear’ is the present tense of the verb ‘to wear’:

The Chelsea Pensioners wear their uniform with pride.

‘Whose’ or ‘who’s’
‘Whose’ is a relative pronoun which is usually linked to a
noun:

This is the boy whose father owns the Indian restaurant.

‘Who’s’ is an abbreviation of ‘who is’:

Who’s your favourite football player?

‘Your’ and ‘you’re’

‘Your’ is a possessive adjective and is followed by a noun. It
indicates possession:

Your trainers are filthy.

‘You’re’ is an abbreviation for ‘you are’:

You’re not allowed to walk over that field.

Exploring homonyms
Some words have the same spelling but can have different
meanings. This will usually depend on the context. The pronun-
ciation can also change. These words are called homonyms.

bow a tied ribbon or bow to incline the head

(noun) part of a violin (verb)
calf the fleshy part of the calf a young cow
leg below the knee
 C H E C K I N G Y O U R S P E L L I N G / 63

refuse rubbish refuse to show obstinacy

(noun) (verb)
row a line or an argument row to argue angrily
(noun) (verb) to propel a boat
using oars
train a mode of transport train to instruct or teach
(noun) long piece of material (verb)
attached to the hem
of a dress

USING THE DICTIONARY

Checking your spelling
Use a dictionary frequently to check your spelling. Don’t
guess the spelling of a word. Look it up. It is helpful to keep
a list of words that you have misspelled so you can learn
them.

Looking at words
A dictionary not only tells you how to spell a word. It also
tells you what part of speech the word is. Sometimes the
word appears more than once as it has different meanings
and can be used as a different part of speech. Look at the
following examples:

land (noun) (a) the solid part of the earth

(b) a country
land (verb) (c) to go ashore or bring a plane down to
the ground

fast (verb) (a) abstain from eating

fast (noun) (b) the act of going without food
fast (adjective) (c) firmly attached
fast (adverb) (d) quickly
64 / P A R T O N E : T H E B A S I C S

Identifying letters
Letters after the word identify the part of speech:

n. = noun a. = adjective adv. = adverb v. = verb

The verb is often followed by ‘t’ or ‘i’:

◆ ‘v.t.’ stands for verb transitive. A transitive verb takes an

object.

He wrote a letter. (The object of the verb ‘wrote’ is the

noun, ‘letter’.)

◆ ‘v.i.’ stands for verb intransitive. This means that the verb
does not take an object.

She writes beautifully. (There is no object.)

Many verbs can be used both transitively and intransitively –

as in the above examples. In this case the verb will be
followed by v.i & t.

Exploring derivations
The dictionary will often give the derivation of a word.
English is a rich language that owes much to other
languages. Some words like ‘rendezvous’ are obviously
French and have been kept in their original forms. Others
like ‘galley’ have been adapted from several languages.

If you have time, browse through a dictionary looking at the

derivation of some of our words. It can be a fascinating and
rewarding experience.
 C H E C K I N G Y O U R S P E L L I N G / 65

MAKING USE OF THE THESAURUS

A thesaurus can also be very useful. It will help you to find
an alternative word (synonym) for a word that you have
used too much. Words are shown alphabetically and beside
each will be a list of words that could replace the word you
want to lose. Of course, not all the synonyms will be suitable.
It will depend on the context.

Adding to your vocabulary

Using a thesaurus is an excellent way of adding to your
vocabulary. It is useful to keep a list of words that you
have found so that you can use them again and in this
way increase your knowledge. Here is a list of synonyms
that could be used instead of the overworked adjective
‘nice’:

agreeable, attractive, delicious, delightful, enjoyable,

pleasant, pleasing

Roget’s Thesaurus
This is the most famous thesaurus; it has two main sections.
The second part lists words alphabetically and identifies the
parts of speech. After the words are numbers. These refer to
the first part where the synonyms for the different parts of
speech will be given.

Other thesauri
There are many smaller versions including pocket ones and
these can be found in most bookshops.
66 / P A R T O N E : T H E B A S I C S

REVISING THE POINTS

◆ Double the consonant after a short vowel sound when
adding more letters.

◆ Learn commonly misspelt words.

◆ Use a dictionary to check spelling and find the meaning

of words.

◆ Use a thesaurus to widen your vocabulary.

PRACTISING WHAT YOU’VE LEARNT

1. What is the plural form of the following words?

lady, company, monkey, tomato, boa, princess, dance

2. Add ‘-ing’ to the following words:

dine, live, hit, hop, skip, write, mate, mine

3. Form adverbs from the following adjectives:

happy, joyful, kind, angry, wonderful, clear,

quick, careless

4. Correct the following sentences:

(a) I no you are their.
(b) I can sea to ships on the see.
(c) Did you now there house is too be sold?
(d) Hear is you’re packed lunch.
(e) Their is a whole in your jacket.
(f) You can go to London two.
(g) The teacher kept in the hole class.
(h) The violinist took a bough.
 C H E C K I N G Y O U R S P E L L I N G / 67

(i) Because of the wind, the bow of the tree broke.

(j) She past threw the crowd.
(k) He through the ball.
(l) Know milk was left today.

5. In the following passage fill in the missing words:

. . . were no ships on the . . . that morning. She could . . .

the white foam as the waves crashed on the shore. She
would . . . when . . . car arrived as it would drive . . . the
gate. Idly, she . . . a stone into the . . . . The . . . of the
trees on the cliff . . . swaying in the wind. It was . . . cold
. . . sit still. Kicking off her sandals, she noticed she had
. . . holes in her socks. She had intended to . . . her new
ones. Her hair ribbon had also come undone and crossly
she tied it in a . . . and stood up, holding her shoes. . . .
she could . . . the car.

6. What do the following letters stand for?

n. v.t. v.i. a. adv.

7. Find synonyms for the underlined words in the following

passage:

It was a nice day so the children decided to have a

picnic. They walked along the cliff path and climbed
down to the beach. The waves crashed on the shore as
they ate their pleasant lunch.

See pages 164–5 for suggested answers.