PLURAL RULE ONE PLURAL RULE TWO

Most words add s to make the plural Add es to words ending in ch, sh
s, ss, x or z to make the plural

one apple two apples one box many boxes

desk desks teacher teachers beach beaches wish wishes
name names park parks fox foxes bus buses
town towns month months cross crosses waltz waltzes
card cards truck trucks pitch pitches hutch hutches

Try these Try these

pencil cup church quiz
book pad gas wax
tree plant class dish
 PLURAL RULE THREE PLURAL RULE FOUR
When the letter before a y is a consonant, When words end in ay, ey, iy, oy
change the y to an i before adding an es and uy add an s to make the plural

one baby two babies one donkey two donkeys

city cities berry berries boy boys play plays

pony ponies reply replies pulley pulleys grey greys
filly fillies belly bellies relay relays alley alleys

Try these Try these

family lady day satay
daisy jelly monkey valley
army party tray delay
nappy cherry trolley key
 PLURAL RULE FIVE PLURAL RULE SIX
When words end in f or fe change When a word ends in o and comes after
the f or fe to a v before adding es a consonant, add es to make the plural

one knife two knives

one dingo two dingoes
leaf leaves wolf wolves
cargo cargoes mango mangoes
wife wives elf elves
potato potatoes hero heroes
thief thieves life lives
avocado avocadoes buffalo buffaloes
Try these Try these
half hoof volcano tomato
loaf shelf domino echo
self calf mosquito torpedo
Exceptions cliffs, chiefs, roofs, dwarfs & handkerchiefs Exceptions pianos, solos, banjos, Eskimos and radios
 PLURAL RULE SEVEN PLURAL RULE EIGHT
Sometimes, a word may completely Sometimes, a word may stay the same
change its form when a plural is made in both its singular and plural form

one child two children one fish two fish

person bream bream series series

people criterion criteria
goose aircraft aircraft trout trout
geese nucleus nuclei
fungus salmon salmon moose moose
fungi man men

Try these Try these

foot woman species sheep

mouse cactus deer perch

tooth dice offspring tuna

 PLURAL RULE NINE PLURAL RULE TEN
It maybe confusing making compound words into Many words, particularly from other languages
plural forms. In all cases the first word is made plural. have exceptions when making them plural

one analysis of data two analyses of data

Maxine is terrified of men of war jelly fish. Other examples are
curriculum curricula appendix appendices
brother in law brothers in law criterion criteria index indices
court martial courts martial antenna antennae focus foci
attorney general attorneys general bureau bureaux corpus corpora *

Try these Try these

son in law octopus basis
heir apparent formula gateau
passer by datum crisis
* quite tricky and uncommon
 SPELLING RULE ONE SPELLING RULE TWO
When a word ends with a short vowel followed by a When action words end with an sh, ch, ss, x, or
consonant, double the last consonant before adding ed a z and es is added to make the present tense.

The girls skip. The girls skipped.

Fiona waltzes most Tuesday nights with Jim.
drop dropped trim trimmed
cross crosses catch catches
admit admitted shop shopped
wax waxes relax relaxes
occur occurred flip flipped
fish fishes reach reaches
Try these Try these
trip trot buzz tax
mop rub watch pass
submit prefer push fix
 SPELLING RULE THREE SPELLING RULE FOUR
When an action word ends with a consonant followed Double the consonant before adding ing to words that
by a y, change the y to an i before adding es have a short vowel followed by a consonant at the end

Grandad was sitting in his chair all morning.

The pirate buries his treasure with great care.
stop stopping slam slamming
empty empties tidy tidies wrap wrapping nod nodding
try tries copy copies step stepping skip skipping
carry carries fry fries
Try these Try these
hurry dry trap beg
fly dirty rip map
worry apply chop rub
 SPELLING RULE FIVE SPELLING RULE SIX
When a word ends in a silent e, drop the e When a word ends in double consonant, do not
before adding an ing The magic e runs away ! double the last letter before adding an ing

Ian loves platform diving on his weekends. Kellie has been thinking about marrying Ridge.

move moving hide hiding report reporting copy copying

taste tasking chase chasing bump bumping work working
race racing wipe wiping wash washing dust dusting
Try these Try these
love store carry hurry
change drive spy bend
hope stare camp scratch
Exception be being For words ending in y leave the y and add ing
 SPELLING RULE SEVEN SPELLING RULE EIGHT
For action words that end in ie, change Often ly is added to base words to turn them
the ie to a y before adding an ing into adverbs, adjectives or describing words

Rynell bungy jumped carefully from the tower.

love lovely smart smartly

slow slowly pure purely
Bryan enjoys lying on his back to watch clouds. main mainly nice nicely
Try these
Try these
tie
rude kind
lie
quick loud
die
soft glad
 SPELLING RULE NINE SPELLING RULE TEN
When adding ly to words which end in y, When the suffix full is added to the end of a
change the y to an i before adding the ly base word, one of the ls has to be dropped

Janelle paints colourful works of art.

