25 Spelling
25
Spelling
Misspelled words are among the most common errors for many student writers. Be sure to pay attention to spelling as you edit and proofread your papers, and keep a dictionary close at hand. Misspellings can make your paper appear carelessly written. Use the tips in the accompanying box and the basic spelling rules that follow to help improve your spelling.
25a Remember to put i before e except after c or when pronounced as an a, as in neighbor and weigh
i before e: achieve, thief
except after c: conceive, receive
or when pronounced as an a: freight, their
Memorize the exceptions, such as either, foreign, height, leisure, neither, seize, and weird.
TIPS FOR IMPROVING YOUR SPELLING |
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25b Add -s or -es to form the plural of most nouns
Singular common nouns ending in -s, -ch, -sh, or -x form the plural by adding -es. Nouns ending in -o usually form the plural by adding -s when the -o follows a vowel or -es when the -o follows a consonant.
Add -s: |
professor, professors | zoo, zoos |
Add -es: |
sandwich, sandwiches | hero, heroes |
To form the plural of common nouns ending in -y, change the y to i and add -es when the y is preceded by a consonant. Add only -s when the y is preceded by a vowel.
| story | stories | day | days |
| baby | babies | key | keys |
Compound nouns form the plural by adding -s or -es to the most important word or, when all the words are equally important, to the last word of the compound.
| mother-in-law | mothers-in-law |
| passerby | passersby |
| stand-in | stand-ins |
Proper nouns form the plural by adding -s or -es without changing the noun’s ending.
| Thursday | Thursdays |
| Mr. and Mrs. Jones | the Joneses |
25c Drop, keep, change, or double the final letter when adding endings to some words
Drop the silent e when adding an ending that begins with a vowel (a, e, i, o, u). Keep the silent e when adding an ending that begins with a consonant.
| hope | hoping | care | careful |
| force | forcing | encourage | encouragement |
| advise | advisable | love | lovely |
For words that end in y, change the final y to i before adding an ending when the y follows a consonant. Keep the final y when the y follows a vowel, when the ending is -ing, or when y ends a proper name.
| study | studies | buy | buyer |
| marry | married | marry | marrying |
| Fahey | Faheys |
Exception: Drop the final y whenever you add -ize.
| memory | memorize |
| category | categorize |
When adding an ending to one-syllable words, double the final consonant if the ending starts with a vowel and the final consonant follows a single vowel. Do not double the consonant when two vowels or a vowel and another consonant precede it.
| hop | hopped | pair | paired |
| trek | trekked | rent | rented |
When adding an ending to words with two or more syllables, double the final consonant if a single vowel precedes it and the stress falls on the last syllable.
| transmit | transmitted |
| refer | referral |
Do not double the final consonant when two vowels or a vowel and another consonant precede it.
| react | reacted |
| redeem | redeeming |
Do not double the final consonant if the ending starts with a consonant.
| commit | commitment |
| regret | regretfully |
25d Watch out for homonyms, groups of words that sound the same but are spelled differently
The following list includes some commonly confused groups of words.
| Homonyms | Examples of Usage |
| accept (to take or receive) | Most stores accept credit cards. |
| except (other than) | Everyone has arrived except Harry. |
| affect (to influence) | The new law will affect us. |
| effect (the result, outcome) | The effect of the storm was frightening. |
| allusion (a reference to) | The poem contained an allusion to Greek mythology. |
| illusion (a fantasy) | Josette is under the illusion that she is famous. |
| already (by now) | Marguerite is already in class. |
| all ready (fully prepared) | Geoffrey is all ready. |
| cite (to refer to) | Be sure to cite your sources. |
| sight (vision, or a tourist attraction) | Her sight is failing. |
| site (a place) | We visited the site of the accident. |
| complement (to complete, a counterpart) | The side dishes complement the main course. |
| compliment (praise) | Allison received numerous compliments. |
| elicit (to bring out) | The film elicits an emotional response. |
| illicit (illegal) | The sale of illicit drugs is prohibited on campus. |
| its (possessive of it) | The show has found its audience. |
| it’s (contraction of it is) | It’s too late to go back. |
| lead (verb: to guide or direct) | Professor Hong will lead the discussion group. |
| led (past tense of verb lead) | Professor Hong led the discussion group. |
| lead (noun: a heavy metal) | Lead poisoning is dangerous. |
| loose (not securely attached) | The button was loose. |
| lose (to fail to keep) | I often lose my keys. |
| principal (most important, or a head of a school) | The citizens’ principal concern is educational costs. |
| principle (a basic rule or truth) | This principle should govern all of your actions. |
| their (possessive of they) | The students brought their books to class. |
| there (in that place, opposite of here) | There is the bus. |
| they’re (contraction of they are) | They’re early. |
| to (toward) | Please move to the front of the class. |
| too (also, or excessively) | Sal is coming too. |
| two (following one) | The two speeches were similar. |
| who’s (contraction of who is) | Who’s taking a cab? |
| whose (possessive of who) | Whose book is this? |
| your (possessive of you) | Your experiment is well designed. |
| you’re (contraction of you are) | You’re passing the course. |
25e Watch out for commonly misspelled words
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absence accept accessible accidentally accommodate accuracy achievement acquaintance acquire amateur analysis analyze apologize apparent appearance argument ascend athlete attendance beginning believe benefited boundary Britain bureaucracy business calendar cemetery changeable characteristic column committee conceive conscience conscious convenience criticism criticize curiosity deceive decision |
definitely descendant disappearance disappoint disastrous discipline efficiency efficient eighth eligible embarrass emphasize environment especially exaggerate excellence exercise existence experience explanation familiar fascinate February foreign forty fulfill or fulfil government grammar guarantee harass height humorous hypocrisy imagination immediately incredible inevitable intelligence interest irresistible judgment |
knowledge laboratory leisure length library license lightning loneliness maintenance maneuver marriage mathematics miniature mischievous necessary niece ninety noticeable occasionally occurrence omission originally parallel particularly permissible physical picnicking pleasant possible practically precede preference prejudice preparation prevalent privilege probably proceed professor pronunciation psychology |
quantity quiet receive recognize recommend reference referred relieve repetition restaurant rhythm ridiculous roommate sacrifice schedule secretary seize separate sergeant several similar sincerely sophomore succeed successful summary surprise tendency thorough through tragedy truly unanimous usually vacuum vengeance villain weird writing |
25f Be alert for words that are formed from the same root (they may have different spellings) and for words with silent letters
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heir/heredity aisle pneumonia |