SPELLING RULES
These rules are to be used as a guide in many situations. There are however some exceptions to all rules, can you think of any other rules or excpetions that have not been listed?
'Q' - Rule:
In the English language the letter q is always followed by the letter u they walk together holding hands and make a sound like "kw" ... quick, quiet, queen. Only a jumbo jet can come between them: QANTAS has no u for two reasons, firtsly it is an acronym, (Queensland And Northern Territory Aerial Services) and secondly as it is a name, it would be an exception.
Soft 'C' Rule:
In words where the letter 'c' comes before an 'e', 'i' or 'y', it makes a sound more like an 's'. Some examples include : certificate, celebrate, census, citizen, circle, cycle, cyllinder.
Bossy 'E' Rule:
In words with an 'e' on the end with one consonant between it and a vowel, the 'e' becomes bossy and makes the vowel say its name (long sound) some examples are: Mat becomes Mate, plan becomes plane, kit becomes kite and tot becomes tote when the bossy 'e' takes charge.
'I' before 'E' except after 'C' Rule:
In words containing and 'i' and 'e' together, these letters are mostly written in this order "ie" for example: believe, niece, chief and field. However the exception to this rule is when these letters follow a 'c' for example: receive, receipt and ceiling.
Drop the 'E'
When adding a suffix beginning with a vowel (ing,able, ive) to a word that ends with a silent 'e' you need to drop the 'e' before adding the suffix, for example bake - baking, note - notable, expense - expensive. But when the suffix begins with a consonant, (ly, ful, ment, less) the silent 'e' must stay, for example extreme - extremely, hate -hateful, state - statement, hope - hopeless.
1, 1, 1 Rule for Doubling Consonants
If the base word you are adding a suffix to is one syllable,(trip) and ends in one consonant (trip)and has one vowel before the single consonant (trip), then that consonant is doubled for all suffixes beinging with a vowel only (tripping, tripped). With the exception of words ending in 'w', 'x', and 'y'. (snowed, snowing, boxed, boxes, flying)
'Q' - Rule:
In the English language the letter q is always followed by the letter u they walk together holding hands and make a sound like "kw" ... quick, quiet, queen. Only a jumbo jet can come between them: QANTAS has no u for two reasons, firtsly it is an acronym, (Queensland And Northern Territory Aerial Services) and secondly as it is a name, it would be an exception.
Soft 'C' Rule:
In words where the letter 'c' comes before an 'e', 'i' or 'y', it makes a sound more like an 's'. Some examples include : certificate, celebrate, census, citizen, circle, cycle, cyllinder.
Bossy 'E' Rule:
In words with an 'e' on the end with one consonant between it and a vowel, the 'e' becomes bossy and makes the vowel say its name (long sound) some examples are: Mat becomes Mate, plan becomes plane, kit becomes kite and tot becomes tote when the bossy 'e' takes charge.
'I' before 'E' except after 'C' Rule:
In words containing and 'i' and 'e' together, these letters are mostly written in this order "ie" for example: believe, niece, chief and field. However the exception to this rule is when these letters follow a 'c' for example: receive, receipt and ceiling.
Drop the 'E'
When adding a suffix beginning with a vowel (ing,able, ive) to a word that ends with a silent 'e' you need to drop the 'e' before adding the suffix, for example bake - baking, note - notable, expense - expensive. But when the suffix begins with a consonant, (ly, ful, ment, less) the silent 'e' must stay, for example extreme - extremely, hate -hateful, state - statement, hope - hopeless.
1, 1, 1 Rule for Doubling Consonants
If the base word you are adding a suffix to is one syllable,(trip) and ends in one consonant (trip)and has one vowel before the single consonant (trip), then that consonant is doubled for all suffixes beinging with a vowel only (tripping, tripped). With the exception of words ending in 'w', 'x', and 'y'. (snowed, snowing, boxed, boxes, flying)