SPELLING RULES

Spellings include being conscious of the following four parts:

1.The way a word is written-this relates to observing the shape and size of the letters making up a
word and the way the words have been arranged.

2.The way a word is spoken- this relates to observing the way the letters and the words come out of
your mouth and the movement of your mouth as the words are spoken.

3.The way a word sounds- this relates to the observing the sound that the letters and the words
make.

4.The way a word looks- this relates to observing the visual aspect of the letter and words, the way
the letters combine to form a word.

Hence, a good way to learn spellings is to :

-Look at the word carefully

- Say the word out loud to yourself, listening to how it sounds

- Cover the word and try to remember what it looks like

- Write the word

Being aware of these points while writing can improve your spellings. Another way of getting the
spellings right is to break the word into syllables. For instance, the word 'dictionary' is made up of
four syllables and the word 'handkerchief' is made of three syllables,

dictionary= dic+ ion+ ar+ y

handkerchief= hand+ker+chief

#Breaking the word into syllables and pronouncing the syllables can ensure that you get the spellings
right.

Some useful spelling rules are given below to help you avoid making errors.

1. 'ie' and 'ei'

Generally, 'i' comes before 'e' except after 'c'

Examples

Believe

Friend

Deceive
Ceiling

There are, however, several exceptions to this rule. For instance, leisure, seize, heir etc.

2. a. When a weak verb ends in a final consonant, except 'l', preceded by a short vowel, the final
consonant is not doubled to form the past tense, unless the accent falls on the last syllable:

EX: budget budgeted Not budgetted

offer offered Not offerred

The only exception is- worshipped Not worshiped

b. If the accent does fall on the last syllable, the consonant is doubled:

EX: begin beginning Not begining

transfer transferred Not transfered

c. If the final consonant is 'l', it is always doubled:

travel travelled Not traveled

level levelled Not leveled

The only exception to this rule is- paralleled Not parallelled

3. When two words, verbs and nouns, which have the same pronunciation end in 'se' and 'ce' and
'sy' and 'cy', 'se' and 'sy' are verb endings and 'ce' and cy' are noun endings.

Verbs- license practise

Nouns-licence practice

4. 'us' and 'ous'. Nouns end in 'us', Adjectives end in 'ous'.

Census Jealous

} Nouns } Adjectives

Genius Envious

5. The final 'e'

a. When the 'e' is followed by 'ment', it need not be dropped.

Judgement Not judgment

b. When 'e' is followed by 'able', always drop the 'e'.

Move movable Not moveable

Test Yourself

Q1. Find below a list of words spelled incorrectly. Can you correct the spellings?

a. absorbtion

b. acheive

c. acomodate

d. dependant

e. curtsey

f. deterant

g. embarased

h. immigrent

i. marrigible

j. ecklektic

k. merily

l. reluctent

m. sufice

n. sattelite

o. seperable

p. transmition

q. tumultious

r. utterence

s. vaccum

t.waranty

Q2. Circle the correct spelling out of the following:

a. Miscelanous, miscellaneous, miscellanious

b. Gartful, gratefull, grateful

c. Heirachy, heirrarchy, hierarchy

d. Ocupation, occupation, okupation

e. Sucesful, succesful, successful

Q3. Circle the correct word:

a. I will _____ the job that you offerd.

i. except ii. accept

b. If someone offers to _____ the hatchet, it means they want to stop fighting.

i. bury ii. berry

c. I would like some _____.

i. to ii. too

d. I want to _____you for your delicious meal.

i. complement ii. compliment

e. I would not make a good surgeon because I have a _____ stomach.

i. week ii. Weak

Answer Key

Q1.

a. absorption

b. achieve

c. accommodate
d. dependent

e. courtesy

f. deterrent

g. embarrassed

h. immigrant

i. marriageable

j. eclectic

k. merrily

l. reluctant

m. suffice

n. satellite

o. separable

p. transmission

q. tumultuous

r. utterance

s. vacuum

t. warranty

Q2.

a. miscellaneous

b. grateful

c. hierarchy

d. occuaption

e. successful

Q3

a. accept

b. bury

c. too
d. compliment

e. weak