English Spelling Rules-2

Spelling Rules

Rule 1	C always softens to /s/ when followed by E, I, or Y.  Otherwise, C says /k/.
Rule 2	G may soften to /j/ only when followed by E, I, or Y.  Otherwise, G says /g/.
Rule 3	English words do not end in I, U, V, or J.
Rule 4	A E O U usually say their names at the end of a syllable.
Rule 5	I and Y may say /ĭ/ or /ī/ at the end of a syllable.
Rule 6	When a one-syllable word ends in a single vowel Y, it says /ī/.
Rule 7	Y says /ē/ only at the end of a multisyllable base word.  I says /ē/ at the end of a syllable that is followed by a vowel and at the end of foreign words.
Rule 8	I and O may say /ī/ and /ō/ when followed by two consonants.
Rule 9	AY usually spells the sound /ā/ at the end of a base word.
Rule 10	When a word ends with the phonogram A, it says /ä/. A may also say /ä/ after a W or before an L.
Rule 11	Q always needs a U; therefore, U is not a vowel here.
Rule 12	Silent Final E Rules
12.1	The vowel says its name because of the E.
12.2	English words do not end in V or U.
12.3	The C says /s/ and the G says /j/ because of the E.
12.4	Every syllable must have a written vowel.
12.5	Add an E to keep singular words that end in the letter S from looking plural.
12.6	Add an E to make the word look bigger.
12.7	TH says its voiced sound /TH/ because of the E.
12.8	Add an E to clarify meaning.
12.9	Unseen reason.
Rule 13	Drop the silent final E when adding a vowel suffix only if it is allowed by other spelling rules.
Rule 14	Double the last consonant when adding a vowel suffix to words ending in one vowel followed by one consonant only if the syllable before the suffix is accented.* *This is always true for one-syllable words.
Rule 15	Single vowel Y changes to I when adding any ending, unless the ending begins with I.
Rule 16	Two I’s cannot be next to one another in English words.
Rule 17	TI, CI, and SI are used only at the beginning of any syllable after the first one.
Rule 18	SH spells /sh/ at the beginning of a base word and at the end of the syllable. SH never spells /sh/ at the beginning of any syllable after the first one, except for the ending -ship.
Rule 19	To make a verb past tense, add the ending -ED unless it is an irregular verb.
Rule 20	-ED, past tense ending, forms another syllable when the base word ends in /d/ or /t/.  Otherwise, -ED says /d/ or /t/.
Rule 21	To make a noun plural, add the ending -S, unless the word hisses or changes; then add -ES.  Occasional nouns have no change or an irregular spelling.
Rule 22	To make a verb 3rd person singular, add the ending -S, unless the word hisses or changes; then add -ES. Only four verbs are irregular.
Rule 23	Al- is a prefix written with one L when preceding another syllable.
Rule 24	-Ful is a suffix written with one L when added to another syllable.
Rule 25	DGE is used only after a single vowel which says its short (first) sound.
Rule 26	CK is used only after a single vowel which says its short (first) sound.
Rule 27	TCH is used only after a single vowel which does not say its name.
Rule 28	AUGH, EIGH, IGH, OUGH. Phonograms ending in GH are used only at the end of a base word or before the letter T.  The GH is either silent or pronounced /f/.
Rule 29	Z, never S, spells /z/ at the beginning of a base word.
Rule 30	We often double F, L, and S after a single vowel at the end of a base word. Occasionally other letters also are doubled.
Rule 31	Schwa Rules
31.1	Any vowel may say one of the schwa sounds, /ŭ/ or /ĭ/, in an unstressed syllable or unstressed word.
31.2	O may also say /ŭ/ in a stressed syllable next to W, TH, M, N, or V.
31.3	AR and OR may say their schwa sound, /er/, in an unstressed syllable.

Learn more!

Read about the importance of spelling rules and the benefits of systematic and complete phonics instruction in our Research section.

