Practical spelling tips and easy-to-remember rules for better English spelling – helping you write clearly and confidently at work and in everyday life.
Helpful notes and rules for English spelling
"q" and "u" are in pairs
q and u
The letter "q" is always followed by "u". Examples: equal, require, quick, question, quiet, quite, unique, queen, quality, earthquake, equity,…
"s" never follows "x"
xc
A number of words are pronounced with an "s" sound after the letter "x". The rule is that the letter "s" never follows "x" in a word. Instead, the letter "c" is used to achieve the "s" sound. Examples: exchange, excess, excellent, excerpt, exception, excuse, excite, …
no "v" at the end of a word
v or u at the end of a word
Words do not end in "v or "u". We add a silent "e" at the end of the word. Examples: have, achieve, believe, alive, save, love, argue, queue, revue, true, …
"o" or "u"
o or u
"O" may also sounds like "a" in a stressed syllable next to "th, m, n, or v". Examples: nothing, mother, some, company, customer, come, money, none, month, honey, done, cover, loves, government, …
"oi" or "oy"
oi or oy
Use "oi" at the beginning or in the middle of a word and "oy" at the end of a word. Examples: noise, doing, voice, soil, coin, oil,... and annoy, joy, employ, enjoy, destroy, boy,….
"ou" or "ow"
ou or ow
Use "ou" at the beginning or in the middle of a word and "ow" at the end of a word. Examples: proud, our, out, ought, would, enough, sound, ... and row, grow, know, …
no "i, u, v, or j" at the end of a word
i, u, v, j - Rule
No words in English end with "i, u, v, or j"
Ending "-ay"
ay - Rule
"Ay" usually spells the sound /ā/ at the end of a base word. Examples: may, stay, away, play, day, display,…
Double letters
floss rule
Mono-syllable words with a vowel (a, e, i, o, u) in the middle usually have double consonants if the letter after is "f, l, or s". Examples: ball, all, still, fell, will, stall, fill, kiss, pass, class, bliss, miss, less, staff, stuff, …
double "f"
If the letter "f" falls at the end of a one-syllable word, they should usually be doubled. Examples: gruff, stiff, staff, stuff,…
double "l"
If the letter "l" falls at the end of a one-syllable word, they should usually be doubled. Examples: fall, doll, stall, ball, fill,…
double "s"
The letter "s" is also usually doubled at the end of a single-syllable word. Examples: hiss, pass, bliss, kiss, class,….
never doubled
The consonants "v, j, k, w, x" are never doubled.
doubling the final consonants
If a suffix beginning with a vowel is added "-ed, -er, -est, -ing, -able, -ence", the final consonant is often doubled. Examples: big --> bigger, travel --> traveller, thin --> thinner, plot --> plotted, begin --> beginner, refer --> referring, tap --> tapping, sit --> sitting, tap --> tappable, slim --> slimming, begin --> beginning, plan --> planning, swim --> swimming; stop --> stopping; occur --> occurrence, occur --> occurred, prefer --> preferred,...
Plural
plural "-ies"
If the word ends in a consonant (b,c, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, q, r, s, t, v, w, x, y, z) and "-y", change the "-y" to an "i" and add "-es". Examples: baby --> babies, comply --> complies, opportunity --> opportunities, occupy --> occupies, marry --> marries, reply --> replies,…
plural "-s"
The normal way to form a plural is to add an "-s". Examples: roads, lectures, teachers, helps, brings, days, ears, cats, dogs, burgers, speaks, towns,...
plural "-es"
If the word ends in "-ch, -s, -sh, -x, -z" add "-es". Examples: catch --> catches, fetch --> fetches, church --> churches, branch --> branches, mass --> masses, bus -- > buses, kiss --> kisses, cross --> crosses, guess --> guesses, wash --> washes, bush --> bushes, box --> boxes,…
plural "-es"
We add "-es" to some words ending in "-o". Examples: tomato --> tomatoes, embargo --> embargoes, go --> goes, cargo --> cargoes, echo --> echoes,…
changing "-f" to "-ves"
For some nouns ending in -f or -fe, we form the plural by changing the "-f or -fe" to "-ves". Examples: leaf --> leaves, wife --> wives, thief --> thieves, knife --> knives, loaf --> loaves, shelf --> shelves, calf --> calves …
plural "s"
Some words ending in "-o" only require "-s". Examples: photos, videos, discos, pianos, memos, ...
vowel
each word has one vowel
Every word has at least one vowel (a, e, i, o, u).
each syllable has a vowel
Each syllable should be accompanied by at least one vowel (a, e, i, o, u). Examples: chair, bar, raisin, excitement, deluded,…
c, k, ck, g
"ck" at the end of a word
Always use "-ck" after a short vowel (a,e,i,o,u). Examples: luck, crack, back, attack, clack, back, rack, duck, sick, tick,...
"k" at the end of a word
Always use "-ck" after a short vowel (a,e,i,o,u) and after everything else use "k". Examples: milk, book, silk, seek, break, reek, talk, ask, balk, beak, peak,...
