English Spellings

The Importance of Syllables in Spelling

Consonant Blends
Prefixes as an aid to spelling
Suffixes - their importance in spelling
Suffixes and Stressed Syllables
Words ending -ly and -ect
Words ending ic and ick
Words ending -er, -or, and -ar
Words ending with ation
Changing verbs ending with -ate to nouns ending with –
ation
Words ending -able and -ible
Words ending ical, icle and acle
Magic e Words (often known as split digraphs)
Vowels
Plural Words
i before e, or e before i?
Apostrophe
Homophones
Word beginnings
The Trouble with Spell Checkers
Proofreading
American and British Spelling - some differences
Spelling Rules in brief

1
The Importance of Syllables in Spelling
All good spellers are skilful at breaking words up into syllables.
Syllables are the individual sounds that make up a word:
o care-ful
o hos-pit-al
o u-ni-ver-si-ty
Breaking a word into syllables makes it easier to deal with one
small bit at a time.

Practice:
1. Read aloud each of the following words, then break it into
syllables. Try "clapping" the word: one clap for each syllable.
Finally write it in the third column - without looking back!
nowadays now-a-days
probably
shampoo
impossible
wondering
ordinary

2. Read the following words aloud and then break them into
syllables and write in the third column. Try to write the whole
word without looking back.
problem
themselves
neither
spoonful
sideways
scrambled
gentlemen
autobiography
continental
intercontinental

3. Breaking words into syllables is an important skill in spelling.

It's often better to place the dash between the double letters, for

2
example ap-par- ent-ly. Break up the following words into
syllables:
apparently particular necessary
supervisor approximately technician
exaggerate outrageous responsible

Here are the answers to the first part of syllable 3:

ap-par-ent-ly par-tic-u-lar ne-ces-sa-ry
su-per-vi-sor ap-prox-i-mate-ly tech-ni-cian
ex-ag-ge-rate out-rage-ous re-spon-si-ble

Consonant Blends

3
Some words start with a consonant blend. This is where two or
more consonants run into one another or blend together. Here
are some examples:

blanket plastic treat stripe grand

Consonant blends are often difficult to hear so say the words

very clearly.

Practice:
1. Here are some more examples. Use a dictionary to add 3
more words which begin with each consonant blend.
blunder
broken
climate
cracker
dreadful

2. Use a dictionary to add 3 more words which begin with the

same consonant blend as the example:
flood
fridge
globe
group
platform
protect
scorch
scratch
shred
sketch

3. Use a dictionary to add 3 more words which begin with the

same consonant blend as the example:
shriek
slippery
smoke

4
snooze
special
splendid
sprinkle
squeeze
statue
struggle
4. Use a dictionary to add 3 more words which begin with the
same consonant blend as each example:
swindle
throat
treasure
twinkle

5. Read the following passage aloud and underline the words

starting with a consonant blend:
Steven dropped the stick into the stream and watched it float
under the bridge. He started to cross the road but stopped when
he heard a squeal of brakes and a tremendous crash. Running
around the corner he saw that a Ford Transit van had plunged
down a steep ravine. The driver was struggling to climb out but
his legs appeared to be trapped beneath the steering column.
"Try to keep still," shouted Steven. "I'll phone the emergency
services."

Here are the words starting with a consonant blend: Steven

dropped the stick into the stream and watched it float under the
bridge. He started to cross the road but stopped when he heard
a squeal of brakes and a tremendous
crash. Running around the corner he saw that a Ford Transit van
had plunged down a steep ravine. The driver was struggling to
climb out but his leg appeared to be trapped beneath the
steering column. "Try to keep still," shouted Steven. "I'll phone
the emergency services."

5
Prefixes as an aid to spelling
A prefix is a group of letters placed at the start of a root word to
change its meaning. Some complicated words are less difficult to
spell if you are familiar with prefixes. Prefixes are very useful in
understanding and spelling some words - especially long words.

Here are some common examples in the following list:

PREFIX MEANING EXAMPLES
against or opposite
anti- anticlockwise, antibiotic
to
auto- self autobiography, automat
dis- not, or away dissimilar, disconnect
in- not insane, inhuman
il- not illogical, illegal
im- not immature, improbable
ir- not irrelevant, irregular
inter- between international, intermarry
mis- wrong misunderstand, misspell
post- after postnatal, postscript
pre- before prenatal, prehistoric
pro- for, or forward propose, pro-British
re- again, or back rewrite, reconsider
sub- under submarine, substandard
super- above supervisor, superhuman
trans- across transport, transplant
un- not, or in reverse unfinished, unarmed

un- and dis-

Two common prefixes are un- and dis-, both meaning not, or
the opposite of.
Fill in the blanks in the following table:
un + equal unequal dis + please displease
unforeseen dis + order
un + likely disrespect

6
 unnecessary dis + service
un + official dis + place
un + lawful disprove
undressed dissatisfied
un +
dis + comfort
predictable
unprofessional dis + possess
un + popular dissimilar

NOTICE: when the prefix ends with the same letter as the first
letter of the base word, the letter is doubled, for example:
dissimilar, unnecessary.

in-, il-, ir-, im-

Another prefix meaning "not" or "the opposite of" is in-
The spelling of this prefix often changes to match the first letter
of the base word. This sometimes results in a double letter. So, if
we want to say the opposite of legal we say "illegal" instead of
"inlegal" (which would be awkward to get your tongue around!).
The pattern is like this:
*Use il- before words starting with l. So not legible = illegible.
*Use ir- before words starting with r. So not relevant =
irrelevant
*Use im- before words starting with m but also in front of words
starting with p.
So: not mature = immature not perfect = imperfect.

Fill in the blanks in the following table.

not literate= illiterate not rational= irrational
not mobile = immobile not proper = improper
not
not regular=
legitimate=
not modest = not personal =
not
not mortal =
responsible
not possible = not logical =

7
Use in- before any other letter. So:
not adequate = inadequate not capable = incapable
not decent = indecent not offensive = inoffensive

Another prefix meaning "not" or "the opposite of" is in-

The spelling of this prefix often changes to match the first letter
of the base word. This sometimes results in a double letter. So, if
we want to say the opposite of legal we say "illegal" instead of
"inlegal" (which would be awkward to get your tongue around!).
The pattern is like this:
*Use il- before words starting with l. So not legible = illegible.
*Use ir- before words starting with r. So not relevant =
irrelevant
*Use im- before words starting with m but also in front of words
starting with p.
So: not mature = immature not perfect = imperfect.

