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. Peter‟s horse bucked him at the rodeo.

bone  bony smoke  smoky horse  horse‟s Billy  Billy‟s

ice  icy stone  stony Jenny  Jenny‟s bird  Bird‟s
rose  rosy race  racy office  office‟s Nigel  Nigel‟s

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. She‟s really looking forward to the ballet recital.

poets  poets‟ Gladys  Gladys‟ I am  I‟m they had  they‟d

gases  gases‟ babies  babies‟ she would  she‟d do not  don‟t
Lewis  Lewis‟ Ross  Ross‟ who is  who‟s let us  let‟s

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 it‟s 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
lion‟s park  Lion‟s 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 