i before e except after c
In general, use i before e except after c and except when sounded like ay, as in neighbor and weigh.
| i before e | relieve, believe, sieve, niece, fierce, frieze |
| e before i | receive, deceive, sleigh, freight, eight |
| exceptions | seize, either, weird, height, foreign, leisure |
Suffixes
Final silent –e Generally, drop a final silent -e when adding a suffix that begins with a vowel. Keep the final -e if the suffix begins with a consonant.
| combine, combination | achieve, achievement |
| desire, desiring | care, careful |
| prude, prudish | entire, entirety |
| remove, removable | gentle, gentleness |
Words such as changeable, judgment, argument, and truly are exceptions.
Final –y When adding -s or -d to words ending in -y, ordinarily change -y to -ie when the -y is preceded by a consonant but not when it is preceded by a vowel.
| comedy, comedies | monkey, monkeys |
| dry, dried | play, played |
With proper names ending in -y, however, do not change the -y to -ie even if it is preceded by a consonant: the Doughertys.
Final consonants If a final consonant is preceded by a single vowel and the consonant ends a one-syllable word or a stressed syllable, double the consonant when adding a suffix beginning with a vowel.
| bet, betting | occur, occurrence |
| commit, committed |
Plurals
-s or –es Add -s to form the plural of most nouns; add -es to singular nouns ending in -s, -sh, -ch, and -x.
| table, tables | church, churches |
| paper, papers | dish, dishes |
Ordinarily add -s to nouns ending in -o when the -o is preceded by a vowel. Add -es when it is preceded by a consonant.
| radio, radios | hero, heroes |
| video, videos | tomato, tomatoes |
Other plurals To form the plural of a hyphenated compound word, add -s to the chief word even if it does not appear at the end.
mother-in-law, mothers-in-law
English words derived from other languages such as Latin, Greek, or French sometimes form the plural as they would in their original language.
| medium, media | chateau, chateaux |
| criterion, criteria |
Spelling varies slightly among English-speaking countries. Variations can be confusing for some multilingual students in the United States. Following is a list of some common words with different American and British spellings. Consult a dictionary for others.
| AMERICAN | BRITISH |
| canceled, traveled | cancelled, travelled |
| color, humor | colour, humour |
| judgment | judgement |
| check | cheque |
| realize, apologize | realise, apologise |
| defense | defence |
| anemia, anesthetic | anaemia, anaesthetic |
| theater, center | theatre, centre |
| fetus | foetus |
| mold, smolder | mould, smoulder |
| civilization | civilisation |
| connection, inflection | connexion, inflexion |
| licorice | liquorice |