Here's the table from prefix 3 worksheet with the answers:

not literate= illiterate not rational= irrational
not mobile = immobile not proper = improper
not legitimate
illegitimate not regular= irregular
=
not modest = immodest not personal = impersonal
not
not mortal = immortal irresponsible
responsible
not possible = impossible not logical = illogical

Use in- before any other letter. So:

not adequate = inadequate not capable = incapable
not decent = indecent not offensive = inoffensive

Remember, you use:

il- if the base word starts with l. For example not legal = illegal
im- if the base word starts with m or p.
For example not mobile = immobile, not proper = improper

8
ir- if the base word starts with r. For example not relevant =
irrelevant
in- if the base word starts with any letter other than l, m, p, or r.
For example not adequate = inadequate

Choose the correct words in the following.

1 not literate inliterate irliterate
illiterate
2 not effective imeffectiv ireffective ineffective
e
3 not perfect inperfect imperfect ilperfect
4 not inreversibl irreversible imreversibl
reversible e e
5 not legible inlegible imlegible illegible
6 not eligible ileligible ireligible ineligible
7 not relevant irrelevant inrelevant imrelevant
8 not possible inpossible ilpossible impossible
9 not irresponsi inresponsib imresponsi
responsible ble le ble
1 not mature inmature immature ilmature
0
1 not sufficient imsufficien insufficient irsufficient
1 t
1 not logical illogical imlogical inlogical
2

in, im, il and ir

Before the start of this exercise, look back at prefix 3 to remind
yourself of the patterns concerning prefixes in-, im-, il-, ir-. Now
write the negative versions of the following words by adding in-,
im-, il-, or ir- to the base words.
Base word Negative form Base word Negative form
polite audible
human reversible
visible patient
regular eligible
competent resistible
9
possible logical
Here are the answers to exercise prefix4.
Base word Negative form Base word Negative form
polite impolite audible inaudible
human inhuman reversible irreversible
visible invisible patient impatient
regular irregular eligible ineligible
competent incompetent resistible irresistible
possible impossible logical illogical

Here are some common examples of prefixes:

PREFIX MEANING PREFIX MEANING
anti- against, opposite to dis- not, or away
in- not il- not
im- not ir- not
inter- between mis- wrong
re- again, or back un- not, in reverse

1. Here are some root words. Build new words by adding one of
these prefixes to the root word.
Root Word New Word Root Word New Word
tidy untidy behave
honest complete
legal understand
mingle perfect
edible heat
relevant treat
imaginative mortal
like possible
consistent contented
septic appetizing

Here are the answers to Prefix 6 exercise:

Root Word New Word Root Word New Word
tidy untidy behave misbehave
10
honest dishonest complete incomplete
legal illegal understand misunderstand
mingle intermingle perfect imperfect
edible inedible heat reheat
relevant irrelevant treat mistreat
imaginative unimaginative mortal immortal
like dislike possible impossible
consistent inconsistent contented discontented
septic antiseptic appetizing unappetizing

con- and ex-

Two words con- and ex- are at the start of words. They sounds to
spell always in the same way.
Complete the following sentences by using con- or ex- to fill in
the blanks:

1. The hills seemed to ___tend for ever.

2. The Queen ___gratulated the ___plorer on the success of the

___pedition.
3.It's no ___aggeration to say that physical ___ercise leaves me
totally ___hausted.

4. The firemen ___tinguished the flames with ___siderable ease.

5. We are seeking someone with ___cellent ___amination results,

___perience of dealing directly with ___sumers, and an ability to
organize ___hibitions.

6. She ___sidered the ___tra ___pense of ___tinuing the course for

a further year an unnecessary___travagance unless her parents
were willing to ___tribute
to the cost.

7. ___centrate on syllables and you will soon become a ___fident

speller.

11
8. We hadn't realized we were in ___treme danger until the
coastguard ___tacted us.

Here are a few more prefixes. Some of them are less common
than the previous ones.
PREFIX MEANING EXAMPLES
semi- half semicircle, semiconscious
bi- two or twice biannual, biweekly
tri- three triangle, triathlon
multi- many multilingual, multimillionaire
mono- one or single monorail, monoplane
micro- very small microscope, microchip
ultra- extreme ultrasound, ultrabasic
hyper- too much hypersensitive, hypercritical
extra- outside, or beyond extraordinary, extrasensory
If you're not sure about the meaning of any of these words be
sure to look them up in a dictionary.

Suffixes - their importance in spelling

A suffix is simply an ending that's added to a base word to form
a new word. Examples:
Base word Suffix New Word
interest -ing interesting
noise -y noisy
breath -less breathless
popular -ity popularity
drop -let droplet

A key thing to know about a suffix is whether it starts with a

consonant or a vowel. Here are some widely used suffixes:
Consonan
Vowel
t Examples Examples
Suffixes
Suffixes
-ful hopeful, plentiful -er, -or farmer, collector
-less useless, tasteless -en mistaken, hidden

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-ly bravely, frankly -ish foolish, thinnish
movement, limitation,
-ment -ation
agreement reservation
darkness,
-ness -ing
happiness

Adding a suffix to words ending in silent e

Following are silent e words. Observe the changes when added a
suffix.
+consonant Base +vowel
Base word
suffix word suffix
hope hopeless note notable
state statement calculate calculation
spite spiteful reserve reservation
late lately late latest
extreme extremely expense expensive
When a consonant suffix is added to the base word, it doesn't
change. When a vowel suffix is added, drop the silent e.

Adding suffixes to words ending -ce and -ge

When adding a consonant suffix: keep the silent e
When adding a vowel suffix: drop the silent e
So: blame+less = blameless but blame+ing = blaming

But there are a few exceptions. Here's the main one:

Where the base word ends in -ce or -ge, then
you keep the silent e before -able and -ous. So:
enforce + able = enforceable
notice + able = noticeable
service + able = serviceable
courage + ous = courageous
outrage + ous = outrageous

Doubling Consonants when Adding a Suffix

This is an area where lots of good spellers are unsure. For

example, to write the word plan + ing, is it planing or planning?
13
Luckily there's a very useful pattern. It might sound complicated
at first but it's one of the most useful patterns to know about.

If the base word has:

one syllable, one short vowel (the short vowels are ham, bed, lip,
rot, gun),
one consonant at the end you double the final consonant when
you add a vowel suffix.
Examples:
slip has one syllable, one short vowel (i) and one consonant (p)
at the end so:
slip + ed = slipped (double p) and:
bed + ing = bedding, flat + est = flattest
fun + y = funny hot + er = hotter
In case of a consonant suffix, the base word doesn't change:
bag + ful = bagful, wet + ness = wetness

Now make new words by adding suffixes to the following base

words.
hot + est hottest fat + ish
grin + ed stop + ing
pot + er gun +ed
sun + y wrap + ing
spot + y step + ed
run + ing spot + ed
can + ed bat + ing
fit + ing net + ing
Here are some sentences. Cross out the incorrect word.
1. "What are you grining/grinning at?" said Nigel.
2. Sue took up joging/jogging to improve her fitness.
3. Ali took a jugful/juggful of orange juice into the garden.
4. We wraped/wrapped the gift in silver paper.
5. July was the hotest/hottest month of the year.

