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Spelling and Pronunciation
Common Spelling Problems
Words ending in -ful
There is only one 'l' when -ful is a suffix. Examples: helpful, useful
Doubling of consonants Adjectives form adverbs by adding -ly. Examples: usefully, helpfully
Words with one syllable, ending in one vowel and one consonant, double the consonant when adding -ing, -ed, or - er. Examples: swim → swimming, fit → fitted, thin → thinner
Most two-syllable words ending in one vowel and one consonant also double the last consonant, especially when the stress is on the second syllable. Example: prefer → preferred BUT a common exception is bother → bothering.
Words ending in -y One-syllable nouns ending in -y change -y to -i in plurals. One-syllable verbs ending in -y also change -y to -i in the present simple and past simple. Examples: spy → spies, try → tries, tried
But one-syllable words ending in one vowel and -y do not change.
Example: boy → boys
One-syllable words do not change when we add -ful and -ness.
BUT two-syllable words ending in one vowel and -y do not change.
Example: destroy → destroyed
These rules do not apply when we add -ing.
Examples: try → trying, study → studying
Words with ie and ei
The general rule is i before e except after c, as long as the sound is /i:/. Examples: receive, relief BUT reign (the sound is not /i:/)
Spelling and Pronunciation
In English, one spelling can have different sounds, and the same sound can have different spellings. Note the various ways of spelling the underlined sounds in each list below. If you check the pronunciation of the whole word by looking at the phonetic script in a dictionary, you will find that the sound /ə/ (called "schwa") is very common in English. It is always unstressed. If you beat the rhythm of a word with your hand, then /ə/ is often the 'up' (unstressed) beat.
Vowel Sounds
/ʌ/ love, sudden, blood, cuff /əʊ/ boat, post, although, know, toe
