: Writing : Spelling

Adding -er/-est | Adding -ing/-ed | Adding -ly | Adding -s

-ible or -able | -ie- or -ei- | English & American English

English Spelling Rules

Writing (and therefore spelling) is a representation of the spoken word. The spoken
word is not a representation of writing. Because accents and pronunciation can change
easily and quite quickly, whereas what is written in books and dictionaries remains
"fixed" for years, as well as for various historical reasons, there is often little
correspondence between spoken English (pronunciation) and written English
(spelling). English spelling therefore often appears to be totally illogical. The
following rules can help you to decode the mysteries of English spelling. But
remember, even the best rules have their exceptions.

 Adding -er/-est
quick, quicker, quickest, happy, happier, happiest, hot, hotter, hottest...

 Adding -ing/-ed
work, working, worked, stop, stopping, stopped...

 Adding -ly
loud, loudly, happy, happily, terrible, terribly...

 Adding -s
dog, dogs, church, churches, wife, wives...

 -ible or -able
accessible, visible, dependable, networkable...

 -ie- or -ei-
friend, fiend, feint, freight...

English and American English

colour, color, practise, practice, tyre, tire...

Adding -er/est
We make the comparative or superlative forms of short adjectives by adding -er or -est.

Spelling Rule
Just add -er or -est to the end of the adjective, for example:

 quick > quicker > quickest

 great > greater > greatest
  full > fuller > fullest

Exceptions

If the adjective ends

in: do this: and add: For example:

consonant + -y change the -y to an -i happy > happier > happiest

-er
consonant + -e remove the -e late > later > latest

consonant + vowel + -est

double the last letter hot > hotter > hottest
consonant

Note: adjectives ending in -l are regular, except:

cruel > crueller > cruellest

Adding -ing/-ed
Often we need to add -ing or -ed to a verb to make other forms of the verb, for example:
I was talking when John arrived.

Spelling Rule
Just add -ing or -ed to the end of the base verb:

 work > working > worked

 play > playing > played
 open > opening > opened

Exceptions

and
If the base verb ends in: do this: add: For example:

stop > stopping > stopped

consonant + vowel +
consonant
and a stressed syllable
begin > beginning
tap > tapping > tapped
-ing
double the final
consonant But, for example:
-ed
open > opening > opened
(because no stress on last
syllable of open)

consonant + -e remove the -e -ing phone > phoning > phoned

dance > dancing > danced
-ed make > making
rake > raking > raked
 dye > dying > dyed

lie > lying

change the -ie to -y -ing
die > dying
-ie
lie > lied
nothing -d
die > died

Adding –ly
We often make an adverb by adding -ly to an adjective, for example: quick > quickly.

Spelling Rule
Just add -ly to the end of the adjective:

 coy > coyly

 loud > loudly
 beautiful > beautifully
 senseless > senselessly
 intelligent > intelligently

Exceptions

If the adjective ends in: do this: and add: For example:

-ll nothing -y full > fully

consonant + -le remove the final -e -y terrible > terribly

-y (except 1-syllable adjectives) remove the -y -ily happy > happily

Note: 1-syllable adjectives ending in -y are regular, except:

day > daily
gay > gaily

Adding -s
We add -s to words for two reasons:

1. to make plural nouns (boy > boys)

2. to form the 3rd person singular of the present simple tense (I work > you work > he
works)

Spelling Rule
Just add -s to the end of the word, for example:

 dog > dogs

 play > plays
 demand > demands

Exceptions

If the word ends and

in: do this: add: For example:

church > churches

-ch
mass > masses
-s
brush > brushes
-sh nothing -es
fax > faxes
-x
box > boxes
-z
chintz > chintzes

wife > wives

calf > calves
-f remove the -f or
-ves
-fe -fe except:
beliefs, chiefs, dwarfs, griefs, gulfs,
proofs, roofs

spy > spies

consonant + -y remove the -y -ies
baby > babies

Note: words that end in -o normally just add s, except:

buffalo > buffaloes
cargoes (or cargos)
domino > dominoes
echo > echoes
go > goes
grotto > grottoes
halo > haloes
hero > heroes
mango > mangoes
mosquito > mosquitoes
motto > mottoes (or mottos)
potato > potatoes
tomato > tomatoes
tornado > tornadoes
torpedo > torpedoes
veto > vetoes
volcano > volcanoes
-ible or -able
Many words end in -ible and -able. Sometimes it is difficult to remember which spelling to
use.