Answers to Suffix 4B
14
hot + est hottest fat + ish fattish
grin + ed grinned stop + ing stopping
pot + er potter gun +ed gunned
sun + y sunny wrap + ing wrapping
spot + y spotty step + ed stepped
run + ing running spot + ed spotted
can + ed canned bat + ing batting
fit + ing fitting net + ing netting
Here are the sentences. The incorrect words have been removed.
1. "What are you grinning at?" said Nigel.
2. Sue took up jogging to improve her fitness.
3. Ali took a jugful of orange juice into the garden.
4. We wrapped the gift in silver paper.
5. July was the hottest month of the year.

Suffixes and Stressed Syllables

There is another group of words which cause many people to
make mistakes. Once again, the problem is to decide whether or
not to double the final consonant of the base word when adding
a suffix. Read the following words aloud and try to decide where
you place the stress or emphasis:
profit target enter order
begin equip regret commit

You should notice that in the top line you stressed the first
syllable. And in the bottom line you stressed the second syllable.
Like this:
profit target enter order
begin equip regret commit

If the stress is on the first syllable the base word doesn't change:
profit + able = profitable; and enter + ed = entered
15
If the stress is on the last syllable, double the final consonant
before adding a vowel suffix: begin + ing = beginning; and equip
+ ed = equipped
(No change if a consonant suffix is added so: equip + ment =
equipment )

Practice:
1. Use the pattern to add suffixes to the following:
1st syllable stressed 2nd syllable stressed
garden + er forget + able
limit + ed begin + ing
order + ing occur + ing
alter + ation omit + ed
market + ing regret + ful
Suffixes and Stressed Syllables
Answers to Suffix 5
1st syllable stressed 2nd syllable stressed
garden + er forget + able forgettable gardener
limit + ed begin + ing beginning limited
order + ing occur + ing occurring ordering
alter + ation omit + ed omitted alteration
market + ing regret + ful regretful marketing

So don't write regrettful for the final example: -ful is a consonant

suffix so don't need to change the base word!
But regret + ing would have been regretting because -ing is a
vowel suffix.

Stressed Syllables and Suffixes - another activity

Spelling Pattern: For words of two syllables ending in one vowel

and one consonant
If the stress is on the first syllable the base word doesn't change:
profit + able = profitable; and enter + ed = entered

16
If the stress is on the last syllable, double the final consonant
before adding a vowel suffix:
begin + ing = beginning; and equip + ed = equipped
(No change if a consonant suffix is added so: equip + ment =
equipment )

Tick or highlight the correct spelling in the following sentences:

1. "I don't think Julie's very commited/committed to her school
work," said her mother.
"I don't agree," said the teacher, "I feel that she's shown a great
deal of commitment/committment this year."

2. Dave submited/submitted his enrolment/enrollment form two

days after the closing date.

3. Nathan and Kim admited/admitted they had forgoten/forgotten

their homework assignments.

4. "Let's begin at the begining/ beginning," said the detective.

5. Part of the marketing/ marketting manager's job involved

budgeting/ budgetting for the advertising schedule.

6. Sandy regreted/regretted not ordering/orderring the very

latest equipment/equippment. He had omited/omitted to
consider the efficiency savings and now realized that his
business could have been much more profitable/profittable.

7. The security guard patroled/patrolled the fence,

prefering/preferring to stay awake by keeping busy.

8. Refering/referring to the boss by her Christian name was

strictly forbiden/forbidden.

17
Suffixes and Stressed Syllables:
Adding a suffix to words ending y
Notice if there is a vowel or a consonant immediately before y.
For example:
Words ending Words ending
vowel +y consonant +y
delay reply
convey busy
destroy pity

There are two important patterns:

* If the word ends in a vowel +y the base word doesn't change:

delay + ed = delayed
employ + ment = employment

* If the word ends in a consonant +y, when you add any suffix
except -ing,
then change the y to i:
reply + ed = replied
busy + ness = business
pity + ful = pitiful
but reply + ing = replying

Copy the new word into the third column of this table.
Base word + Copy new
New word
suffix word here
busy + ly busily
pity + ful pitiful
carry + ed carried
carry + ing carrying
bury + al burial
supply + er supplier
happy +
happiness
ness
empty +ing emptying
18
 empty + ed emptied

Fill in the blanks in the following table:

Base word Suffix New Word
pretty est prettiest
noisy ly
easy easiest
ed supplied
try er
gloomy est
marry married
ment employment
mystery ous
apply appliance
ous envious
age marriage
Answers to Suffix 7B
Base word Suffix New Word
pretty est prettiest
noisy ly noisily
easy est easiest
supply ed supplied
try er trier
gloomy est gloomiest
marry ed married
employ ment employment
mystery ous mysterious
apply ance appliance
envy ous envious
marry age marriage

19
words ending -ly and -ect
Listen carefully to the way people speak. Notice how they often
run one word into another or drop the end off a word altogether.
Ask someone to read this sentence aloud a few times:
"Sally popped down to the shops."
Listen particularly to "popped down". Did it sound like "popt" or
did they just miss out the -ed completely? Very often the sound
of a word isn't much help in telling you how to spell it.
1. Some endings can be heard clearly enough to help us
spell them. Here are two of them. Copy out the
following words:
slowly inspect
happily project
normally neglect
20
 separately recollect
positively architect

words ending ic and ick

The end of a word is often hard to hear because we tend to run
one word into another when speaking. A sound you can usually
hear quite clearly is -ick or -ic. Same sound but two spellings.
However there is a simple way to spot the difference.

1. Look at the following words and copy them in the spaces:

Ending
Ending -ic
-ick
kick traffic
click panic
trick Titanic
chick ethnic
sick clinic
Did you spot the difference?
21
The words with only one syllable end in -ick. The words having
more than one syllable end in -ic. There are only a few
exceptions to this pattern and these usually happen where two
words are joined together as in homesick and candlestick.
2. On a spare piece of paper write down all the words
you can think of that end with -ick. Work your way through
the alphabet, not forgetting words that start with two
consonants such as brick.

