Absolutely Ridiculous English Spelling
Why does the English language

have so many words that are
Words that have the same sounds but are
spelled differently,
difficult to spell? The main
reason is that English has 1,100
different ways to spell its 44

Words that contain letters that have nothing
to do with the way the words are
separate sounds, more than any
pronounced,
other language. Some of the
results of this are:

Words that contain silent letters; that is,
letters that must be included when you
write the words even though they are not
pronounced,

Spelling rules that have lists of exceptions words that do not follow the rules and thus
must be memorized separately.
This situation exists for a variety of reasons.
For some words, the pronunciation
has changed over the centuries even though the spelling has not changed. Some
words have been borrowed from other languages, and although they have kept their
original spellings, people over the years began pronouncing the words according to
English rules. Still other words have been borrowed from other languages and have
kept their original spellings AND pronunciations, which makes them seem strange by
English rules.
The reasons for the Ridiculous English Spelling do not matter, however, because
English is what it is; it has been this way for a long time. If you want to learn to
speak and write it, you must learn it as it is and not how it should be. Our task is to
make that a little easier for you.
Some common inconsistencies:
Pattern
Examples
How they are pronounced
1. end with sound of
"ot" as in POT, NOT
2. end with sound of
1. thought, bought, fought,
brought
2. enough, rough, tough,
slough
words containing
3. through
"ough"
4. though, although, dough,
thorough
5. cough
6. bough, doughty
"uff" as in STUFF
3. ends with sound of
Long U, as in the
word THREW or
SHOE
4. end with the sound of
Long O, as in NO or
GO
5. ends with the sound
"OFF
6. contain the same
sound as "COW" or
"NOW"
Words that sound
the same but are
spelled differently.
1. byte, bite, bight
1. Long i + t
2. seen, scene
2. Long e + n
3. hear, here
3. Long e + r
4. sense, cents, scents
4. all end with the sound
5. their, there, they're
of "-ENCE" or "-
6. feet, feat
ENSE"
7. ate, eight
5. Long a + r
8. err, heir, air
6. Long e + t
9. wheel, weal, we'll
7. Long a + t
10. you, ewe
8. Long a + r
11. isle, aisle, I'll
9. Long e + L
12. ale, ail
10. Long u
13. gnu, new, knew
11. Long I + L
12. Long a + L
13. N + Long u
Words containing
"ight"
alight, bight, blight, flight, fright, In all of these words, "ight"
height, light, night, might, right,
is pronounced like Long i +
sight, tight, plight,
t.

gnat, gnaw

know, knee, knife, knit,
knickers, knuckle

psychology, psychiatrist,
pneumonia
Words with Silent

should, could, would

isle, aisle, island

wrap, wrinkle, write,
wrath, wrist, wrought
Letters

debt, doubt

listen, soften, castle, often

hour, heir, herb

Wednesday, handkerchief
All of these words are
pronounced as if the red
letters were not there, but
when you write the words,
you MUST include those
letters.
(maybe)

