ENGLISH
Tips for Spelling
Below are a few examples of rules that can be used to help decode
the spelling of an unfamiliar word.
•
I before E, except after C, unless it says A, as in neighbor and weigh.
Examples include perceive, receipt, ceiling. Examples of i before e
include friend and thief.
•
The letter Q is always followed by U. In this case, the U is not
considered to be a vowel.
•
The letter S never follows X.
•
The letter Y, not I, is used at the end of English words.
Examples include my, shy, by, why.
•
To spell a short vowel sound, only one letter is needed.
Examples include at, red, it, hot, up.
•
Drop the E. When a word ends with a silent final E, it should be written
without the E when adding an ending that begins with a vowel.
For example, come becomes coming and hope becomes hoping.
•
When adding an ending to a word that ends with Y, change the Y to I
if it is preceded by a consonant. Supply becomes supplies and worry
becomes worried.
•
All, written alone, has two L’s. When used as a prefix, however,
only one L is written. Examples: also, almost, always.
•
Generally, adding a prefix to a word does not change the correct spelling.
Examples of this include word and reword.
•
Words ending in a vowel and Y can add the suffix –ed or –ing
without making any other change. For example, play becomes
played, and employ becomes employing.
Rules of Capitalization
Use capital letters for the following types of words:
•
Days, months, and public holidays
Examples:
Monday, January, Thanksgiving
•
Proper names of people and places
Examples:
Jack, Susie, California, England
•
Titles for people
Examples:
Ms., Dr., General
•
Nationalities and regions (both nouns and adjectives)
Examples:
Dutch, Swedish, German
•
Titles of books, art, etc.
Examples:
American Journal of Medicine, The Mona Lisa
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