Some useful spelling rules

By -


When the word ends in a consonant

If the accent falls on the last syllable, the consonant is doubled to form the past tense.

So we have

Occur –> occurred

Transfer –> transferred

When the word ends in a short vowel + consonant, the final consonant is not usually doubled to form the past tense.

Therefore

Offer –> offered (NOT Offerred)

Budget –> budgeted

Short monosyllabic words always double their final consonant.

Examples are:

Shop –> shopping

Let –> letting

Cut –> cutting
‘ie’ and ‘ei’

The general rule is ‘i’ before ‘e’ except after ‘c’

Examples are:

Siege, believe, friends

But

Receive, deceive, ceiling (after ‘c’, we use ‘e’ before ‘I’)

There are however several exceptions to this rule. Examples are: reign, heir, seize, weird. As you can see, in all of these words, the letter ‘e’ goes before the letter ‘i’.
Dis and mis

Never double the ‘s’ of these prefixes. In some words, you may notice a second ‘s’, but remember that it is the first letter of the next syllable.

So we have

Dismiss (NOT Dissmiss)

Misplace

Misunderstand

Dispel
Se and Ce

Se and sy are usually verb endings and ce and cy are usually noun endings. So the following words are verbs: license, practise, advise, prophesy

And the following words are nouns: licence, practice, prophecy, advice

The word promise is an exception to this rule. Although it ends in –se, it is a noun.

Note that this rule does not hold good when verb and noun are not spelt alike.
Us and ous

Nouns end in ‘us’. Adjectives end in ‘ous’.

So we have:

Nouns: census, phosphorus, genius

Adjectives: jealous, unanimous, tremendous



Source: http://www.englishgrammar.org/spelling-rules-2/#ixzz2WkSdfX1I

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

NATURE- by H.D. Carberry [Form 5 poem]

By -
Image
NATURE by H.D Carberry We have neither Summer nor Winter Neither Autumn nor Spring. We have instead the days When the gold sun shines on the lush green canefields- Magnificently. The days when the rain beats like bullet on the roofs And there is no sound but thee swish of water in the gullies And trees struggling in the high Jamaica winds. Also there are the days when leaves fade from off guango trees’ And the reaped canefields lie bare and fallow to the sun. But best of all there are the days when the mango and the logwood blossom When bushes are full of the sound of bees and the scent of honey, When the tall grass sways and shivers to the slightest breath of air, When the buttercups have paved the earth with yellow stars And beauty comes suddenly and the rains have gone. SYNOPSIS The poem tells of the weather conditions in Jamaica although it does not have the four seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter. The weather conditions of go
Read more

Rewrite in the proper order

By -
Image
The sentences given below are taken from a story, but they are jumbled. That means they are not arranged in their proper order. Rearrange them in their logical sequence. 1. The young man sold his share of the property and left for another country. 2. The father tried to dissuade his son, but he wouldn’t listen to his father whom he regarded as old and ignorant. 3. Years went by. The younger son began to get restless because he was unhappy with his lot. 4. He led a luxurious life and spent a lot of money on gambling. 5. They were living together happily. 6. Soon all his money was gone and he became a pauper. 7. Once there lived a rich farmer. 8. He went to his father and asked for his share of the property. 9. So the father gave him a third of his property. 10. He had two sons. Solution Once there lived a rich farmer. He had two sons. They were living together happily. Years went by. The younger son began to get restless because he was unha
Read more

Are You Still Playing Your Flute? - Zurinah Hassan

By -
Image
Are you still playing your flute When there is hardly time for our love I am feeling guilty To be longing for your song The melody concealed in the slim hollow of the bamboo Uncovered by the breath of an artist Composed by his fingers Blown by the wind To the depth of my heart. Are you still playing your flute? In the village so quiet and deserted Amidst the sick rice fields While here it has become a luxury To spend time watching the rain Gazing at the evening rays Collecting dew drops Or enjoying the fragrance of flowers. Are you still playing your flute? The more it disturbs my conscience to be thinking of you in the hazard of you my younger brothers unemployed and desperate my people disunited by politics my friend slaughtered mercilessly this world is too old and bleeding. SYNOPSIS This poem his about a persona who reminisces the time he/she spends when in a village. There are many things that are now luxury to her s
Read more