Spelling Rules

In the spirit of Spelling & Studying month, we’re reviewing some helpful spelling tips. While these might seem very basic, take it from us, everyone can brush up on spelling tips, even former Vice Presidents. Potato — no e.

Adding -s or -es to nouns
We add -s or -es to nouns to name more than one.

Spelling Rule
Add -s to most nouns to name more than one.

For example:
car/cars
finger/fingers
clip/clips

Add -es to name more than one if the noun ends with the letters s, ch, sh, or x.

For example:
box/boxes
glass/glasses
bunch/bunches

-ible or -able
Many words end in -ible and -able. Sometimes it is difficult to remember which spelling to use. The -ible ending is for words of Latin origin. There are about 180 words ending in -ible. No new words are being created with -ible endings.

Here are some common examples:
accessible, compatible, comprehensible, contemptible, credible, defensible, destructible, divisible, edible, flexible, gullible, illegible, implausible, inaccessible, invincible, invisible, irresistible, permissible, plausible, possible, responsible, reversible, sensible, suggestible, terrible, visible

-ie- or -ei-
Sometimes it is difficult to remember whether a word is spelled with -ie- or -ei-. There is a very simple rule about this: I before E – Except after C.

Spelling Rule
I before E

Examples:
achieve, believe, brief, chief, friend, grief, hygiene, patience, pierce, priest, thief

Except after C
ceiling, conceit, conceive, deceit, deceive, perceive, receipt, receive

Of course, there are some exceptions to this rule. When the sound rhymes with “may”, the spelling is -ei-:
beige, feint, freight, inveigle, neighbor, sleigh, vein, weigh, weight

Here are a few more common exceptions:
either, neither, caffeine, counterfeit, foreign, forfeit, height, leisure, protein, their, weird, seize, seizure