15 Basic Spelling Rules

1. 15 Basic Spelling Rules
You Need to Know

2. Vowels – letters a, e, i, o, and u.
Consonants – the other 21 letters in English alphabet.
Syllable – a phonological “building block” of a word: a whole word or its section with a
single sound (e.g. read, great, fa-mous, won-der-ful)
Stress – a relative emphasis given to a certain syllable (see underlined syllables: creative,
focus, clothes, stationary)
Prefix – an element added before a stem of a word (e.g. post=after, anti=against, un/in=not,
di=two, etc.)
Suffix – an element added after a stem of a word (e.g. -ing, -able, -ist, -ed, -ly, -ful, -ment, -
ize, -ism, -tion, etc.)
Definitions of important terms in spelling

3. Rule Using ‘ch’ or ‘tch’
 Write tch after a short vowel,
 Write ch in other cases
Examples:  catch, kitchen, witch
 sandwich, such, which, rich, bachelor, much, touch, ostrich, and
attach.
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4. Rule Get rid of the final ‘e’ in cases when:
 the suffix starts with a vowel.
 the word ends in dge.
 -ing is added.
Examples:  use → usable
 judge → judgment
 manage → managing
Exceptions: The words ending with ce or ge, e.g:
acknowledge → acknowledgeable, trace → traceable, courage →
courageous, revenge → vengeance.
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5. Rule Writing ‘ie’ or ‘ei’
 Write i before e, except after c
 Write ie after c in words with a shen sound.
 Write ei when the vowel sounds as an a, like in the word
'weigh'
Examples:  achieve, believe, deceive, friend, ceiling, perceive
 conscience, ancient, sufficient, efficient
 neighbour, freight, sleigh, vein, reign, rein, weird
Exceptions: counterfeit, lieutenant, seize, weird, either, neither, height, leisure,
financier, forfeit, foreign, science, species
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6. Rule The ‘j’ sound
When the j sound follows a short vowel in a one-syllable word,
it’s usually spelled dge.
Examples: edge, judge, bridge, dodge, gadget
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7. Rule Using ‘k’ or ‘ck’
 We use ck at the end of one-syllable word when it follows a
short vowel,
 We use k when there’s another consonant immediately
following the vowel
Examples:  duck, sick, truck
 drink, mask, task
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8. Rule Writing ‘l’ or ‘ll’ when adding ‘ing’, ‘ed’ and
some suffixes to verbs
Write ll when a single vowel precedes it.
Examples: travel → travelling (-ed, -er);
fulfil → fulfilling (-ed, -er);
Exceptions: In the words where ‘l’ is preceded by a double vowel (e.g. reveal
→ revealing, revealed)
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9. Rule Using ‘le’
 One consonant is usually enough before le.
 But words ending in le, such as little or handle need special
attention. If the vowel sound is short, two consonants should
go between the vowel and the le.
Examples:  able, idle, people
 little, puzzle, handle, ample, angle
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10. Rule Using ‘t’ or ‘tt’ when adding ‘ing’, ‘ed’, and
some suffixes to verbs
 Write tt in the one-syllable verbs with a single vowel, or a
short vowel sound.
 Write tt in the verbs of more than one syllable when the
stress is on the last syllable.
Examples:  fit → fitting, fitted; knot → knotting, knotted
 allot → allotting, allotted; commit → committing, committed;
omit → omitting, omitted; forget → forgetting, forgotten (but
forgetful); permit → permitting, permitted
Exceptions:
One-syllable words with a double vowel or a long vowel sound,
e.g: treat → treating, treated; meet → meeting; greet → greeting,
greeted,
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11. Rule Using ‘r’ or ‘rr’ when adding ‘ing’, ‘ed’, and
some suffixes to verbs
 Write rr in the single-syllable verbs when the final r is
preceded by a single vowel.
 Write rr in the words of more than one syllable when the
stress doesn’t fall on the first syllable.
Examples:  star → starring, starred, starry
stir → stirring, stirred
 confer → conferring, conferred;
prefer → preferred, preferring (but preference)
Exceptions:
 One-syllable words when the final r is preceded by a double
vowel (e.g. clear → clearing, cleared)
 The words of more than one syllable, with a stress on the first
syllable (e.g. prosper → prospered, prospering)
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12. Rule Writing ‘s’ or ‘es’ in plural nouns
 Write es if a word ends in ch, sh, ss, x, or z
 Otherwise, just add s in the end
 Write es for words ending in o (see exceptions)
Examples:  arch → arches, branch → branches, fox → foxes, ash → ashes,
class → classes, loss → losses
 rat → rats, bed → beds
 tomato → tomatoes, volcano → volcanoes, hero → heroes, go
→ goes, do → does, echo → echoes
Exceptions:
shampoos, duos, pianos, hidalgos, radios, solos, sopranos, studios,
videos, typos
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13. Rule Words ending in ‘ve’
English words never end with v. A final v is always followed by e,
no matter which vowel precedes it.
Examples: Have, receive, brave
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14. Rule Changing ‘y’ to ‘i’
 For words that end in y preceded by any vowel, leave the y
and add s or a suffix.
 For words ending in y, leave the y and add ing.
 For words ending with y, preceded by a consonant, substitute
the y to i before any other suffix.
Examples:  convey → conveys, enjoy → enjoys, employ → employer
 try → trying, shy → shying, verify → verifying, study → studying
 try → tried, imply → implies, certify → certifiable, laboratory →
laboratories, family → families
Exceptions: dryness, slyness, shyness
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15. Rule Word endings ‘able/ible’, ‘ant/ance’,
‘ent/ence’
Remember how to write such words.
Examples: incredible, invisible, sensible, admirable, suitable, dependable,
attendance, ignorance, importance, sentence, difference,
intelligence
Exceptions: There’s no certain rule for these cases, so just memorize these
words when you see them.
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16. Rule Dropping letters
Many words drop a letter when adding a suffix, but it is not
always the final letter.
Examples: argue → argument; due → duly; whole → wholly; proceed →
procedure; humour → humorous; opposite → opposition;
disaster → disastrous; repeat → repetition;
administer → administration
Exceptions: There’s no reliable rule for these cases, so just memorize these
words when you see them.
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17. Rule Silent letters
Some words include letters that are not pronounced when
spoken.
Examples: campaign, numb, column, debt, align, knife, island, pneumatic,
rhythm, chaos, autumn, fasten, build
Exceptions: There’s no reliable rule for these cases, so just memorize these
words when you see them.
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