Kirsty scored the goal quite daintily.
hope hopeful taste tasteful
happy happily busy busily
cheer cheerful use useful
merry merrily pretty prettily
thank thankful force forceful
easy easily cosy cosily
Try these
Try these
truth peace
hungry necessary
play dread
weary day
fear joy
heavy angry
eg; thankful means full of thanks
 SPELLING RULE ELEVEN SPELLING RULE TWELVE
Before adding er and est to words ending in a Double the last letter before adding er or est to words
consonant, followed by a y, change the y to an i that have a short vowel followed a single consonant

Dean is the skinniest member at the local gym. Lyne has become a great ocean swimmer.

lazy lazier salty saltiest fit fittest travel traveller

lovely loveliest funny funnier slim slimmest win winner
mighty mightier heavy heaviest rob robber slip slipper

Try these Try these

sandy crazy spin run
happy fancy sit begin
curly dry drum stop
These new words are called degrees of comparison
 SPELLING RULE THIRTEEN SPELLING RULE FOURTEEN
Double the last letter of words ending in a short vowel Just add a y to words ending in two
followed by a single consonant before adding a y consonants to form describing words

Vanessa enjoys laying back on a sunny day. The last few days have been quite windy in Rocky.

rag raggy wit witty dirt dirty trick tricky

shag shaggy fog foggy might mighty health healthy
cat catty fun funny thirst thirsty sand sandy

Try these Try these

run mud rock filth
wool skin wealth smart
fur bad chill fuss
 SPELLING RULE FIFTEEN SPELLING RULE SIXTEEN
For words ending in a silent e, you To indicate possession or ownership by a person or
must first drop the e before adding a y object, an apostrophe () followed by an s is added

Kookaburras are very noisy birds. Peters horse bucked him at the rodeo.

bone bony smoke smoky horse horses Billy Billys

ice icy stone stony Jenny Jennys bird Birds
rose rosy race racy office offices Nigel Nigels

Try these Try these

flake scare Santa car
taste nose Tavern Mary
spike laze Peter shoe
SPELLING RULE SEVENTEEN SPELLING RULE EIGHTEEN
To indicate ownership by a person whose name ends An apostrophe () is also used to create a contraction,
in an s or a plural noun, just add an apostrophe () indicating where a letter or letters have been left out

Venetta rubbed the sunscreen on Les chest. Shes really looking forward to the ballet recital.

poets poets Gladys Gladys I am Im they had theyd

gases gases babies babies she would shed do not dont
Lewis Lewis Ross Ross who is whos let us lets

Try these Try these

flowers Chris you are where is
Dennis bottles it is he is
class boss can not she will
 SPELLING RULE NINETEEN SPELLING RULE TWENTY
i before e except after c CAPITAL LETTERS are used at the
beginning of names and places

Many people believe unicorns exist.

Uluru is a well known Australian landmark.
rel__ve relieve c__ling ceiling
brisbane Brisbane rebecca Rebecca
dec__t deceit v__n vein
luke Luke yeppoon Yeppoon
w__rd wierd glac__r glacier
mackay Mackay kath Kath
Try these
Try these
rec__ve th__r
adelaide phillip
n__ghbour fr__nd
donald gladstone
anc__nt rec__pt
perth alex
Remember there are ALWAYS exceptions !
SPELLING RULE TWENTY ONE SPELLING RULE TWENTY TWO
Prefixes can be added to base words to create new words. Sometimes negative prefixes are added to words
Prefixes ending in vowels are added directly to base words. to create new words and change their meaning

It is important to try to recycle any items we can. Some people say its impossible for cows to talk.

re+move remove tele+vision television un+well unwell mis+spell misspell

de+frost defrost re+gain regain dis+miss dismiss im+patient impatient
para+chute parachute giga+byte gigabyte in+ferior inferior mal+treat maltreat

Try these Create new words using these prefixes

tri+angle de+void non+ anti+
kilo+metre re+align sub+ dys+
auto+graph multi+age ab+ mis+
SPELLING RULE TWENTY THREE SPELLING RULE TWENTY FOUR
Prefixes can be added to roots to form new words. When adding a vowel suffix to words ending
Roots often have meanings from other languages. in a silent e, drop the e and add the suffix.

