This presentation is

brought to you by
Grammar Bytes!,
©2019 by Robin L.
Simmons.
 Spelling

I before E? Or is it E
before I?
 This presentation
covers commonly
misspelled
words and
knowledge of
spelling rules—
all of which,
unfortunately, have
exceptions!
Spelling items on an
objective test might look
like these ...
 Sample Item 1
Because we were hungry,
hungary, we
hungary, we
wecould
could
couldnot
not
not
AA
concentrate on the lecture. We will definitely
definitely
B
consult Wanda since she was fueling
fuelingher
herbrain
brain
C
with a fruit smoothie.
Hungry is
Is hungary,
definitely
A. hungry
hungry definitely, or
misspelled, but
fueling
B. definately choice A
misspelled?
corrects it!
C. feuling
D. No change is necessary.
 Sample Item 2

At the flea market, Harold bought fresh tomatoes,

a pair of used jeans, and a stuffed deer head with
a broken antler. He considered the shopping trip
successfull.

A. succesful
B. successful
successful
C. sucessful successfull
IsChoice B does
D. No change is necessary. the job—twoIfcso,
misspelled? s,
two ss,choice
which but only
one l. it?
corrects
At many objective exams,
you can not use a dictionar y!

X
 W hen in doubt, rely on
“gut” feelings.

Your eyes have seen in print—and your

brain has registered —all of the possible
words that you will encounter for this skill. If
you don’t recognize the right answer, go
with the one that feels right.

Hey, I know
that word!
 Plurals, Par t 1
• Most words become plural by adding s:
chickenchickens, bookbooks, kitekites
• Use es for words ending in s, sh, x, z, or “soft”
ch: beachbeaches, fixfixes, quizquizzes
problem,sChad
To finish his algebra problem , Chadneeded
neededtoto
glass.es.
find his glass

Do you like my
funky lenses?
 Plurals, Par t 2
• Words ending in a vowel + o become plural by
adding s: rodeorodeos, duoduos
• Words ending in a consonant + o become plural
by adding es: tomatotomatoes, heroheroes

Our ears were glued to the radiosasaswe

welistened
listenedtoto
tornado.es.
news about the tornado

Take
cover!
 Plurals, Par t 3
• Many words that end in f or fe become plural
with ves: leafleaves, lifelives,
knifeknives
• Words that end in ff or ffe become plural with
just an s: knockoffknockoffs, giraffegiraffes

ves
Our lilife would
would improve
improve if the
if the giraffes
giraffs quit the
quit eating
eating
leafs offthe lea
our ves off our shrubs.
shrubs.

Stop
that!
 Final Y Wor ds
• If you have consonant + final y, change the y
to i when you add any suffix except one beginning
with i: easyeasily, fiftyfiftieth, skyskies
• If you have vowel + final y, keep the y when you
add a suffix: monkeymonkeys, toytoys
triedtotosave
Chad tryed savehis
hismoney,
money,but
butthe
theflea
fleamarket
market
buys.
had too many good buy.

I’m a sucker
for “Buy 3, Get
1 Free”!
 Final E Wor ds
• If a suffix begins with a vowel, you will usually
remove the final e: hopehoping,
loveloving, participateparticipating
• If a suffix begins with a consonant, you will
usually keep the final e: lovelovely,
amuseamusement, hopehopeful
Climbing
Climbing to
tothe
thetop
topof
ofthe
themountain
mountain was
was too
too
challenging,
challengeing, sosowe
wegave
gaveup
upand
andwallowed
wallowedinin
discouragement
discouragment. .

We were so
close!
 Doubling Final Consonants

• If you have a one-syllable word that ends in

vowel + consonant, double the consonant
when you add a suffix that begins with a
vowel or is a y: sadsaddened,
swimswimming, skinskinny
• If you have a multi-syllable word that ends in
vowel + consonant —with the accent falling
on the last syllable of the root word—double
the consonant: admitadmitted,
beginbeginner, forbidforbidding
 Read this sample:

stepped
Chad steped in ainpuddle
a puddle
andand slipped
sliped off off
regretted
the sidewalk. He regreted his his clumsiness
clumsiness
spotted
when he spoted thethe
mudmud stain
stain on on
hishis pants.
pants.