Words ending ic
1. Notice that each of the following words has more than
one syllable and ends in -ic. Copy each word in the
space alongside.
mimi scienti
c fic
tonic magic
horrif
tonic
ic
Arcti Antarc
c tic
traffi
comic
c
logic tragic

22
 2. Look at this e-mail. Some of the words have been left
out.
Hi Mac,
I was late for school today because of the heavy 1
. We were doing a new 2 in Geography about
the world's oceans. Our teacher told us about the two
largest oceans, the 3 and the 4 .
Then she went on to describe the 5 and the
6 at the very north and south of the globe. In
7 we were doing long multiplication sums. We're
hoping to go on a 8 in the woods on Saturday if
the 9 gets our car fixed in time. It would be
10 if you could come too. Let me know as soon
as possible.
Love, Elizabeth

Answers to worksheet on words ending ic

The e-mail should have read as follows:
Hi Mac.
I was late for school today because of the heavy 1 traffic. We
were doing a new 2 topic in Geography today about the world's
oceans. Our teacher told us about the two largest oceans, the 3
Pacific and the 4 Atlantic . Then she went on to describe the 5
Arctic and the 6 Antarctic at the very north and south of the
globe. In 7 Arithmetic we were doing long multiplication sums.
We're hoping to go on a 8 picnic in the woods on Saturday if the
9 mechanic gets our car fixed in time. It would be 10 terrific if
you could come too. Let me know as soon as possible.
Love, Elizabeth
Now write down the words on a separate paper.

23
Words ending -er, -or, and -ar
There are lots of words in English which end with the -er sound.
But it is difficult to be sure whether the sound is made by -er, -or
or -ar. There's no easy rule but there are a few helpful word
patterns:
1. There are more than ten times as many words ending with
-er than -or and -ar together. So, if you guess -er then there's a
good chance that you'll be right!
2. Verbs ending in a silent e usually change to nouns by
ending -er: dive/diver wade/wader write/writer
avenge/avenger
3. -er is also the most common way of ending a word for
someone carrying out an action:
Person carrying out the
Action
action
reporting reporter
playing player
fighting fighter
listening listener
printing printer
cleaning cleaner

Choose the correct words in the following:

1 operater operator operatar
2 spectaculor spectaculer spectacular
3 reportar reporter reportor
4 trespassor trespasser trespassar
5 collecter collectar collector
6 quizmastar quizmastor quizmaster
7 instructor instructar instructer
8 aligater aligatar aligator
9 similar similer similer

24
1 inspecter inspector inspectar
0
1 glassmakar glassmaker glassmakor
1
1 accelerator accelerater acceleratar
2
1 rectangular rectanguler rectangulor
3
1 manufacturor manufacturar manufacturer
4
1 musculer musculor muscular
5
Words ending with ation
1. There are many words in English which end with -ation. This is
a very useful pattern to learn. Here are just a few common
examples. Read them out aloud.

station location relation

registration coronation nation
preparation duration hesitation
situation reputation starvation
cultivation vibration population
desperation sensation decoration
celebration quotation equation
habitation agitation donation

2. Add -ation to the following to make whole

words.

lubric- lubrication imagin-

veget- civiliz-
consider- punctu-
Here are the answers to Ends 7A:
lubric- lubrication imagin- imagination
veget- vegetation civiliz- civilization
25
consider- consideration punctu- punctuation

Changing verbs ending with -ate to nouns ending with –

ation
1. Change the following verbs to nouns. Take away the
-ate and add -ation.

Root Verb Noun Root Verb Noun

educatio
educate create
n
demonstrat
operate
e
concentrate exaggerate
retaliate abbreviate
2. Write down the
root verbs of these
Root
nouns. Check in the Noun Root Verb
Verb
dictionary if you need
help. Noun
relegation location
dedication ventilation
radiation indication

Here are the completed grids from ends 7B

Root Verb Noun Root Verb Noun

educate education create creation

26
 demonstratio
operate operation demonstrate
n
concentratio
concentrate exaggerate exaggeration
n
retaliate retaliation abbreviate abbreviation

Noun Root Verb Noun Root Verb

relegation relegate location locate
dedication dedicate ventilation ventilate
radiation radiate indication indicate

Words ending -able and -ible

Two common endings are -able and -ible. But which one to use?
There are no simple rules to follow. But there are three tips that
may be useful:
• If the base word is not altered in any way then add -able.
This works most of the time:
understand —> understandable,
predict —> predictable,
comfort —> comfortable, and so on.
• There are many more words ending -able than -ible.
have a capability to guess and choose -able
• learn the most common –ible words and use -able for the
rest.
many of the -ible words are rarely used. Have you ever
written fungible for instance?
Here are the most common -ible words:
edible: fit for eating
credible: can be believed
audible: can be heard
legible: easy to read
negligible: of no importance
27
 terrible: causing terror
horrible: awful
feasible: can be done
visible: can be seen
sensible: reasonable
responsible
trustworthy
:
possible: liable to happen
digestible: can be digested
flexible: easily bent
permissible
allowable
:
compatible
suitable
:
Many of them have negative forms by adding in-, il-, ir-, or im- .
For example: inedible, illegible, irresponsible, and impossible.

Words ending ical, icle and acle

1. Look at the following words. Their endings sound rather
similar. Read them out aloud.

topical spectacle clinical cubicle

tentacle icicle obstacle article
chronicle comical vehicle logical
mechanical oracle particle miracle

2. Sort the words into three groups:

-ical -acle
-icle (nouns)
(adjectives) (nouns)

28
Notice how the adjectives all end with -ical, and the nouns end
with -acle or -icle.
Handy Tip: Nearly all the words that end with this sound will be
adjectives and will therefore end with -ical.

Consider the following riddle?

Think of words ending in -gry. Angry and hungry are two of them.
There are only three words in the English language. What is the
third word? The word is something that everyone uses every day.
If you have listened carefully, I have already told you what it is.

Three things you need to know about this puzzle are:

1. There are only two common words ending in -gry. They
are angry and hungry. There are several other words
which end like this such as aggry, meagry, puggry and
some others. But none of these could be described as
common words.
2. This is a riddle rather than a genuine question - so you
need to be on guard for some trickery in the wording of
the question.
3. Sometimes this riddle is misquoted. If you don't have the
correct wording it becomes impossible to solve.

29
MAGIC E WORDS (often known as split digraphs)
Read the following words out aloud. Notice how the "magic e"
affects the way we say the previous vowel.
cap cape slop slope
The way we say the -a- in cape is different to the way that we
say it in cap. This is because of the magic e.
1. Copy the following magic e words. Then highlight or
underline the vowel that is affected by the magic e.
made made stage
face close
wake whale
joke bagpipe
exercise promoted
space museum
escape hopeless
arrive craze
hikers surprise
30
 diversion lately
More "magic e" words 1. Read the following story. Then highlight
or underline the words which use a magic e.

Dave rode his bike down the slope. He was going far too fast
so he put on his front brake. This was a bad mistake as the
front wheel locked and he was thrown over the handlebars.
He landed face-first among some stones. He was quite
dazed and for a moment he didn't know where he was.

