If you’ve ever felt afraid to write without a spell checker, this lesson is for you. While you should definitely keep spell check turned on, here are a few simple rules to boost your spelling confidence.
Did you ever learn the rhyme, “I before E except after C, or when sounded as A, as in neighbour and weigh”? That mnemonic makes this rule easy to remember, so let’s look at some examples:
Now, it’s time for some exceptions!
Spell check will almost certainly correct you if you spell one of these words wrong.
If a word ends in -y when it’s singular, change it to -ie when you pluralize:
Generally, you make a word plural by adding -s to the end of it. But with words that end in -s, -sh, -ch, -x, -z, you add -es to make them plural.
If the -ch is pronounced like a “k”, you pluralize by just adding -s.
This is our last rule about plurals. Words that end in -f or -fe usually change their ending to -ves in the plural.
Of course, there are exceptions:
Words that end in -ff just add -s:
When you add a suffix (ending) to a word, double the final consonant if the last three letters are consonant vowel consonant.
There are many exceptions to this rule, so pay attention to your spell checker.
Adding -ly to a word is very common when you’re forming adverbs. Generally, you just stick the -ly right on to the end of the word.
Now, it’s time for some exceptions!
If the word ends in -ll, just add -y:
If the word ends in -le, remove the -e and and -y:
If the word ends in -y, remove the -y and add -ily:
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