Endings which sound like /ʃəs/ spelt –cious or –tious

Not many common words end like this.

If the root word ends in –ce, the /ʃ/ sound is usually spelt as c – e.g. vice – vicious, grace – gracious, space – spacious, malice – malicious.

Exception: anxious.

vicious, precious, conscious, delicious, malicious, suspicious

ambitious, cautious, fictitious, infectious, nutritious

Endings which sound like /ʃəl/

–cial is common after a vowel letter and –tial after a consonant letter, but there are some exceptions.

Exceptions: initial, financial, commercial, provincial (the spelling of the last three is clearly related to finance, commerce and province).

official, special, artificial, partial, confidential, essential

Words ending in –ant,
–ance/–ancy,
–ent,
–ence/–ency

Use –ant and –ance/–ancy if there is a related word with a /æ/ or /eɪ/ sound in the right position; –ation endings are often a clue.


 

Use –ent and –ence/–ency after soft c (/s/ sound), soft g (/dʒ/ sound) and qu, or if there is a related word with a clear /ɛ/ sound in the right position.

There are many words, however, where the above guidance does not help. These words just have to be learnt.

observant, observance, (observation), expectant (expectation), hesitant, hesitancy (hesitation), tolerant, tolerance (toleration), substance (substantial)

innocent, innocence, decent, decency, frequent, frequency, confident, confidence (confidential)

assistant, assistance, obedient, obedience, independent, independence

Words ending in –able and
–ible

Words ending in –ably and
–ibly

The –able/–ably endings are far more common than the –ible/–ibly endings.

As with –ant and –ance/–ancy, the –able ending is used if there is a related word ending in –ation.


 

If the –able ending is added to a word ending in –ce or –ge, the e after the c or g must be kept as those letters would otherwise have their ‘hard’ sounds (as in cap and gap) before the a of the –able ending.

The –able ending is usually but not always used if a complete root word can be heard before it, even if there is no related word ending in –ation. The first five examples opposite are obvious; in reliable, the complete word rely is heard, but the y changes to i in accordance with the rule.

The –ible ending is common if a complete root word can’t be heard before it but it also sometimes occurs when a complete word can be heard (e.g. sensible).

adorable/adorably (adoration),

applicable/applicably (application), considerable/considerably (consideration), tolerable/tolerably (toleration)

changeable, noticeable, forcible, legible



 

dependable, comfortable, understandable, reasonable, enjoyable, reliable



 

possible/possibly, horrible/horribly, terrible/terribly, visible/visibly, incredible/incredibly, sensible/sensibly

Adding suffixes beginning with vowel letters to words ending in –fer

The r is doubled if the –fer is still stressed when the ending is added.
 

The r is not doubled if the –fer is no longer stressed.

referring, referred, referral, preferring, preferred, transferring, transferred

reference, referee, preference, transference

Use of the hyphen

Hyphens can be used to join a prefix to a root word, especially if the prefix ends in a vowel letter and the root word also begins with one.

co-ordinate, re-enter,
co-operate, co-own

Words with the /i:/ sound spelt ei after c

The ‘i before e except after c’ rule applies to words where the sound spelt by ei is /i:/.

Exceptions: protein, caffeine, seize (and either and neither if pronounced with an initial /i:/ sound).

deceive, conceive, receive, perceive, ceiling

Words containing the letter-string ough

ough is one of the trickiest spellings in English – it can be used to spell a number of different sounds.

ought, bought, thought, nought, brought, fought

rough, tough, enough

cough

though, although, dough

through

thorough, borough

plough, bough

Words with ‘silent’ letters (i.e. letters whose presence cannot be predicted from the pronunciation of the word)

Some letters which are no longer sounded used to be sounded hundreds of years ago: e.g. in knight, there was a /k/ sound before the /n/, and the gh used to represent the sound that ‘ch’ now represents in the Scottish word loch.

doubt, island, lamb, solemn, thistle, knight

Homophones and other words that are often confused

In the pairs of words opposite, nouns end –ce and verbs end –se. Advice and advise provide a useful clue as the word advise (verb) is pronounced with a /z/ sound – which could not be spelt c.

More examples:

aisle: a gangway between seats (in a church, train, plane).
isle: an island.

aloud: out loud.
allowed: permitted.

affect: usually a verb (e.g. The weather may affect our plans).
effect: usually a noun (e.g. It may have an effect on our plans). If a verb, it means ‘bring about’ (e.g. He will effect changes in the running of the business).

altar: a table-like piece of furniture in a church.
alter: to change.

ascent: the act of ascending (going up).
assent: to agree/agreement (verb and noun).

bridal: to do with a bride at a wedding.
bridle: reins etc. for controlling a horse.

cereal: made from grain (e.g. breakfast cereal).
serial: adjective from the noun series – a succession of things one after the other.

compliment: to make nice remarks about someone (verb) or the remark that is made (noun).
complement: related to the word complete – to make something complete or more complete (e.g. her scarf complemented her outfit).

advice/advise

device/devise

licence/license

practice/practise

prophecy/prophesy

farther: further
father: a male parent

guessed: past tense of the verb guess
guest: visitor

heard: past tense of the verb hear
herd: a group of animals

led: past tense of the verb lead
lead: present tense of that verb, or else the metal which is very heavy (as heavy as lead)

morning: before noon
mourning: grieving for someone who has died

past: noun or adjective referring to a previous time (e.g. In the past) or preposition or adverb showing place (e.g. he walked past me)
passed: past tense of the verb ‘pass’ (e.g. I passed him in the road)

precede: go in front of or before
proceed: go on

Homophones and other words that are often confused (continued)

descent: the act of descending (going down).
dissent: to disagree/disagreement (verb and noun).

desert: as a noun – a barren place (stress on first syllable); as a verb – to abandon (stress on second syllable)
dessert: (stress on second syllable) a sweet course after the main course of a meal.

draft: noun – a first attempt at writing something; verb – to make the first attempt; also, to draw in someone (e.g. to draft in extra help)
draught: a current of air.

principal: adjective – most important (e.g. principal ballerina) noun – important person (e.g. principal of a college)
principle: basic truth or belief

profit: money that is made in selling things
prophet: someone who foretells the future

stationary: not moving
stationery: paper, envelopes etc.

steal: take something that does not belong to you
steel: metal

wary: cautious
weary: tired

who’s: contraction of who is or who has
whose: belonging to someone (e.g. Whose jacket is that?)