https://www.logicofenglish.com/resources/spelling-rules

Basic Spelling Rules

The English language has two kinds of letters: vowels and consonants. The vowels are a, e, i, o, u and sometimes y or w. The consonants are the letters that are not vowels: b, c, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, q, r, s, t, v, w, x, z.
Long vowel: We hear the sound of the letter just as it is when we recite the alphabet.
Examples: A long a is pronounced like the a in the words: make, cake, take, ache.
Short vowel: The sound of the vowel is soft.
Example: A short a is pronounced like the a in the words: mask, task, act, jack, bag.
1. Short-Vowel Rule: When one-syllable words have a vowel in the middle, the vowel usually has a short sound: Examples: cat, dog, man, hat, mom, dad, got.
If the letter after the vowel is f, l, or s, this letter is often doubled. Examples: staff, ball, pass.
2. Two-Vowels Together: When two vowels are next to each other, the first vowel is usually long (the sound is the same as the sound of the letter) and the second vowel is silent. Examples: meat, seat, plain, rain, goat, road, lie, pie.
3. "Vowel-Consonant- e" Pattern: When a short word, or the last syllable of a longer word, ends in this pattern: vowel--consonant--e, the first vowel is usually long and the e is silent. Examples: place, cake, mice, vote, mute.
4. Y as a long i: The letter Y makes the long sound of I when it comes at the end of a short word that has no other vowel. Examples: cry, try, my, fly, by, hi.
5. Y as a long e: When y or ey ends a word in an unaccented syllable, the y has the long sound of e. Examples: money, honey, many, key, funny.
6. I before E: Write i before e when the sound is long e except after the letter c. Examples: relieve, relief, reprieve. Notice the change when there is a c preceding the ie: receipt, receive, ceiling, deceive, conceive.
7. E before I: Write e before i when the sound is long a. Examples: weight, freight, reign.
8. Oi or Oy: Use oi in the middle of a word and use oy at the end of a word. Examples: boil, soil, toil, boy, toy.
9. Ou or Ow: Use ou in the middle of a word and use ow at the end of words other than those that end in n or d. Examples: mouse, house, found, mount, borrow, row, throw, crow.
10. Double Consonants: When b, d, g, m, n, or p appear after a short vowel in a word with two syllables, double the consonant: b, d, g, m, n, or p. Examples: rabbit, manner, dagger, banner, drummer.
11. The "ch" sound: At the beginning of a word, use "ch." At the end of a word, use "tch." When the "ch" sound is followed by ure or ion, use t. Examples: choose, champ, watch, catch, picture, rapture.

http://homepage.smc.edu/reading_lab/basic_spelling_rules.htm

Spelling Rules

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While spelling used to be taught via simple memorization, experts now believe that understanding key spelling rules is the best way to master new words.

Rules help you learn new spelling words in several different ways. For example:

·         They take the mystery out of spelling by demonstrating patterns among seemingly unrelated words.

·         They show connections between unfamiliar words and words you already know.

·         They help you identify specific speech patterns that can offer clues as to how a word is spelled.

·         They explain how new words are built using prefixes and suffixes.

Basic Spelling Rules

One of the most common spelling rules taught to elementary students is "I before E, except after C, unless it says A as in neighbor and weigh." However, there are a number of other rules that you can use to help decode the spelling of an unfamiliar word. For example:

·         The letter Q is always followed by U. In this case, the U is not considered to be a vowel.

·         The letter S never follows X.

·         To spell a short vowel sound, only one letter is needed. Examples of this rule include at, red, it, hot, and up.

·         Drop the E. When a word ends with a silent final E, it should be written without the E when adding an ending that begins with a vowel. In this way, come becomes coming and hope becomes hoping.

·         When adding an ending to a word that ends with Y, change the Y to I if it is preceded by a consonant. In this way, supply becomes supplies and worry becomes worried.

·         All, written alone, has two L's. When used as a prefix, however, only one L is written. Examples of this rule include also and almost.

·         Generally, adding a prefix to a word does not change the correct spelling.

·         Words ending in a vowel and Y can add the suffix -ed or -ing without making any other change.

If you are interested in a rules-based approach to improving your spelling skills, check out the Spelling Rules website. The creator of this site has developed a Spell500 instructional method that uses spelling rules to teach students how to master up to 500 new words per day. By focusing on understanding before memorization, this study method proposes to drastically increase your spelling abilities.

Additional Information

To learn more about how you can use spelling rules to become a better speller, check out the following helpful links:

·         Help with Spelling Problems for ESL Classes offers a list of simple rules to help people who are learning English as a second language.

·         Dyslexia.org has a list of spelling rules designed to assist learning disabled students in mastering new vocabulary words.

·         Some Rules and Suggestions about Spelling contains spelling rules as well as general tips for mastering new words.

·         Absolutely Ridiculous English Spelling provides a slightly humorous look at the seemingly inconsistent methods of spelling everyday vocabulary words.

·         Garden of Praise has clever songs that you can use to help memorize a variety of common spelling rules.

YourDictionary Web site has lists of 100 Most Often Misspelled Words in English and 150 More Often Misspelled Words in English that include rules you can use to help yourself remember how to correctly spell these tricky words.

Read more at http://grammar.yourdictionary.com/spelling-and-word-lists/spelling-rules.html#LOHGfEGEWh2cplUU.99