Spelling Rules and Plurals Spelling Rules

Spelling ie and ei REMEMBER: I before E except after C or when sounded like A as in neighbor and weigh. EXCEPTIONS: either, caffeine, foreign, forfeit, height, heir, leisure, neither, protein, seize, species, their, weird

Words ending in –cede, –ceed, –sede Only one English word ends in –sede: supersede. REMEMBER: If you proceed to exceed the speed limit, you will succeed in getting a ticket. (Only three words end in –ceed.) All other “seed” words are spelled –cede.

Suffixes Double the final consonant in the base word if the suffix ends in a vowel and the base word has one syllable (sad > sadder) OR the word is stressed on the last syllable and the stress does not change after the suffix is added (commit > committed) Don’t double the final s, w, x, or y. Drop the final silent E before a suffix that begins with a vowel. (dine>dining, blue>bluish) EXCEPTIONS: mile>mileage, dye>dyeing

Suffixes Drop the final –le before the suffix –ly when the word ends with a consonant + -le. (possible>possibly; sparkle>sparkly) Keep the final silent E before suffixes that begin with A and O if the word ends in –ce or –ge. (change>changeable, courage>courageous) Keep the final silent E before suffixes that begin with a vowel if the word ends in –ee or –oe. (agree>agreeable) EXCEPTIONS: free>freer, freest

Suffixes Keep the final E before suffixes that begin with a consonant. (encourage>encouragement) EXCEPTIONS: awe>awful, argue>argument, true>truly, due>duly, whole>wholly

Compound Words Keep the spelling of both parts of a compound word (bookcase, fishhook).

Plurals For most nouns, add –s (cats, boys, radios). For nouns ending –ch, –s, –sh, –x, –z, add –es (lunches, dishes, buses). For nouns ending in a consonant and Y, change the Y to I and add –es (babies, pennies), except for proper names (Marys, Kennedys). For nouns ending in a consonant and O, add – es. (potatoes, tomatoes, heroes, echoes) EXCEPTIONS: zeros, photos, pianos.

Plurals For nouns ending –f or –fe, change the F to V and add –s or –es. (wives, knives, leaves, wolves) EXCEPTIONS: roofs, chiefs, cliffs, giraffes

Plurals Some nouns follow no pattern, but have irregular plural forms: man>men, woman>women, child>children, foot>feet, tooth>teeth, mouse>mice, goose>geese, ox>oxen. Some words are the same in singular and plural forms: deer, sheep, series, species, Sioux.

Plurals Some words have more than one correct plural form: fish>fish or fishes, antelope>antelope or antelopes, buffalo>buffalo, buffaloes, or buffalos. The plural form of a compound word usually follow the rules for the plural form of the second word (housewives, lunchboxes).