The -ible ending is for words of Latin origin. There are about 180 words ending in -ible. No
new words are being created with -ible endings. Here are the most common examples:

accessible flexible illegible

admissible gullible irresistible
audible horrible irreversible
collapsible illegible ostensible
combustible implausible permissible
compatible inaccessible plausible
comprehensible incontrovertible possible
contemptible incredible responsible
credible indefensible reversible
defensible indelible sensible
destructible inedible susceptible
digestible insensible suggestible
divisible intelligible tangible
edible invincible terrible
fallible invisible visible
The -able ending is for:

 some Latin words, for example: dependable

 non-Latin words, for example: affordable, renewable, washable
 new (modern) words, for example: networkable, windsurfable

Rule of thumb
This rule can help you decide the correct spelling. It works most (but not all!) of the time.
Remember, if you are not sure about a word, it is probably best to use a dictionary. Here is the
rule:

 If you remove -able from a word, you are left with a complete word.
 If you remove -ible from a word, you are not left with a complete word (note that
accessible, contemptible, digestible, flexible and suggestible above are among the
exceptions to this rule).

-ie- or -ei-
Sometimes it is difficult to remember whether a word is spelled with -ie- or -ei-. There is a
very simple rule about this:

I before E
except after C
or when sounding like AY
as in neighbour and weigh

Rule Examples

achieve, believe, brief, chief, friend, grief, hygiene, patience,

I before E
pierce, priest, thief

ceiling, conceit, conceive, deceit, deceive, perceive, receipt,

except after C
receive

or when sounding like beige, feint, freight, inveigle, neighbour, sleigh, vein, weigh,
AY weight
Here are some common exceptions to the above rule:

 either, neither, caffeine, codeine, counterfeit, foreign, forfeit, height, leisure, protein,
their, weird, seize, seizure

English and American English Spelling

Here are the principal differences in spelling between English and American English.

American
English
English

rebel > rebel >

Final -l is always doubled after one vowel in stressed and
rebelled rebelled
unstressed syllables in English but usually only in stressed
travel > travel >
syllables in American English, for example:
travelled traveled
Some words end in -tre in English and -ter in American centre center
English, for example: theatre theater
Some words end in -ogue in English and -og in American analogue analog
English, for example: catalogue catalog
Some words end in -our in English and -or in American colour color
English, for example: labour labor
realise, realize
Some verbs end in -ize or -ise in English but only in -ize in realize
harmonise,
American English, for example: harmonize
harmonize
Common Differences
English American English

all right, alright

all right
(disputed)

analyse Analyze

centre Center

cheque Check

colour Color

counsellor Counselor

criticise, criticize Criticize

defence Defense

doughnut Donut

favour Favor

fibre Fiber

flavour Flavor

fulfil Fulfill

grey Gray

honour Honor

humour Humor

jewellery jewellery, jewelry

judgement,
Judgment
judgment

kerb Curb

labour Labor
license, licence (verb) license (verb)
licence (noun) license (noun)

litre Liter

metre Meter

mould Mold

neighbour Neighbor

offence Offense

practise (verb) practice (verb)

practice (noun) practice (noun)

pretence Pretense

programme Program

pyjamas Pajamas

realise, realize Realize

savour Savor

speciality Specialty

theatre Theater

travelled travelled, traveled

travelling travelling, traveling

tyre Tire

valour valor