Spelling rules

Spelling rules
Here's quick cheatsheet with some spelling rules and letter combinations. These are rules and examples from "The Spelling Skills Handbook", By John Barwick and Jenny Barwick*.

Most of these rules noted below apply to plural nouns and to changes in verb forms.

If a word ends in -ch, add –es (e.g., lunches)

Exception: If the -ch makes /k/ sound, just add -s.

If a word ends in -sh, add –es (e.g., blushes)

Don’t be caught by fish. Remember, one fish... two fish

If a word ends in –ss or –s, add –es (e.g., buses)
If a word ends in –o, add either –s or –es (e.g., mosquitoes)

Note: dingoes can also be dingos

If a word ends in –x or -z, add –es (e.g., sixes, waltzes)

Important: If z comes after a vowel, double the z before adding the -es (e.g. quizzes)

If a word ends in a consonant and –y, change –y to –I and add –es (e.g., the word party changes to parties)
If a word ends in –y, change the –y to –I to add suffices other than –ing

To avoid having double i, always keep the final –y when adding –ing (e.g. trying).
Important: watch out for skiing, which does contain double i
Other examples include the following:

Base word	Add -es	Add -ed	Add -ly	Add -able	Add -ness	Add –ment
carry	carries	carried
cry	cries	cried
vary	varies	varied		variable
merry			merrily			merriment
happy			happily		happiness

If a word ends in –ay, -ey or –oy, do not change the base word to add suffixes (e.g. highways, keys, boys)

Base word	Add -s	Add -ed	Add -ing
play	plays	played	playing
employ	employs	employed	employing
enjoy	enjoys	enjoyed	enjoying
delay	delays	delayed	delaying
pay	pays	(paid)**	paying
buy	buys	(bought)**	buying

**Some verbs in the past tense change their form rather than adding –ed.

This rule also applies to adjectives. Adjectives are words that describe, or give more information about, a noun or pronoun.

Base word	Add -ful	Add -less	Add -ous
joy	joyful	joyless	joyous
play	playful

Put “i before e except after c”, when it rhymes with bee

o ie words (i before the e…) that rhyme with bee: (e.g. achieve, believe)

o cei words (…except after c) that rhyme with bee: (e.g. ceiling, conceit, conceive)

o Exceptions: seize, weir, weird, protein, caffeine, codeine, Neil, Sheila, Keith, Reid

If a word ends in a silent –e, drop the –e to add a suffix beginning with a vowel (including –y)

Base word	Add -ed	Add-ing	Add -y	Add -ous	Add -al	Add -ion
use	used	using
admire	admired	admiring
scare	scared	scaring	scary
nerve			nervy	nervous
culture	cultured				cultural
fuse	fused	fusing				fusion

o Important: Keep the final –e when adding a suffix beginning with a consonant

Base word	Add -ly	Add -ful	Add -less	Add -ness	Add -ty	Add -some
sore	sorely			soreness
loose	loosely			looseness
safe	safely				safety
lone	lonely					lonesome
care		careful	careless
hope		hopeful	hopeless
use		useful	useless
noise			noiseless

o Important: Do not drop the final –e when adding –able to words ending in –ce and –ge which have a soft sound (e.g. noticeable, manageable)

If a word ends in a single vowel followed by a single consonant, double the consonant to add a suffix beginning with a vowel.

Base word	Add -ed	Add -ing	Add -er
bat	batted	batting	batter
travel	travelled	travelling	traveller
marvel	marvelled	marvelling
commit	committed	committing
control	controlled	controlling	controller

Base word	Add -ous	Add -al	Add -able
marvel	marvellous
commit		committal
control			controllable

In most cases you can form plurals of nouns ending in –f or –fe, by changing the –f, or –fe, to –v and adding –es (e.g., calf to calves)

o Exceptions: chiefs, roofs, handkerchiefs, cliffs, reefs

Some plurals are made by changing some of the letters of the base word, or by adding an unusual suffix (e.g., goose to geese, from medium to media, from fungus to fungi)

Some nouns only exist only as plurals (e.g. one fish = a school of fish, one deer = a herd of deer, one salmon = four salmon, one sheep = a mob of sheep)

Related links

References:

*Barwick, J (1999). The Spelling Skills Handbook. Sydney: Horwitz Education, pp42-54.

Spelling rules

Written by Vu Long Tran

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