Mr Smith may predict * a hot summer again. Vikings lived many, many years ago.

di+vide divide inter+cept intercept store+age storage live+ed lived

audi+ble audible de+tatch detatch forgive+en forgiven manage+er manager
pro+ceed proceed auto+matic automatic pale+est palest amaze+ing amazing

Try these Try these

chron+ic ex+ceed nice+est like+en
cred+ible per+mit grave+ity use+ing
meta+phor poly+gon arrive+al forge+ery
* pre means before and dict means speak Remember there are always exceptions to the rule !
 SPELLING RULE TWENTY FIVE SPELLING RULE TWENTY SIX
The letter g may have a soft or hard sound. The letter c may have a soft or hard sound.
A soft g is usually followed by an i or e. When c meets an a, o or u its sound is hard.
A hard g is usually followed by a consonant or an a, o or u When c meets an e, i or y its sound is soft.

g in golf is hard g in gem is soft cards (hard c) centipede (soft c)

gypsy soft general soft candle hard c cuddle hard c

goat hard gel soft cymbals soft c circus soft c
goose hard goblet hard cave hard c curly hard c

Which are hard and which are soft ? Identify which are hard and soft ?
gym gutter caring cycle
ginger giant citizen cat
gas gather comedy circle
SPELLING RULE TWENTY SEVEN SPELLING RULE TWENTY EIGHT
CAPITAL letters are used to spell the names Homophones are words that have the same
of proper nouns, including people and places sound but a different meaning and spelling.

Les is an accomplished bowler in Rocky. A pair of scissors. The pear is a sweet fruit.

adelaide Adelaide qantas Qantas route root principal principle

luke Luke mazda Mazda allowed aloud maid made
lions park Lions Park english English pause paws days daze

Try these Write another word that sounds the same as

biloela jessica practise main
christmas july male threw
rover australia four not
 SPELLING RULE TWENTY NINE SPELLING RULE THIRTY
A homographs is a word that may have Sometimes when writing, words may be
more than one meaning or pronunciation. shortened. These are known as abbreviations.

A calculator is a useful object. The Lawyer said, I object !

I need to make an appointment to see Dr Phillips.
Other examples
bow The front of a ship; to bend or a knot Other examples
wind A breeze or to turn around kilometre km Street St
desert To leave people or a dry, arid place centimetre cm Anonymous anon
Australia Aust ante meridian a.m.
Can you identify the different meanings ? Try these
close kilogram page
excuse example Queensland
wound approximately second
 SPELLING RULE THIRTY ONE SPELLING RULE THIRTY TWO
When writing numbers less than ten, they should Always spell out simple fractions
be written in word form not in digit form. and use a hyphen with them.
Numbers greater that ten can be written as digits.

I ate nine lamingtons before lunch yesterday. One-half of the water melon has been eaten.
Other examples Other examples
9 nine 4 four 1/3 one-third 2/4 two-quarters
7 seven 8 eight 5/8 five- eights 4/5 four-fifths
6 six 2 two 1/6 one-sixth 2/10 two-tenths
Try these Try these
1 5 1/4 3/12
12 19 2/3 2/5
3 23 5/9 4/8
 SPELLING RULE THIRTY THREE SPELLING RULE THIRTY FOUR
A hyphen is used to create compound words. A hyphen can also be used to join
Many compounds are written as one solid word. words that form a compound noun.

The scarecrow had managed to save our crops. Truck driving is undertaken by owner-drivers.
Other examples Other examples
along side alongside go ahead go-ahead
before hand beforehand city state city-state
mean time meantime air conditioned air-conditioned
Try these Try these
road block eye opener
every thing break in
up date well being
 SPELLING RULE THIRTY FIVE SPELLING RULE THIRTY SIX
Always write decimals in number form When combining numbers, the first
with a 0 before the decimal point. number is always written in word form.

The plant has only grown 0.5 of a metre so far. They have three 6 year olds.
Other examples Other examples
one tenth of a metre 0.1 of a metre One in eight 12 year olds require glasses.
half a kilometre 0.5 of a kilometre Nineteen 15 year olds were injured in the crash.
one quarter of a kilogram 0.25 of a kilogram I asked for seven 6 metre lengths of timber.
Try these Can you think of other examples ?
one third of a gram
two quarters of a metre
three quarters of a kilogram
 SPELLING RULE THIRTY SEVEN SPELLING RULE THIRTY EIGHT
Always hyphenate all compound numbers Always write a number in word
from twenty-one through to ninety-nine form if it begins a sentence.

There were twenty-one marbles in the bag. Eight students received awards this week.

Other examples Other examples

89 eighty-nine 47 forty-seven Seven apples were rotten in the fruit bowl.
52 fifty-two 69 sixty-nine Forty-three people came to the special service.
26 twenty-six 98 ninety-eight Three boys and one girl entered the event.

Try these Try these

44 55 4 22
37 29 76 50
92 74 9 6