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Study Guides index of guidesAmerican
spelling
exercises

Words, once they are printed,
have a life of their own.
 Carol Burnett
American actress, 1936 -

American spelling rules and exercises:

 

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 =

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

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