lamb, limb, dumb, thumb,
climb, tomb, comb
1. WIND - noun, moving air
Words that look the
same but are
pronounced
differently.
outdoors, part of weather
2. WIND - verb, a twisting
motion, as with a clock
spring
3. READ - past tense verb,
got meaning from written
1. WIND - Short i
sound
2. WIND - Long i sound
3. READ - Short e
sound
4. READ - Long e
sound
words
4. READ - present tense of
same verb
5. ABUSE - verb, to injure
or do harm
6. ABUSE - noun - injury,
damage or mistreatment
7. ADDICT - noun - person
who acts compulsively
8. ADDICT - verb - to make
dependent on
9. COMBINE - noun - a
harvesting machine
10. COMBINE - verb - to put
together, mix together,
join
11. DEFECT - noun - a flaw
12. DEFECT - verb - to
desert, run or escape from
13. OBJECT - noun - a thing,
an article, a goal
14. OBJECT - verb - express
opposition
15. SUBJECT - noun - topic
of study or interest
16. SUBJECT - verb - to
cause to submit to or
undergo
17. LEAD - to conduct, show
5. ABUSE - with z
sound
6. ABUSE - with s
sound
7. ADDICT - stress on
ad
8. ADDICT - stress on
dict
9. COMBINE - stress
on com
10. COMBINE - stress
on bine
11. DEFECT - stress on
de
12. DEFECT - stress on
fect
13. OBJECT - stress on
ob
14. OBJECT - stress on
ject
15. SUBJECT - stress on
sub
16. SUBJECT - stress on
ject
17. LEAD - Long E,
rhymes with 'seed'
18. LEAD - Short E,
rhymes with 'bed'
19. BOW - Long O.
the way, take first
rhymes with 'go' ------
position
--------------------------
18. LEAD - noun - a soft,
-------------------
very heavy metal
20. BOW - a diphthong
19. BOW - noun - a stick-like
article strung with hair or
cord, used to play a violin
or shoot an arrow
20. BOW - verb - bending
forward from the waist as
a sign of respect
21. SOW - noun - a female
pig
22. SOW - verb - to spread
seeds onto prepared
ground
23. POLISH - as a noun, a
liquid used to clean and
of Soft A +Long U
(as in COW)
21. SOW - a diphthong
of Soft A + Long U
(as in HOW)
22. SOW - Long O,
rhymes with 'no'
23. POLISH - Short O
sound, like the O in
'doll' -------------------------------------24. POLISH - Long O
sound, as in 'pole'
25. DESERT - Stress on
shine hard surfaces. as a
'de' , pronounced with
verb, the act of cleaning
Short E
or shining
24. POLISH - adjective, a
person or thing from
Poland
25. DESERT - noun, a rocky,
sandy geographical area
lacking water
26. DESERT - to abandon or
run away from
27. PRESENT - as a noun - a
gift; as an adverb - in
attendance, here
28. PRESENT - verb - to give
to, such as an award
29. DOVE - noun - a pigeonlike bird
30. DOVE - verb, to jump
26. DESERT - Stress on
'sert' , rhymes with
'shirt'
27. PRESENT - stress on
'pre' with Short E
sound (PRE-zent)
28. PRESENT - stress on
'sent' (pre-ZENT)
29. DOVE - Short O or U
sound as in 'love'
30. DOVE - Long O
sound, as in 'drove'
31. INVALID - Stress on
'in' (IN-valid)
32. INVALID - Stress on
'val' (in-VAL-id)
33. ROW - Long O,
head first, as into water
31. INVALID - noun - a
person who is physically
disabled
32. INVALID - adjective
meaning illegal or not
acceptable
33. ROW - as a noun, a line
rhymes with 'go' ------------------------------------------------34. ROW - O is a
diphthong (ah-oo) as
in 'cow'
35. DOES - 'OE'
pronounced like
or tier of similar objects;
Schwa as in 'but' -
as a verb, to propel a
/duz/
small boat with paddles or
oars
34. ROW - noun - a
disagreement or argument
35. DOES - Third -person
singular form of the verb
DO
36. DOES - more than one
female deer
37. SEWER - noun, a person
who sews, stitches fabric
38. SEWER - a channel for
waste water
39. TEAR - noun - water that
36. DOES - Long O
sound , rhymes with
'nose'
37. SEWER - 'ew' has a
Long O sound, as in
'sower'
38. SEWER - 'ew has a
Long U sound.
Rhymes with 'newer'
39. TEAR - Long E
sound, rhymes with
'beer' ---------------------------------------40. TEAR - Long A
comes from the corner of
sound, rhymes with
one's eyes
'fair'
40. TEAR - verb - to rip or
41. CLOSE - Long O
shred paper or cloth
with /S/ sound
41. CLOSE - adverb meaning
near or almost
42. CLOSE - verb - to shut,
unopen, seal
43. BASS - a species of fresh-
42. CLOSE - Long O
with /Z/ sound
43. BASS - Short A
sound, rhymes with
'mass'
water game fish
44. BASS - as a noun, the
lowest male singing
voice, low notes
45. WOUND - as a noun, an
injury; as a verb, to cause
an injury
46. WOUND - past tense of
44. BASS - Long A
sound, rhymes with
'face'
45. WOUND - OU
sounds like Long U,
rhymes with 'tuned'
46. WOUND - OU
sounding like a
verb TO WIND,
diphthong /AH-OO/,
tightening a spring with a
rhymes with 'sound'
twisting motion.
1. book, foot, good, hood,
look, moor, poor, stood,
wood
Words with 'oo' that
should sound the
same but don't.
2. aloof, boom, doom,
gloom, soon, bloom,
broom, noon, proof, roof,
zoom
3. floor, door
4. flood, blood
1. one , the number 1
2. to - a preposition meaning
'in the direction of'
Words that don't
sound like they are
spelled
3. who - a pronoun
4. do - a verb meaning 'to
perform, act, accomplish'
5. shoe - item of clothing
worn on and protecting
your feet
6. two - the number 2
1. these words have the
same Short U vowel
sound
2. these words all have a
Long U sound
3. 'oo' = an O sound as
in 'or', 'more'
4. these words have the
same vowel sound as
'bud' and 'cud'
1. pronounced like
/WUN/ , rhymes with
'gun'
2. pronounced like /TU/
, rhymes with 'true'
3. pronounced like
/HOO/ , rhymes with
'shoe'
4. pronounced like /DU/
, rhymes with 'dew'
7. was - singular past tense
5. pronounced like
of the verb TO BE
/SHU/ , rhymes with
8. of - preposition having
many meanings
'glue'
6. pronounced like /TU/
, rhymes with 'boo'
7. pronounced like
/WUZ) , rhymes with
'fuzz'
8. pronounced like /UV/
, rhymes with 'love'
Some more inconsistencies:
Ways to spell Long 'U'
shoe, grew, through. do, doom, flue, two, who, brute,
duty
Ways to spell Long 'O'
go, show, though, sew, beau, float, bone,
Ways to spell Long 'A'
may, weigh, late, pain, rein, great
Ways to spell Long 'E'
Ways to spell Long 'I'
free, bean, magazine, gene, mete, be, mien, receive,
believe
fine, rhyme, fight, align, isometric, bayou
The chart above is just a small sample of why Spelling Rules in English can be almost
as much of a problem as spelling itself. Notice the "i-e" Rule:
Use i before e, except after c, or when
sounding like a as in neighbor and weigh.

