Study Guides and Strategies Web site logo and index link

* index * search * visitor center *

Study Guides index of guidesAmerican
spelling
exercises

My spelling Wobbly.
It's good spelling but it Wobbles,
and the letters get in the wrong places.
 Winnie-the-Pooh A. A. Milne
British, 1926

 
American spelling rules and exercises:
If a word ends with a silent "e,"
drop the "e" before adding a suffix which begins with a vowel (-ing, -able, -:
Examples:  make--making, makable; time--timing, oblige--obliging. 
Try spelling these:
1. state + ing =
2. like + able =
3. indulge + ing =
Do not drop the "e"
when the suffix begins with a consonant:
Examples:  state--statement; like--likeness; use--useful; definite--definitely
Try spelling these:
4. base + ment =
5. home + ward =
6. peace + ful =
When "y" is the last letter in a word and the "y" is preceded by a consonant,
change the "y" to "i" before adding any suffix except those beginning with "i"
Examples: beauty--beautiful; fry--fries; hurry--hurried; lady--ladies
Try spelling these:
7. carry + ed =
8. fancy + ful =
9. pry + ed =
When a word ends with a "y" and is preceded by a vowel,
to form the plural of its noun,
or to form the third person singular (he, she, it) of its verb,
add "s"
Examples:  toy--toys; play--plays; monkey--monkeys
10. deploy + s =
11.  tray + s =
12.  bey + s =
When a one-syllable word ends in a consonant preceded by one vowel,
double the final consonant before adding a suffix which begins with a vowel. 
This is also called the 1-1-1 rule: one syllable, one consonant, one vowel!
Examples: bat--batted, --batting, --batter;  prod--prodded, --prodding
Try spelling these:
13.  bid + ing =
14.  stop + ed =
15.  knit + er =
When a multi-syllable word ends in a consonant preceded by one vowel,
and the final syllable is accented,
the same rule holds true: double the final consonant. 
This is a variation of the preceding rule
Examples:  control--controlled; prefer--preferred; begin--beginning; commit--committed
Try spelling these:
16. patrol + ing =
17. omit + ed =
18. forget + able =
When the final syllable does not have the end-accent,
it is preferred, and in some cases required, that you NOT double the consonant. 
(The preference characterizes American English; British English seems to prefer doubling, though it often allows its omission.  But a number of words disallow doubling in both American and British English.)
Examples:  focus--focused; pardon--pardoned; worship--worshiped; trumpet--trumpeted
Try spelling these:
19. garden + er =
20. limit + ed =
21. market + ing =
Adding suffixes to words ending -ce and -ge
Keep the silent e before -able and -ous
Examples;  enforceable,  serviceable, courageous, outrageous
22. notice + able =
23. courage + ous =
24. change + able =

Write "i" before "e" except after "c," or when sounding like "a" as in "neighbor" and "weigh." When the "ie/ei" combination is not pronounced "ee," it is usually spelled "ei."

Examples: ie

 fiery, friend, mischief, view, believe

Examples: ei

 reign, foreign, weigh, neighbor, weird, receive

Choosing between <-el> <-le> <-ile> <-al> <-il>
Options must be memorized, and no rules apply:

<-le> is more frequent than <-el>:
axle, battle, bottle, tackle, tickle, single, double, triple...
angel, bushel, parcel...

<-al> is common for adjectives and nouns
biblical, burial, genial, habitual...

<-il> is rare
civil

Website overview: Since 1996 the Study Guides and Strategies web site has been researched, authored, maintained and supported by Joe Landsberger as an international, learner-centric, educational public service. Permission is granted to freely copy, adapt, and distribute individual Study Guides in print format in non-commercial educational settings that benefit learners. Please be aware that the Guides welcome, and are under, continuous review and revision. For that reason, reproduction of all content on the Internet can only be with permission through a licensed agreement. No request to link to the Web site is necessary.

◄ Help build the Guides: donate through our secure Paypal account
► Additional strategies of support

Visitor Center
Projects, news, metrics, copyright, licensing

Joe's professional and personal webpages