A neighbour phoned for an ambulance and it soon arrived.

At the hospital they decided that he had a broken nose and
they gave him an ice pack to reduce the swelling. Dave's
Mum picked him up from the hospital and drove him home.
"You had a lucky escape," she said. "You need to be much
more careful in the future."

Vowels:

31
When a vowel sound isn't stressed then it's often difficult to work
out how to spell it. Read the following words and listen to
way you say the underlined vowels:
relative cigarette information
The chances are you didn't pronounce them very clearly
and you might guess that any of the vowels would fit: a; e;
i; o; or u.

Here's a tip: if the vowel sound is not clear then try to think
of another word which comes from the same root and find
one in which the vowel is stressed.
relative relation (the -a- is stressed)
cigarette cigar (the -a- is stressed)
information inform (the -or- is stressed)

1. Put the missing vowels in the following words. Then copy the
whole word in the third column.
define def_nition
sedate sed_tive
explore expl_ration
console cons_lation
preservation preserv_tive

Long vowel sounds: -a- Long vowel sounds: -e-

When you hear a long -e- , particularly in the middle of a word,
it's often spelled -ea- or -ee- , like the words here:
cheap green
reason freezing
leaf keep
loudspeaker between
steal wheel
meal sweetness
revealed proceed
But there's no advice to decide which one it is. Try writing the
word both ways on a scrap of paper, first with -ea- and then with
-ee. Nearly always you'll spot the one you want!
32
1. In the following pairs, underline the word that you think is
correct:
betwean/betwee
breaze/breeze reach/reech
n
freadom/freedo
heating/heeting breathe/breethe
m
season/seeson refugea/refugee meating/meeting
beneath/beneet
fealing/feeling indead/indeed
h
succead/succeed repeat/repeet coffea/coffee

2. Now make some more words by writing -ea- or -ee- in the

blanks:
gr___dy tr___tment fr___zing m___ning
pl___sed bl___k t___th w___kend
b___troot f___ture cr___ture str___t
icecr___m agr___ment gr___se b___chboy

Long vowel sounds: -i-

1- As is usual with long vowel sounds, most long -i- sounds
are written using the magic e. (See the magic e page if
you're not sure about this) For example: fine silent entitled

Underline the i-e combination in each of the following words.

lively mice untimely deadline idle stalactite miserly quite bridle
title write fertile decided trifle dynamite

2- But -igh- and -y also make the long i sound. -igh is usually
found in the middle of a word and the long i right at the end of
a word is nearly always -y.

Write the correct letters in the following words:

repl__, n_____tfall, br____t, suppl__, del_____t, t_____t,
moonl_____t, appl__, terrif__, midn_____t.

3. Try to guess the following words which use -igh or –y for the
33
long I sound.

The pen is m_____tier than the sword.

Starboard is the _______ hand side of the ship.
The victim couldn't identi___ the robber.
You need to m__________ the total by 3 to get the answer.
"Find something to occu___ yourself with," said Toby's Dad.
Thunder and l_____tning can be quite fr______ening
I admit it was my fault. I can't de___ it.
1- Long vowel sounds: -i-
2- The answers to question 3 on page vowels 4 were:

mightier
right
identify
multiply
occupy
lightning and frightening
deny
3- Long vowel sounds: -o-
4- 1. As is usual with long vowel sounds, most long -o- sounds
are written using the magic e. (See the magic e page if
you're not sure about this)
For example: lonely coke rodent stove

Underline the o-e pattern in each of the following words.

slope poker telephone dozed stolen homework stonemason

2. But -oa- and -ow- also make the long o sound. -oa- is
usually found in the middle of a word and the long o right at
the end of a word is nearly always -ow.

Write the correct letters in the following words:

elb___, fl___t, r___dworks, borr___, c___stguard, narr___,
g___lscorer, f___ming, foll___, kn___.

3. Try to guess the following words which use -oa- or –ow for
34
the long o sound.

Robin Hood used a b__ and ______ .

I b______ ed some money from my Dad..
Sw______ the pill. You kn___ it will make you feel better.
What a misery Sam is. He's always m___ning
and gr________.
In alphabetical order, l___f is bel___ l___d.
Foll___ that truck as far as the narr___ bridge.
Molly lives inland but Sarah lives at the c_______.
5- Long vowel sounds: o
6- The answers to question 3 on page vowels5 were:

bow and arrow

borrowed
swallow and know
moaning and groaning
loaf, below and load
follow and narrow
coast

35
Plural Words
Most words in the English language, an 's' to the end of the
wordis added to make a plural:
Singular Plural
a table becomes two tables
one cake becomes three cakes
a planet becomes many
planets
However, there are a few words that behave differently. These
are:
words ending in 'y'
words ending in 'x', 'sh', 's', 'ss', and 'ch'.

Plurals of Words Ending in 'y'

These follow a fairly simple pattern which is easy to follow
as long as you remember the difference between a vowel
and a consonant.
(Vowels are 'a', 'e', 'i', 'o' and 'u'. All the other letters are
consonants)

If the word has a consonant before the final 'y' then the
plural ends with 'ies':
Singular Plural
bully becomes bullies
pony becomes ponies
canary becomes canaries
spy becomes spies
If the word has a vowel before the final y then you just
add an 's':
Singular Plural
day becomes days
36
 delay becomes delays
survey becomes surveys
toy becomes toys
Now fill in the missing words in the following table:
Singular Plural Singular Plural
donkey dictionary
colony fairy
essay Sunday
story similarity
berry artery

Plurals of words ending in 'x', 'sh','s', 'ss', and 'ch'.

Some people describe these as words that "hiss" at the end. It is
not sure that 'ch' hisses exactly, but you get the idea. Add '-es'
to make the plurals, like this:
Singular Plural
box boxes
bush bushes
atlas atlases
glass glasses
church churches

Now fill in the missing words in the following table:

Singular Plural Singular Plural
sandwich guess
tax brush
crash octopus
beach circus
witness reflex
virus address

37
i before e, or e before i?
Spelling rules aren't a lot of use. Usually they are far too
complicated. But here is one that works quite well - as long as
you remember the whole rule:
When you want to say -ee-
it's i before e except after c.

Try to remember always to say the start of the rule:

When you want to say ee ....
1. Work at the rule by separating the following words into
two groups and writing them in the boxes below.
brief ceiling perceive thief field deceive
achieve receipt piece conceited relief
chief diesel receive
i before e e before i

However, when you add -s to words like policy, vacancy and

agency, you follow the normal rule for words ending in -y:
Change the -y to -ie- and add -s
policy + s = policies vacancy + s = vacancies

Notice also, two common exceptions to the i before e rule:

38
 protein seize

Apostrophe
The apostrophe is used above a word for two reasons:
• to show ownership:
o Helen's exercise book - the book belongs to Helen so
the apostrophe goes after Helen.
o The boys' changing room - the changing room
belongs to all the boys, so the apostrophe goes after
boys.
• to show that one or more letters are missing:
They've built a new stadium on the outskirts of town
- the apostrophe shows that ha is missing from They
have.

