Spelling English words

Wednesday, January 2, 2013






Pronouncing many English words is a challenge. What about spelling them?
We have the silent "e", unusual letter combinations and blends, inconsistent patterns, and all sorts of obstacles. Luckily for all of us, there are a few aids or tricks to help spell many words that give us trouble.

i before e, except after c: A good and useful rule if you are unsure whether a word is spelled with the sequence ei or ie. The correct order is ie unless the preceding letter is c, in which case it is ei. For example:

friend, believe, relief
perceive, receive, receipt

The good thing about this rule is that it rhymes thus making it easy to remember. The bad thing is that there are exceptions that break this rule. There are always exceptions!

When in doubt, think of this little poem. It always helps me.

i before e, except after c.

1 comment:

Tina Steven said...

Great post. I always have a doubt in many English words spellings because of the silent "e" in it. This post is very helpful and clear my doubts. Really its very appreciative! Thanks for sharing this post. I will share this with my friends also.

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