Spelling, as with most things in English, has rules which we teach and follow, and even though there are sometimes exceptions, they are the foundation of successful learning. Spelling is the ability to arrange letters in the correct order to make words that are communally understood and is considered to be one of the most important aspects of literacy.
Accurate spelling is an important skill for students to have in order to get through their school years, as spelling is required to not only read and write correctly but to successfully pass assessments. Learning to spell helps a child to develop a strong connection between the letters and their sounds and learning high-frequency ‘sight words’ (i.e. words that can not easily be sounded out) will assist a child in both their reading and writing.
The more thoroughly a child knows a word, the more likely it is that they will be able to recognize it in unfamiliar texts, spell it and use it appropriately in their own speech and writing.
Due to advancements in technology, there has been considerable debate about the relevance of teaching children to spell correctly. One of the disadvantages of the ´Spell-Check and Auto-Correct´ functions in technology is that a child must be able to start typing the word correctly and get most of the letters right otherwise, in many cases, it is automatically changed by the program and often ends up as a completely different word. But what happens when the student spells the word ‘does’ as ‘dose’? The computer program will not recognize this as an incorrect word and consequently, the student will continue to entrench the incorrect spelling habit and the reader of the document will become confused.
Spelling is not an easy process, but when children understand its clear structure and rules, unfamiliar words become more easily decodable (i.e. able to be sounded out). Only with understanding the spelling rule structure can children understand the many spelling rule ‘exceptions’.
Below is an explanation of the basic rules of spelling, and if followed, will make the teaching, and learning of English far easier and more successful.
Y to IES
Rule: When the word ends in consonant + y, adding s (to form the plural in nouns or to form the third person singular in verbs) gives you your word ending in consonant + ies.
Examples:
Responsibility +s → responsibilities
Opportunity +s → opportunities
Company + s → companies
Try+ s → tries
Try+ s → tries
Rule:If the word ends in vowel + y, you just add –s and nothing else changes.
Examples:
Delay +s → delays
Play +s → plays
Rule: If the word has one syllable (put, stop, get) and it ends in a vowel + consonant, we double the consonant when adding -ing, -ed, -er or other suffixes (word parts that come at the end of our word) like -ence, -est.
The same thing happens if the word is longer than one syllable but the stress is on the last syllable. You need to read the word out loud or “read it” in your head if you’re in an exam to see where the stress goes.
For example, refer has two syllables, but the stress is on the last one—you say the second syllable fer more strongly. Refer also ends in vowel + consonant (er), so the rule applies.
Meanwhile, develop doesn’t have the stress on the last syllable—you pronounce the second syllable vel more strongly—so the rule doesn’t apply.
Recommend has the stress on the last syllable, but it doesn’t end in vowel + consonant (it ends in consonant + consonant, nd), so the rule doesn’t apply.
Examples:
One-syllable words:
Spot → spotted, spotting
Big → bigger, biggest
Longer words:
Occur → occurred, occurrence
Begin → beginning, beginner
Rule: If the word ends in –e and we add a suffix beginning with a vowel (-ing, -ed, -ance, –ible, etc.), e is dropped.
Examples:
Write → writing
Hope → hoping
Sense → sensible
Exception:
The exception is for words ending in –ce or –ge when adding -able or -ous.
Manage → manageable
Notice → noticeable
Enforce → enforceable
Outrage → outrageous
Rule: If the word ends in consonant + y, then the y changes to i when adding suffixes (-ful, -er, -est).
Examples:
Plenty → plentiful
Ready → readily
Carry → carrier
Rule: For words ending in consonant + y, keep the y when adding suffixes beginning with i (-ing).
Apply → applied (exception for adding –ing: applying)
Certify → certified (exception for adding –ing: certifying)
Rule: If a word ends in –ful, when we add -ly to create an adverb or adjective, we get the ending -fully.
Examples:
Truthful → truthfully
Thankful → thankfully
Harmful → harmfully
Rule: In words containing q, the letter q is followed by u. The exception is for Arabic words you’re probably not going to use a lot (like faqir or qadis).
Examples:
Acquaintance
Quite
Qualification
Frequent
Rule: Words are spelled with a capital letter when they’re names of people, places, days of the week, months, and names of languages and nationalities.
We use capital letters for main words (but not connecting words like a, an, the, for) in titles (organizations, books, films). We also use capital letters at the beginning of sentences and in abbreviations.
It’s important to use capital words in emails and text messages, even though sometimes people can be lazy and forget about them.
Examples:
Mrs. Rosales (name of a person)
South America, Peru (name of a place)
Peruvian (word related to a place)
Monday (day of the week)
January (month)
Romanian (language and nationality)
Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (title of an organization)
“The Five Dysfunctions of a Team” (title of a book)
They launched a new product. (sentence)
CEO (abbreviation)
Most of the rules about these differences can be summed up as American spelling being simpler and more intuitive than British spelling. Still, it’s better to remember the most common examples to avoid mistakes when writing exclusively to British or American people.
Rule: Words ending in –re in British English often end in –er in American English.
Examples:
Centre → Center
Meagre → Meager
Spectre → Specter
Rule: Words ending in –our in British English often end in –or in American English.
Colour → Color
Favour → Favor
Rumour → Rumor
Behaviour → Behavior
Rule: Words ending in –ise or –ize (also –yze or –yse) in British English often end in –ize (-yze) in American English.
Organise → Organize
Analyse → Analyze
Maximise → Maximize
Rule: When adding suffixes that begin with a vowel to words that end in vowel + –l, you’ll sometimes double the –l in British English . The –l isn’t usually doubled in this situation in American English.
Travelled → Traveled
Travelling → Traveling
Be careful, though: This rule doesn’t always work. For example, “skilful” is more common in British English, and “skillful” is more common in American English.
We’re just going to give you the correct version of the most commonly misspelled words here.
It’s best to avoid seeing misspelled words so that your brain doesn’t remember the incorrect versions by mistake!
Examples:
Accommodation
Advertisement
Business
Definite
Dependent
Liaison
Occur
Occurrence
Occasion
Proceed
Recommendation
I hope that these rules help you in your classes and that your students soon learn to master the art of spelling in English.
Good luck and good teaching.
I hope that these rules help you in your classes and that your students soon learn to master the art of spelling in English.
Good luck and good teaching.
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