1. Write the shortened form of the following, making sure

you put the apostrophe in the correct place. The first one is
done for you.
do not don't should not
it is could have
let us will not
would not does not
we have he will

Apostrophe Test
Here's a test to see if you know when and where to put an
apostrophe in a word. Look at the following sentences.
Each sentence has at least one apostrophe missing
somewhere. Try to decide which words need an apostrophe
and then write the sentence correctly. Go back to the
apostrophe guide if you're not sure.
39
 Hint: some of the gaps have been put there just to fool
you!

1. I ask_ed her if she_s coming to see us this weekend.

2. Fred_s the talles_t boy in his class but he still can_t

reach top shelf.

3. You_d better hurry or we_ll be late for rehearsal_s.

4. Apple_s are cheap this year so we_re expecting

Grandma to be baking lot_s of pies.

5. It wasn_t that he couldn_t play card_s, it_s just that he

didn_t enjoy any indoor game_s.

6. They_d once live_d in London_s West End but now

they_ve moved to the country_side.

7. Jenny doesn_t care for women_s_ clothes but prefer_s to

wear a shirt and jean_s.

8. You_re going to have an accident if you don_t put that

knife down.

9. There_s a chance that Graham_s match will be cancelled

as the weather_s expected to get worse.

10. We_d like to go to the we_dding but we_re sitting an

exam on that day.
Apostrophe Test Answers
Here are the answers to the apostrophe test Go back to
the apostrophe guide if you're not sure about any of the
answers.

1. I asked her if she's coming to see us this weekend.

40
2. Fred's the tallest boy in his class but he still can't reach
top shelf.

3. You'd better hurry or we'll be late for rehearsals.

4. Apples are cheap this year so we're expecting Grandma

to be baking lots of pies.

5. It wasn't that he could't play cards, it's just that he didn't

enjoy any indoor games.

6. They'd once lived in London's West End but now they've

moved to the countryside.

7. Jenny doesn't care for women's clothes but prefers to

wear a shirt and jeans.

8. You're going to have an accident if you don't put that

knife down.

9. There's a chance that Graham's match will be cancelled

as the weather's expected to get worse.

10. We'd like to go to the wedding but we're sitting an

exam on that day.

41
Homophones
they're, their and there
These three homophones often lead to difficulty. Try to make
sure that you know which is which:

"they're" is perhaps the easiest to remember. It is the

shortened form of "they are". For example: They're catching a
flight at 11.45.

"their" means "belonging to them". For example: Their house

is in Elm Street.
"there" has two uses:
1) to mean a place For example: The post office is over there.
2) with the verb "to be" (in phrases like "there is", "there are"
etc) For example: There are 26 letters in the alphabet.

See if you can choose the correct words to fill the gaps in the
following sentences. Click on the button alongside a word to see
if you're right.

1. They always take ......... dog with them on holiday.

their they're there

2. Let's wait ......... alongside the entrance.

42
 their they're there

3. Ask them if ........ coming tomorrow.

their they're there

4. ........ building an extension to our school.

Their They're There

5. ........ are over 1200 students at our school.

Their They're There

6. We'll call in at Mcdonalds if ........'s time.

their they're there

7. ........ football team is at the top of the league.

Their They're There

8. Sam is always ........ in good time.

their they're there

9. Dad was pleased that they had done so well in ........ exams.
their they're there

10. I'm afraid ........ going to find the move very stressful.
their they're there

11.My parents won't be coming as ........ both working on

Saturday.
their they're there

12. The teacher told them to leave ........ books on her desk.
their they're there
43
Homophones: Its and it's
These two homophones are often confused. You can see them
spelled incorrectly every day. Try to make sure that you know
which is which:

"it's" is the shortened form of "it is" or "it has". For example:
He's replacing his computer because it's very old. It's become
very unreliable.

"its" means "belonging to it". For example: The dog wagged

its tail.

See if you can choose the correct words to fill the gaps in the
following sentences. Click on the button alongside a word to see
if you're right.

1. If ....... possible I'd like to see you tomorrow

it's its

2. The football club always has ....... annual meeting in January.

it's its

3. The bike is in good condition but ....... gears need adjusting.

it's its

4. Please remind me when ....... due for renewal.

it's its

5. The crowd slowly made ....... way home.

it's its

6. ....... rained every day since Monday.

It's Its
44
7. Ask Bill if ....... convenient to arrive about 7pm.
it's its

8. Luigi's restaurant is famous for ....... vegetarian meals.

it's its

9. The factory pays ....... workers very poor wages.

it's its

10. ....... been a close game but the best team won in the end.
It's Its
Homophones: two, too, to
Some people find these three homophones cause them
difficulty. Try to make sure that you know which is which:

"Two" is always a number - the number 2 For example: The two

boys shivered in the cold.

"Too" can be used in 2 ways: to mean "excessively" e.g. too

far, too expensive
to mean "also" or "as well" e.g. Will you be skating too?

"To" is used in 2 ways: to show direction e.g. He passed the

ball to his brother
as part of a verb e.g. He wanted to read the new Harry Potter
book.

See if you can choose the correct words to fill the gaps in the
following sentences. Click on the button alongside a word to see
if you're right.

1. There were ......... trains standing in the station.

two too to

45
2. I usually go ........ the swimming pool on Saturdays.
two too to

3. The question was ........ hard for me.

two too to

. 4. My best subject is Geography but I'm quite good at

English ........ .
two too to

5. Maisie tries ........ train at least four times a week.

two too to

6. The music was far ........ loud for Joe's parents.

two too to

7. Twice ........ is four.

two too to

8. Jack's ambition is ........ become an actor.

two too to

9. ........ heads are better than one!

two too to

10. "I'd like a cookie please," said Emma. "Me ........ !" shouted
Mick.
two too to

11. I wouldn't bother ........ much about what to wear at the

party.

46
 two too to

12. "Remember ........ bring a change of clothes in case we get

wet.
two too to

Test yourself on these homophones

See if you can choose the correct words to fill the gaps in the
following sentences. Click on the button alongside a word to see
if you're right.

