English Spelling Rules Specific spelling rules for verb tenses When dealing with tenses, we often need to change the spelling of the verb. So here you have the commonly used English spelling rules for verbs: 1. How to add "ing" to a verb 2. How to add "s" to a verb 3. How to add "ed" to a verb For general tips and advice read: How to Improve Your Spelling, a Guide for Students Read the rules and make sure to practice them at the Exercises Section. Another good way to improve your spelling is reading. That way you see the words again and again and get familiar with their spelling. So visit the English Short Stories section, too. Now, let's go over to some more general spelling rules: Spelling rule #1: S or ES? The normal rule to make regular plurals in English, or to change a regular verb to the he/she/it form (also known as the third person singular), is to add S to the end of the word. For example: One dog --> Lots of dogs I work --> She works A car --> Some cars You like tea --> She likes coffee But sometimes we need to add ES instead. When the word ends in: CH, SH, X, SS (and ZZ but this isn't
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English Spelling Rules
Specific spelling rules for verb tenses
When dealing with tenses, we often need to change the spelling of the verb.
So here you have the commonly used English spelling rules for verbs:
1. How to add "ing" to a verb
2. How to add "s" to a verb
3. How to add "ed" to a verb
For general tips and advice read: How to Improve Your Spelling, a Guide for Students
Read the rules and make sure to practice them at the Exercises Section.
Another good way to improve your spelling is reading.
That way you see the words again and again and get familiar with their spelling. So visit the English Short
Stories section, too.
Now, let's go over to some more general spelling rules:
Spelling rule #1: S or ES? The normal rule to make regular plurals in English, or to change a regular verb to the he/she/it form
(also known as the third person singular), is to add S to the end of the word.
For example:
One dog --> Lots of dogs I work --> She works A car --> Some cars You like tea --> She likes coffee
But sometimes we need to add ES instead. When the word ends in: CH, SH, X, SS (and ZZ but this isn't
I watch TV every night. --> He watches TV at the weekend. I have one wish. --> The genie gave him three wishes. Can you fix this? --> A mechanic fixes cars. Give me a kiss! --> She gave her daughter lots of kisses.
Spelling rule #1B: the problem with Y Students are often confused by the letter Y.
Sometimes it is removed from the end of the word before the word is changed into a plural or third
person singular form, and sometimes it isn't.
So what's the rule?
There are two types of letters in English. Vowels (A, E, I, O, U) and consonants (all the other letters)
If a word ends in Y, and before the Y there is a consonant (for example, fly, try, spy) then the Y is
removed, and IES is added.
For example:
I want to fly a kite. --> A pilot flies a plane. He was a spy. --> The spies were caught. Try this exercise. --> Sarah tries very hard in her lessons.
If the word ends with a vowel then Y (for example, play, tray, toy) then simply an S is added.
For example:
I used to play with dolls. --> She plays with other children. He has a new toy. --> The dog has lots of toys.
Spelling rule #2: doubling consonants Some words which end in consonants double the last letter when suffixes (extra letters) are added to
the end of the word.
For example:
hot --> hotter swim --> swimming
However, this doesn't always happen.
So what's the rule?
If a word ends in a consonant that has one vowel before it, then the last consonant is doubled.
For example:
travel --> traveller (British English spelling) big --> biggest
This does not usually happen with words with more than one syllable ending in ER, or OR. (Of course,
Vowel = a sound we make when the breath flows out through the mouth freely, without being blocked. The English letters a, e, i, o, u are called vowels, because they represent such sounds.
Some verbs change their spelling when "ed" is added to them.
3.1 - Verbs ending with
"consonant-vowel-consonant" When a verb ends with a consonant-vowel-consonant, and we put STRESS on this sound in speech, we
double the last consonant. Then we add ed.
In the following examples the consonant is in blue, the vowel is in green, and ed is in red. The STRESS is
underlined.
stop => stopp + ed => stopped
plan => plann + ed => planned
But if we don't put STRESS on this sound in speech, then we simply add ed.
Read books, magazines, newspapers, advertisements . . . anything you can get your hands on.
The more you read, the more you will see words and will start to remember how they are spelled.
Make sure you always understand what you read and don't guess words "out of context."
Good English dictionaries will help you do just that.
Work together If you can get together with a friend or classmate to practice your spelling together, this can really help.
You may even enjoy having spelling competitions with each other, and by doing so you will be helping
each other.
Group words together If you have a vocabulary notebook, it is a good idea to have a page or two for words you find hard to
spell.
This is even better if you write the words in groups that use the same groups of letters.
For example:
ough words, such as thought, bought, fought
It also helps if you write one sentence or more using the word every time you enter a new word into
your notebook.
Other tips and tricks
If you come across a new word that you think may be difficult to spell, highlight the difficult letters. For example, in the word daughter, the letters augh are not obvious, so you can write it in your notebook as daughter.
Write words you find difficult to spell on sticky notes and put them around your home so you see them more often.
Ask your teacher to give you spelling quizzes and play spelling games in class.
Find online spelling tests. There are some for ESL students and some designed for native English speakers.
Play games such as Scrabble or other word games online. Online or computer versions of word games are great because they will tell you if you don't have the right spelling.
Here is one final point you should keep in mind:
Don't rely too much on a spell-checker Don't rely too much on a spell-checker when you are typing work on a computer.
Why?
1. This will make you a lazy speller!
2. Your spell-checker may not always inform you about your spelling errors.
For example, lets say you type in the following sentence:
"The temperature should not go bellow 15 degrees."
Well, are there any typos inside?
All words are indeed correctly spelled, but this sentence is still incorrect.
The word "bellow" (double L) is actually a verb meaning, "to shout in a loud deep voice."
The word "below" (single L), on the other hand, means "lower than something."
So the correct sentence is:
"The temperature should not go below 15 degrees."
Not all spell-checkers would notice this type of error, since it requires considering the context of words.
So I hope that these tips will help you learn how to improve your spelling.