Whoa!
 IE/EI Wor ds
• Often, i comes before e: belief, chief, review
• If the i and e follow c, they usually reverse:
cei ling, concei ve, recei ve
• E also precedes i if the sound is a long a:
ei ght, nei ghbor, wei gh
conceited
Chad is concieted about
about thethe bulging
bulging veins
viens in in
believes
his rippling muscles. He beleives that
that allall
of of
the females are admiring his great physique.

Let me flex my
biceps!
 Quick Test

Directions: In the items that follow, choose

the option that corrects an error in the
underlined portion(s). If no error exists, choose
“No change is necessary.”

Show me
what you
know!
 Item 1

Carlos hopped
hoppedthat
hoped that
thathe
he
hecaught
caught
caughtall
all
allof
of
ofthe
the
the
AA
misspellings ininhis
misspellings hisessay,
essay,for
forhehewanted
wantedtoto
B
receive an
receive an AA on
on this
this paper.
paper.
C

A. hoped
hoped
B. mispellings
C. recieve
D. No change is necessary.
 Item 2
The thieves
thievesplanned
plannedto
tosteal
stealMom’s
Mom’sexpensive
expensive
A
jewellry but
jewellry
jewelry butchanged
changedtheir
theirminds
mindswhen
whenthey
they
BB
discovered Big Boy, our Rottweiler, guarding
guardingthe
the
C
master bedroom.

A. theives
B. jewelry
jewelry
C. guardding
D. No change is necessary.
 Item 3

When we told Sheila that her boyfriend Ronnie

accompanied Kristine
accompanied Kristinetotoaafancy
fancyrestaurant
restaurantlast
last
A B
night, Sheila told us to mind our own business.
bussiness.
bussiness.
CC

A. accompanyed
B. resterant
C. business
business
D. No change is necessary.
 Item 4

I don’t mind sharing a dessert with Matthew, but I

must insist on a sepparate
sepparate fork.
fork.

A. separate
separate
B. seperate
C. saperate
D. No change is necessary.
 Item 5
Professor Williams recommends
recommendsstuding
studing
studying
two
two
two
A B
hours every night; we students wish we had the

time but must work to pay for the expensive

expensive
C
textbooks that he requires.

A. reccomends
B. studying
studying
C. espensive
D. No change is necessary.
 Item 6

All day long, our new puppy Jack sleeps on the

rug, but at night, he is possesed
possesed by
byenergy
energyand
and
bounces off the furniture.

A. posessed
B. possested
C. possessed
possessed
D. No change is necessary.
 Item 7

Ramón wishes
wishs that
wishs that
that
the
the
the
lovely
lovely
lovely
Belinda
Belinda
Belinda
would
would
would
blow
blow
blow
A
kisses his
kisses hisway,
way,but
butheheisisalways
alwaysdisappointed.
disappointed.
B C

A. wishes
wishes
B. kissess
C. dissappointed
D. No change is necessary.
 Item 8

To please his wife, Robert swept off the roof, even

though he found this chore pointless and
unnecessary.
unnecessary.

A. unecessary
B. unnecessery
C. unneccessary
D. No change
changeisisnecessary.
necessary.
 Item 9

Patrick tried to make Babushka’s potato

potatoe
potatoe
AA
pancakes, but we found them inedible;
inedible;everyone
everyone
B
wished he had made simple French fries
fries instead.
instead.
C

A. potato
potato
B. ineddible
C. frys
D. No change is necessary.
 Item 10

Look at Jonathan’s face turning red—that boy

embarasses easily!
embarasses easily!

A. embarrases
B. emmbarasses
C. embarrasses
embarrasses
D. No change is necessary.
The End.