Spelling Rules

1. Spelling Rules

2. QUQ always needs a U

3. CC says /s/ before E, I, or Y.(otherwise, C usually says /k/) cent, city, cycle

4. GG may say /j/ before E, I, or Y.(otherwise, G usually says /g/) germ, giant, gym

5. A, E, O, UA, E, O, U usually say /A, E, O, U/ at the end of a syllable. la-zy, me, go, u-nit

6. I, YI and Y usually say /i/ at the end of a syllable (cli-nic) but MAY say /I/.

7. I, U, V, JEnglish words do not end inI, U, V, or J.

8. Silent Final E The preceding vowel sound changes because of the E.

9. The Supporter E English words do not end with V or U (the E holds them up!).

10. The Softening E The C says /s/ and the G says /j/ because of the E.

11. The Sidekick E Every syllable must have a vowel (a silent E adds a vowel to a syllable).

12. The Odd Job E A silent final E that does any odd job not covered by another E rule.

13. OROR usually says /er/ when W comes before O-R.

14. IE or EIUse I before E (chief)…-except after C (receive)-if we say A (their)-and in some exceptions.

15. SH/Sh/ used at the beginning of a word (she)at the end of a syllable (fish),but NOT at the beginning of any syllable after the first one (na-tion),except for the ending –ship (friend-ship).

16. TI, CI, SILatin spellings of /sh/ used at the beginning of any syllable after the first one. na-tion, fa-cial, ten-sion

17. AbbreviationsAbbreviations use a few letters to represent a larger word. Mr. = Mister

18. 1-1-1 RuleWhen a one syllable word ends in one vowel then one consonant, double the last consonant before adding a vowel suffix. get, get-ting

19. 2-1-1 Accent RuleWhen a two syllable word ends in one vowel then one consonant, double the last consonant before adding a vowel suffix IF the accent is on the last syllable. forget, for-get-ting

20. Silent Final E WordsSilent Final E words commonly lose the need for the E when adding a VOWEL suffix. hope, hop-ing, hopeless

21. FF, LL, SSWe often double F, L, S after a single vowel at the end of a base word (off, all, con-fess). Occasionally, other letters are doubled in this way (ebb, odd, egg, inn, err, watt, jazz).

22. AYA-Y usually says /A/ at the end of a base word (may, pay, day). When a word ends with an A, it says /ah/ (ma, pa, soda).Exception: the word “a”

23. I & OI and O may say /I/ and /O/ before two consonants. bind, gold

24. XSX is never directly before S. boxes, excel

25. ALL and FULL are written with one L when added to another syllable. almost, beautiful, fulfill

26. PluralsTo make a word plural, just add –S unless the word ending hisses (rich, bus, wish, box, buzz), changes (wife/wives, fly/flies) or may end with O (tomato/tomatoes). In these cases, add –ES.

27. DGE3 letter /j/ used only after a single vowel that says /a-e-i-o-u/. badge, edge, bridge, lodge, fudge

28. A Single Vowel YThe single vowel Y (not -oy, -ey, -ay) changes to I when adding ANY ending (try/tried, beauty/ beautiful, baby/babies) unless the ending begins with an I (trying/babyish)

29. CK2 letter /k/ used only after a single vowel that says /a-e-i-o-u/. back, peck, pick, pocket, truck

30. CapitalizationCAPITALIZE words that are the individual names or titles of persons, places, or things.

31. ZZ, never S, is used to say /z/ at the beginning of a base word. zoo, zip, zero

32. EDE-D, past-tense ending, forms another syllable if the base word ends with /d/ or /t/ (loaded, acted).If not, E-D sounds like either /d/ or /t/ (killed, picked).

33. ContractionsContractions replace a letter (or letters) with an apostrophe to contract (or shorten) a phrase. I am = I’m she will = she’ll

34. Phonogramsphonograms listed first; sounds listed second

35. A /a/ - /A/ - /ah/

36. B /b/

37. C /k/ - /s/

38. D /d/

39. E /e/ - /E/

40. F /f/

41. G /g/ - /j/

42. H /h/

43. I /i/ - /I/

44. J /j/

45. K /k/

46. L /l/

47. M /m/

48. N /n/

49. O /ah/ - /O/ - /OO/

50. P /p/