This is a nice, neat little rule concerning words that have the letters i and e
together, usually to form the Long E sound in English: i before e, as in piece
or relief.

Then the rule says "Except after C". The ie becomes ei , as in receive and
deceit.

Now, you know that the Long E sound in English can be made by 'ie', unless
the sound comes after 'c', in which case it is made by 'ei', (except for those
times when the Long E sound is made by 'ee' or 'ea' or 'e' or 'i' or 'oe').

Then the Rule tells you about another exception - when the i and the e are
together in a word and are pronounced like Long A, the e must come before
the i. Examples: neighbor, sleigh, weigh, freight, etc.

In this one short Rule, there are already two exceptions to it covering dozens
of other words, but that is not the end. There are many words that do not
follow the Rule or its exceptions: seize, weird, neither, either, foreign,
sovereign, forfeit, counterfeit, leisure, heifer, protein, geiger (as in 'counter'),
height, sleight, feisty, seismograph, poltergeist, kaleidoscope.
At this point you may ask, "What can I do about it? How can I figure out how to spell
the words in this crazy language?" Believe it or not, there are a few things you can do
that will help, but after you remember the rules and learn the 'tricks', you are left with
this basic technique: Study, Memorize, Study, Memorize, Study, Memorize.
Exercise: For each of the words in the list below, write the definition (from a
dictionary) and write a sentence using the word.
1. scene
2. seen
3. scent
4. sent
5. cent
6. err
7. air
8. heir
9. feet
10.feat
11. new
12. knew
13. hear
14. here
In spite of the fact that there are many English words that do not follow general
pronunciation rules, at least 80 percent of English words DO follow normal rules.