"c" can say "k" or "s"
"C" sounds like "s" before "e, i, y" and like "k" everywhere else. Examples "s" sound: cycle, certain, ceiling, cent, city, circle,…Examples "k" sound: cloud, cold, cup, case, corner, cat,…
"g" can say "g" or "j"
"G" sounds like "j" before "e, i, y" and like "g" everywhere else. Examples "j" sound: gentle, general, gem, giant, gym, …. Examples "g" sound: go, glass, grow, garden, gum, glad, gain, got, gap,…However exceptions are: get, give, gift, ..
"c" or "k"
"C" is often followed by "a, o, u, l, r" and "k" is often followed by "i, e, n". Examples: catch, can, careful, considers, current, clap, cut, concern, creation, creed, ... and know, key, knife, kite, keep, kiss, kitchen,….
single "s"
"s"
Words that end with an "s" that's pronounced as z end with only one "s." Examples: his, was,….
present tense "s"
Present tense verbs that end with an "s" have only one "s". Examples: dances, sings, climbs,…
present tense "s"
Words that have three or fewer letters have only one "s". Examples: gas, its, yes,…
Silent "e"
drop the silent "e"
Drop the silent "e" in a word before adding a suffix beginning with a vowel (e.g. "-al, -ed, -er, -est, -ous, -ation, -ing, -able, -ance"). Examples: imagine --> imaginable, approve --> approval, explore --> explorer, race --> racing, love --> loving, write --> writing, lose --> losing, loose --> loosest, fame --> famous, ride --> riding, hate --> hated, bake --> baked, hope --> hoping, invite --> invitation, note --> notable, promote --> promotable, guide --> guidance, …
Rule: keep the silent "e"
Keep the silent "e" when adding a suffix beginning with a consonant (e.g. "-less, -ful, -ly, -ment"). E.g. wide --> widely, force --> forceful, hope --> hopeless, late --> lately, definite --> definitely, excite --> excitement, ... However sometimes we do drop the "e". Examples: whole --> wholly, due --> duly, true --> truly, argue --> argument, ...
silent "e"
Words with a consonant (b,c, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, q, r, s, t, v, w, x, y, z) sound have a silent "e". Examples: hate, blue, dine, theme, cute, pride, bike, bite, plane,…
Changing "y" to "i"
Changing "y" to "i"
If the suffix starts with e, change the "y" to an "i". These suffixes include "-est, -er, -ed." Examples: cry --> crier or cried, lovely --> lovelier --> loveliest, dry --> dried --> drier --> driest, ugly --> uglier --> ugliest, apply --> applied, reply --> replied,
keep the final "y"
Keep a final "y" before "-ing". Examples: tidy --> tidying, copy --> copying, study --> studying, worry --> worrying, cry --> crying, try --> trying,…
Changing "y" to "i"
Change a final "y" to "i" before a suffix, unless the suffix begins with "-i". Examples: busy --> business, try --> tries, party --> parties, spy --> spies, hurry --> hurries, happy --> happily, day --> daily, easy --> easily,…However some words with one syllable keep the "-y". Examples: shy --> shyness, dry --> dryness, sly --> slyness.
keep the final "y"
Keep a final "y" in most words that end in a vowel + "-y". Examples: buy --> buyer,
Dehnungs-h
Spelling: "ie" or "ei"
"ie" or "ei"
If the sound of the vowel is as in brief i:/, we spell it "ie", but after the letter c, we spell it "ei". Examples: chief, piece, achieve, cashier, relieve, diesel, achieve, belief and perceive, deceive, ceiling,…
"ie" or "ei"
In most words that do not have the pronunciation /i:/ as in belief, the usual order is e before i. Examples: leisure, neighbour, height,…
Writing "i" before "e" except after "c"
Generally "i" comes before "e," unless the vowel pair follows the letter "c". Examples: receive perceive, deceit, receipt, conceit, ceiling, conceited, deceive,…
vowel pair "ei"
Generally "i" comes before "e," unless the vowel pair makes a long "a" sound. Examples: vein, eight, height, foreign, veil, neighbour, weigh,…
Rule brakers
Some exceptions : weird, neither,….
prefix
Prefixes: dis-, in-, inter-, mis-, over-, super-, un-, under-, ...
When there is a prefix, we do not normally add or take away more letters. Examples: disobey, dissatisfied, inhumane, insane, international, misrule, misspell, overhear, superhuman, unnatural, unsure, underpass,….
Prefixes: il-, im-, ir-,
The prefix "in-" becomes "il-" before l. Examples: illegible, illiterate, illogical,..
Prefixes: il-, im-, ir-,
The prefix "in-" becomes "im-" before m or p. Examples: immoral, immature, impossible,…
Prefixes: il-, im-, ir-,
The prefix "in-" becomes "ir-" before r. Examples: irrelevant, irresponsible, irreplaceable,…
