Some Helpful Tips

1   i before e except after c, if the sound is ee

 e.g. believe, achieve, chief, siege, deceit, receipt, ceiling

 Exception to the rule: seize, counterfeit, weir(d), species.)

Note: The rule does not apply when ie or ei is not pronounced   es.  

2  Verbs ending in –eed and –ede

With suc-, ex- and pro-    

Double ee must be.  e.g. succeed, exceed, proceed

Otherwise: intercede, precede, recede, concede.

3  c or s?

Usually the noun has c; the verb s.

 e.g.  prophecy (noun) to prophesy (verb)

       advice (noun)   to advise (verb)

 In some cases either c or s is used for both the noun and the verb                                e.g. practice, license.)

4. Doubling the letter before –ing, -ed, and other suffixes which                                          start with a vowel,    

 e.g., -er, -est, -able)

The final consonant is doubled before –ing, ed, etc.

(a)   in words containing a single short vowel (e.g. tap, hop):

 e.g. hopping (short) as opposed to hoping (long)

 Distinguish: shinning (up a tree), shining (sun)

               starring, staring; scarred, scared

               dinning (it into you), dining (room)

               dinner, diner (A diner eats a dinner.)

(b) in longer words where the stress falls on a short vowel at the end of                            the word:

 e.g. begin(ning), occur(red), (p)referred, committed, admitted, fulfilling,                               regrettable, forgettable

 but not when the stress is elsewhere:

 e.g. offer(ing), happening, benefited, galloped, preference

 (Exceptions: handicapped, kidnapped.)

5   Plurals

The general rule is to add an “s”,or after s, x, ch, sh, z, to add “es.”

(a) If the noun ends in a consonant followed by a y drop they and add “ies”:

 e.g. fairy – fairies; monastery—monasteries;

                lady —ladies; ally—allies; story—stories

If the noun ends in a vowel followed by y, simply add s.

 e.g. donkeys, valleys, monkeys, chimneys, alleys, boys, trays

(b) Nouns ending in o, except for those listed below add s:

 e.g dynamos, photos

Exceptions: tomatoes, potatoes, heroes, mosquitoes, echoes, mottoes,           torpedoes, cargoes, volcanoes, vetoes, embargoes, tornadoes, dominoes,          buffaloes, desperadoes, haloes, noes.)

(c) Nouns ending in f and fe. There is no rule, though attention to pronunciation                helps:                      

 e.g. calves, wives, knives, halves, shelves, thieves, loaves, roofs,                                    proofs, chiefs

 Some have either:

 e.g. hoofs/hooves, wharfs/wharves

(d) Some nouns keep their foreign plurals:

 e.g. crisis—crises; oasis—oases

       criterion—criteria; phenomenon—phenomena

        terminus—termini (or uses); larva—larvae

        medium—media (but mediums to contact)

(e) Hyphenated compounds usually add the s to the main noun part:

 e.g. passers-by, sons-in-law

(f) A few nouns have the same form in singular and plural:

 e.g. sheep, aircraft

 6 Words with prefix dis- or mis-

Do not add extra letters when a word contains the prefix dis- or mis-:

 e.g. dis + appear = disappear

       dis + appoint = disappoint

 A double s will appear only when the word to which the prefix is added                          starts with an s:

 e.g. service      disservice

       spell           misspell

       satisfied      dissatisfied

7 Suffixes–ful, -fully; -al, -ally

(a) Adjectives formed with the suffix –ful or –al (e.g. careful, actual)                                 have one l.

(b) When forming adverbs add –ly as usual:

 e.g.    careful              carefully

           beautiful             beautifully

           real                   really

           accidental           accidentally

           actual                actually

(c) Adjectives ending in –ic form adverbs in –ically (except, publicly):

 e.g. basically, terrifically, fantastically

8 Words ending in a silent e

(a) These usually keep the e before suffixes which begin with a consonant:

 e.g. hopeful, arrangement, sincerely, completely

(Exceptions: argument, truly, duly, wholly.)

(b) If the suffix begins with a vowel the e is usally dropped:

 e.g. come-coming; argue-arguing;

                 inquire-inquiry; subtle-subtly

 (Verbs ending in -oe do not drop the e: e.g. canoeing, hoeing.)

(c)  After words ending in –ce or –ge the e must be kept so that                                       the c/g remains a “soft” sound (i.e. as in Cecil or George, not                                      “hard” as in catgut):

 e.g. noticeable, serviceable, manageable, courageous, singeing (burning)

 (Contrast the pronunciation of singing, navigable, practicable.)

9 Words ending in –y

 (a)   Words ending in–y preceded by a consonant change the y to i  before                         any suffix except – ing 

  e.g.                   cry                   cried                 crying

                          try                    tried                 trying

                          dry                    dries, drier        drying

                          satisfy              satisfied            satisfying

                          hungry               hungrier,           hungrily 

                          necessary          necessarily

(Exceptions: shyly, slyer, spryest, dryness.)

(b) Verbs like lie, die, tie, become lying, dying, tying.                                                              (To dye [clothes] becomes dyeing.)

10 Words ending in -ic     These add a k before –ing, -ed, -er:                                    e.g.   picnic            picnicking

           panic             panicking

           mimic             mimicked

           traffic            trafficker

11 Prefixes fore-, for, ante,  anti-

(a)   The prefix fore- means in front or beforehand: e.g. forewarn, forecast,                        forestall, foreground (Contrast: forbid, forbearance.)

(b)   Ante- means before; anti- means against: e.g. antenatal, anteroom;                           antidote, antiseptic