Unit 2: Grammar and Usage

Twelve Spelling Rules and Examples of Each

Rule 1: When i and e follow each other in a sentence, usually the i comes before e.

However, there are two cases, in which e comes before i :

1. when the two letters follow c

2. when the combination of letters is pronounced like ay ( neighbor )

Rule 2: When the following prefixes are added to the beginning of a word, the word does not change its spelling.

il- in- im- un- dis- mis- re- over-

Rule 3: When the following suffixes are added to the end of a word, the word does not change its spelling.

Rule 4: When a word ends in an e, drop the final e before adding a suffix that begins with a vowel.

Rule 5: When a word ends in an e and the suffix begins with a consonant, do not drop the e.

Rule 6: Nouns that end in y that are preceeded by a consonant form their plural by changing the y to an i and adding es. 

Rule 7: Nouns that end in y preceeded by a vowel, just add an s to form the plural.

Rule 8: Most nouns that end in f or fe form their plural by adding an s.

Rule 9: Nouns ending in o preceded by a vowel form their plural by adding an s.

Nouns ending in o preceded by a consonant form their plural by adding es.

Rule 10: The plural of compound nouns ( mother-in-law ) is formed by adding s to the main word. Since mother is the main word, the plural form would be mothers-in-law.

Rule 11: Compound words ending in -ful form their plural by adding an s.

Rule 12: All nouns ending in s, x, z or ch, add es.