Spellings – Revision Notes

Table of Contents

Spelling Rules: Plurals and Common Guidelines #

English spelling can be tricky, but learning the patterns helps master most words. This guide covers two essential areas: how to form plurals correctly and how to follow common spelling guidelines like “i before e except after c.”

1. Forming Plurals #

English has several patterns for changing singular nouns to plural forms. Understanding these patterns will help you spell plurals correctly in most cases.

Regular Plurals: Adding -s or -es #

The Basic Rule: Add -s #

  • Most nouns: just add -s
  • Examples:
    • dog → dogs
    • book → books
    • table → tables

The -es Rule #

  • For nouns ending in -ch, -sh, -s, -ss, -x, or -z
  • Examples:
    • church → churches
    • bush → bushes
    • kiss → kisses
    • box → boxes
    • bus → buses

Words Ending in -y #

The rule changes depending on what comes before the -y:

  • Consonant + y: Change y to i and add -es
    Examples:
    • baby → babies
    • city → cities
    • party → parties
  • Vowel + y: Simply add -s
    Examples:
    • toy → toys
    • day → days
    • key → keys
    • monkey → monkeys

Words Ending in -f or -fe #

Many (but not all) nouns ending in these letters follow this pattern:

  • Change f to v and add -es
    Examples:
    • leaf → leaves
    • knife → knives
    • wolf → wolves
    • life → lives
    • wife → wives
  • Exceptions: Some just add -s
    Examples:
    • roof → roofs
    • belief → beliefs
    • chief → chiefs
    • cliff → cliffs

Words Ending in ‘-o’ #

The rule for words ending in ‘-o’ varies based on the word:

  • Add ‘-s’ to many words ending in ‘o’:
    Examples:
    • radio → radios
    • studio → studios
    • zoo → zoos
    • piano → pianos
    • photo → photos
  • Add ‘-es’ to some common words ending in ‘o’:
    Examples:
    • potato → potatoes
    • tomato → tomatoes
    • hero → heroes
    • echo → echoes

2. Irregular Plurals #

Some nouns don’t follow the regular patterns for forming plurals. These irregular plurals must be memorized.

Common Irregular Plurals #

  • man → men
  • woman → women
  • child → children
  • foot → feet
  • tooth → teeth
  • mouse → mice
  • person → people
  • goose → geese
  • ox → oxen

Same Form for Singular and Plural #

  • sheep → sheep
  • deer → deer
  • fish → fish (though “fishes” can be used for multiple species)
  • series → series
  • species → species

3. The “I before E except after C” Rule #

This famous spelling rule helps with many words but has numerous exceptions.

Understanding the Rule #

Basic rule: Write i before e except after c, when the sound is “ee”

i before e #

  • believe
  • field
  • friend
  • thief
  • relief

e before i after c #

  • receive
  • ceiling
  • deceive
  • receipt
  • perceive

Important Exceptions #

This rule has many exceptions that must be memorized:

  • Words that sound like “ay”: neighbor, weigh, eight
  • Scientific terms: science, efficient, sufficient
  • Other exceptions: weird, height, seize, foreign, their, protein

4. Doubling Final Consonants #

When adding suffixes that begin with a vowel (like -ing, -ed, -er), sometimes you need to double the final consonant of the base word.

The Doubling Rule #

Double the final consonant when:

  • Condition 1: The word has one syllable (or stress on final syllable)
  • Condition 2: The word ends in a single consonant
  • Condition 3: The single consonant is preceded by a single vowel

Examples of Doubling #

One-syllable words: #

  • run + ing → running
  • stop + ed → stopped
  • hop + ing → hopping

Words with stress on final syllable: #

  • begin + ing → beginning
  • commit + ed → committed
  • prefer + ing → preferring

Words that DON’T double (and why): #

  • help + ing → helping (ends in two consonants)
  • wait + ing → waiting (two vowels before final consonant)
  • open + ing → opening (not stressed on final syllable)

5. Words Ending in Silent ‘e’ #

When adding suffixes to words that end in silent ‘e’, you need to decide whether to keep or drop the ‘e’.

Drop the e #

When adding a suffix that begins with a vowel:

  • hope + ing → hoping
  • write + ing → writing
  • love + able → lovable
  • come + ing → coming

Keep the e #

When adding a suffix that begins with a consonant:

  • hope + ful → hopeful
  • care + less → careless
  • use + ful → useful
  • rare + ly → rarely

Exceptions #

Some words don’t follow the silent e rule:

  • dye + ing → dyeing (to avoid confusion with “dying”)
  • change + able → changeable (to keep ‘g’ soft)
  • notice + able → noticeable (to keep ‘c’ soft)
  • courage + ous → courageous (to keep ‘g’ soft)

6. Words Ending in ‘y’ #

When adding suffixes to words ending in ‘y’, you may need to change the ‘y’ to ‘i’.

The y to i Rule #

  • When y is preceded by a consonant: Change y to i before adding most suffixes
    Examples:
    • happy + ness → happiness
    • try + ed → tried
    • cry + es → cries
  • Exception: Don’t change y to i before -ing
    Examples:
    • try + ing → trying (NOT triing)
    • cry + ing → crying
  • When y is preceded by a vowel: Keep the y
    Examples:
    • play + ed → played
    • enjoy + able → enjoyable

Practice Exercises #

Plurals Practice #

  1. Make these singular nouns plural:
    • baby, city, lady
    • box, wish, church
    • wolf, knife, life
    • tomato, potato, piano
    • man, child, mouse

“I before E” Practice #

  1. Fill in the blanks with ie or ei:
    • I bel___ve that my fr___nd is dec___ving me.
    • The c___ling is at a strange h___ght.
    • She rec___ved a rec___pt for the f___ld equipment.

Doubling Consonants Practice #

  1. Add -ing or -ed to these words:
    • stop, plan, run
    • begin, commit, prefer
    • open, visit, listen

Silent ‘E’ Practice #

  1. Add the suffix to these words:
    • hope + ing
    • care + ful
    • love + able
    • use + less
    • move + ment
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