1. Katie will be coming .......... tomorrow.

here hear

2. Sorry, I didn't .......... you shouting.

here hear

3. Bill .......... the shopping mall every day on his way to work.
past passed

. 4. The weather has been terrible during the .......... few weeks.
past passed

5. I'm not sure if I .......... the answer to this one.

no know

6. Our team had .......... luck in the final match of the season.
no know

7. Joe was completely .......... in History lessons.

bored board

47
8. They placed the injured man on a wooden .......... to carry him
indoors.
bored board

9. Kate is .......... to invite a friend for a sleepover on Saturday

night.
allowed aloud

10. Darren enjoys reading .......... to his older sister.

allowed aloud

11. The Grimm brothers were famous for writing fairy .......... .
tails tales

12. Little boys are made of slugs and snails and puppy
dogs' ......... .
tails tales

13. We'll have to buy a .......... TV set if this one goes wrong
again.
knew new

14. I .......... that was the right answer.

knew new

15. The cyclists went out of .......... over the hill.

sight site

16. The new school is being built on the .......... of an old

steelworks.
sight site

48
17. Please .......... this small gift. Thanks very much for all the
work that you've done for us.
except accept

18. The store is open every day .......... Christmas Day.

except accept

19. I'm not sure .......... to choose the large or the medium size.
weather whether

20. If the .......... is fine we'll be going for a bike ride tomorrow.
weather whether

Word beginnings
The most helpful part of a word is the start. If you can work out
the first syllable then you stand a good chance of finding the
word in a dictionary. Always listen to it carefully. But sometimes
there are different ways of writing the first
sound. Here are some examples:
1. Use your dictionary to find words starting with the same
letter and fill in the spaces.
Three ways of writing the sound "c" as in cat
cabbage
kitchen
Christmas
49
 Two ways of writing the sound "f" as in fish
finger
photograph
Two ways of writing the sound "j" as in jelly
jewel
German

Words beginning s-, sc-, c-, w-, wh-

The most helpful part of a word is the start. If you can work out
the first syllable then you stand a good chance of finding the
word in a dictionary. Always listen to it carefully. But sometimes
there are different ways of writing the first sound. Here are some
examples.
1. Use your dictionary to find words starting with the same letter
and fill in the spaces.
Three ways of writing the sound "s" as in sickness
suddenly
certainly
scenery
Two ways of writing the sound "w" as in wish
weather
whether
2. Make sure that you know the difference between
"weather" and "whether".
Look them up in the dictionary if you're not sure.
Then fill in the gaps in the following sentences:
I'm not sure we'll go camping this weekend.
A lot will depend on the .

50
The Trouble with Spell Checkers
Aren't spell checkers great? I use mine all the time (when I
remember) even though I’m a reasonably good speller. So,
what’s the problem? Well the trouble is that a spell checker can’t
tell the difference between homophones. Homophones are words
that sound the same but have different meanings and
different spellings. There are lots of examples in the English
language.
Here are a few:
piece/peace, flower/flour, beech/beach, rode/road,
rain/rein/reign.

Have a look at this poem:

51
Ode to My Spell Checker (author unknown)
Eye have a spelling checker, it came with my pea sea
It plainly marks four my revue miss steaks eye kin knot sea.
Eye strike a quay and type a word and weight for it to say
Weather eye yam wrong oar write, it shows me strait a weigh.
As soon as a mist ache is maid it nose bee fore two long
And eye can put the error rite its rare lea ever wrong.
Eye have run this poem threw it I'm shore your pleased to no
Its letter perfect awl the way, my checker told me sew.

I counted at least 42 mistakes concerning homophones. Now try

this experiment: copy the poem into your clipboard and paste it
into your word processor. Then check it with your spell checker.
The result: your word processor will be happy with the spelling.

Of course you’re unlikely to make as many errors as this. But

beware, your spell checker might let the odd mistake through.
The solution is to make sure that you always proofread important
documents before you print them.

Proofreading
You will have been told many times to proofread your
work before handing it in to your teacher. But sometimes,
although you have proofread very carefully, you still find
that you haven't spotted all your mistakes.

It might be problems with:

o spelling - even words that you know quite well - but
you've made a careless mistake
o punctuation - especially:
 using commas instead of full stops

52
  mistakes with apostrophes
o using the wrong word, for example:
 "there" instead of "their"
 writing "alot" when you really mean "a lot"
(There's no such word as "alot"!)
Here are some tips on proof reading:
o If possible, read your work aloud. This slows your
reading and you're more likely to spot errors.
o Sometimes it's impossible to read aloud - in class, or
in an exam for example. In this case "mouth" the
words. Move your lips as if you are reading aloud. To
practise this try whispering the words to yourself at
first. After you've tried this a few times, do it
completely silently.
o Look especially for your own "bogy words" - errors
that you make regularly - those your teacher nags
you about!
o Anything you're not sure about, use a dictionary.
• A Proofreading Exercise
• Here is a leaflet that was pushed through my door. I've
copied it out exactly as it's printed except that I've
removed the name of the company and their telephone
number.
You will see that the information is perfectly
understandable and as a piece of communication it works
adequately in getting over its message. However the
number of mistakes does tend to make it seem rather
unproffessional. See if you can spot all the errors and then
try to write an improved version of the leaflet.

IMPORTANT NOTICE There is an estimated 35,000 tones of

rubbish abandoned in our homes, garages, sheds and
yards. Last year 11480 tonne ended up on our streets and
ally ways. We appreciate that a lot of people have not got
the facilitys to get to there local tip as a result a free I.T.
and metal collection service has been organized in
conjunction with xxxxx waste collections for your area on
53
THURSDAY 8 APRIL we hope that this gives you enough
time to sort out anything that you would like to be taken
away all you have to do is place any items mentioned out
side your gate collection will start 9 oclock we will take
away any computer equipment ie towers, printers,
scanners, photocopiers, keyboards etc etc basically eny
computer equipment you want taking away

We will take away all your unwanted metal ie old cookers,

washers, dryers, car batteries, old bicycles, lawnmowers,
hovers basically anything with metal in it will be taken
away for you free of charge the only exception to this is
T,V,s, fridges and fridge freezers these items are classed
as hazardous waste and will be taken away by contacting
your local council the council will charge you for taking
items away if you have any queries please do no hesitate
to call us on xxxxxxxxxxxxxx this service is free all we ask
is that you help us to keep your town tidy thank you for
your time we hope you take advantage of this service

American and British Spelling - some differences

Some differences in American and British spellings may
lead to confusion.
But they can't be avoided. Here are the main ones:
Americ Britis
Comments
an h
54
 We tend to prefer -ise to
-ize. However -ize is
becoming more acceptable
-ize -ise in Britain so this is the
spelling I've tried to use
(when I can remember) for
words like memorize,
recognize etc

We use -our at the end of

colour, humour, favour, and
a few others. But words
-or -our
which indicate a person who
does something always end
with -or, for example actor,
survivor, curator
We use -re at the end of
-er -re words such as centre,
metre, theatre
Where Americans use a totally different word (for example
American fall is our autumn and your sidewalk is our pavement) I
just try to avoid the word altogether.

55
Spelling Rules in brief:

1. "q" is always written as "qu". It never stands by itself.

e.g. quick, queen, quarrel.
2. We double "l, f, and s" after a single short vowel at the
end of a word. e.g. call, tall, toss, miss, stiff, stuff.
Exceptions: us, bus, gas, if, of, this, yes, plus, nil,
pal.
3. The sound of "ee" on the end of a word is nearly always
"y".
Exceptions: committee and coffee.
4. "y" and not "i" is used at the end of an English word and
is usually pronounced as a short "i".
Exceptions: macaroni, spaghetti, vermicelli (Italian),
and taxi (short for taxicab).
5. A silent "e" on the end of a word makes the vowel in
front say its own alphabetic name. e.g. hate, ride,
cube, bake, shire, mare, lobe.
Exceptions: done, come, some, give and have.
6. "ck" may only be used after a single vowel that does not
say its name at the end of a syllable or root word. e.g.
track, pick, rocket, wreckage.
7. To form plurals of words with a hissing ending, add "es".
i.e. after "s, x, z, sh, and ch". e.g. buses, foxes,
buzzes, wishes and churches.
8. Words ending in an "o" preceded by a consonant usually
add "es" to form the plural. e.g. potatoes, volcanoes.
Exceptions: pianos, solos, Eskimos
9. Nouns ending in a single "f" change the "f" to a "v"
before adding "es" to form the plural. e.g. leaf – leaves;
wolf – wolves.
Exceptions: dwarfs, roofs, chiefs.
10. If a word ends in a consonant plus "y", change the "y" to
and "i", before adding any ending. Except: "ing". e.g.
party – parties, heavy – heaviness, marry –
married, funny – funnily, carry – carriage, pretty –
prettier.
56
 Exceptions: cry – crying, hurry – hurrying.

11. When "w" comes before "or" it often says "wer" as

"worm". e.g. worship, worst, worth, work.
Exceptions: worry, worried, wore.
12. Words ending in both a single vowel and a single
consonant always double the last consonant before
adding an ending. e.g. stop-stopped-stopping, flat-
flatter-flattest, swim-swimmer-swimming.
Exceptions: fix, box, fox, mix. "x" is the same as "ck";
that is it counts as a double consonant ending.
13. When "c" is followed by "e", "i" or "y", it says "s".
Otherwise it says "k". e.g. centre, ceiling, circle,
cycle. cottage, cave, cream, curious, clever.
14. When "g" is followed by "i", "e" or "y", it says "j".
Otherwise it says "g" as in gold. e.g. gentle, giant,
gymnastic, gallon, gold, guide, glass, grow.
Exceptions: get, got, begin, girl, give, gear, geese,
gift, girth, geyser, giddy.
15. Drop the final "e" from a root word before adding an
ending beginning with a vowel, but keep it before a
consonant. e.g. love-loving-lovely, drive-driving-
driver, settle-settled-settling, grace-graceful.
16. "ti", "ci" and "si" are three spellings most frequently
used to say "sh" at the beginning of all syllables except
the first. e.g. national, patient, palatial, infectious,
gracious, ancient, musician, financial.; session,
admission, mansion, division.
Exceptions: "ship" as a suffix, e.g. "worship".
17. "i" comes before "e" when it is pronounced "ee", except
when it follows "c" – or when sounding like "a" as in
"neighbour, or weigh". e.g. brief, field, receive,
deceive, ceiling, priest.
Exceptions: neither, foreign, sovereign, seized,
counterfeit, forfeited, leisure.
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18. "all" and "well" followed by another syllable only have
one "l". e.g. also, already, although, welcome,
welfare.
19. "full" and "till" joined to another root syllable, drop one
"l". e.g. useful, cheerful, until.
20. Almost no English words end in "v" and none in "j".
Exception: "spiv".

21. For words ending in a single "l" after a single vowel,

double the "l" before adding a suffix, regardless of
accent. e.g. cancelled, traveller, signalling,
metallic.
22. If a word of more than one syllable ends in a "t",
preceded by a single vowel, and has the accent on the
last syllable, then double the final consonant. e.g.
permit-permitted, admit-admitted, regret-
regretted.
But, if the accent is on the first syllable, don’t double the
"t". e.g. visit-visited, benefit-benefited.
23. "ous" at the end of a word often means "full of". e.g.
famous: full of fame. glorious; full of glory. gracious,
ridiculous, furious, dangerous.
24. "al" at the end of a word often means "to do with". e.g.
musical: to do with music. criminal: to do with crime.
historical: to do with history.
25. "er" or "or" endings.
The most common everyday words end in "er". e.g.
baker, painter, teacher.
If in doubt, use "or", when the meaning of the word is
"one who" or "that which". e.g. author, director,
instructor, indicator, conveyor, escalator.
26. "ery" or "ary" endings.
Words ending in "ery" are often obvious. e.g. very,
brewery, flattery, bakery, nursery.
If in doubt, use "ary". e.g. dictionary, secretary,
commentary, stationary.
Seven words ending in "ery" that might cause trouble.
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 e.g. distillery, confectionery, millinery, cemetery,
dysentery, monastery, stationery (paper).
27. "ise", "ize" or "yse" endings.
Most of these words end in "ise". e.g. sunrise,
surprise, supervise, exercise, disguise, unwise,
surmise, advertise.
Only two common words end in "yse". i.e. analyse and
paralyse.
Only two common words end in "ize". i.e. prize and
capsize.
28. "ceed", "sede" and "cede".
Three "ceed" words; succeed, exceed, proceed.
One "sede" word; supersede.
All others "cede" e.g. intercede, ante cede, precede.
29. "able" or "ible" endings.
Use "able": After root words. e.g. available,
dependable.
After root words ending in "e". e.g. desirable,
believable, usable (drop the "e"). After "i" e.g.
reliable, sociable.
When other forms of the root word have a dominant "a"
vowel. e.g. irritable, durable, abominable.
After a hard "c" or "g". e.g. educable, practicable,
navigable. Exceptions: formidable, inevitable,
memorable, probable, portable, indomitable,
insuperable.
30. Use "ible"
After non-root words. e.g. audible, horrible, possible.
When the root has an immediate "ion" form. e.g.
digestible, suggestible, convertible.
After a root ending in "ns" or "miss". e.g. responsible,
comprehensible, permissible. After a soft "c" or "g".
e.g. legible, negligible, forcible, invincible. Exceptions:
contemptible, resistible, collapsible, flexible.

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