Spelling Rules
QU
Q always needs a U
C
C says /s/ before E, I, or Y.
(otherwise, C usually says /k/)
cent, city, cycle
G
G may say /j/ before E, I, or Y.
(otherwise, G usually says /g/)
germ, giant, gym
A, E, O, U
A, E, O, U usually say /A, E, O, U/
at the end of a syllable.
la-zy, me, go, u-nit
I, Y
I and Y usually say /i/ at the end of a
syllable (cli-nic) but MAY say /I/.
I, U, V, J
English words do not end in
I, U, V, or J.
Silent Final E
The preceding vowel sound changes
because of the E.
The Supporter E
English words do not end with V or U (the
E holds them up!).
The Softening E
The C says /s/ and the G says /j/
because of the E.
The Sidekick E
Every syllable must have a vowel (a silent
E adds a vowel to a syllable).
The Odd Job E
A silent final E that does any odd job not
covered by another E rule.
OR
OR usually says /er/ when W comes
before O-R.
IE or EI
Use I before E (chief)…
-except after C (receive)
-if we say A (their)
-and in some exceptions.
SH
/Sh/ used at the beginning of a word (she)
at the end of a syllable (fish),
but NOT at the beginning of any syllable
after the first one (na-tion),
except for the ending –ship (friend-ship).
TI, CI, SI
Latin spellings of /sh/ used at the
beginning of any syllable after
the first one.
na-tion, fa-cial, ten-sion
Abbreviations
Abbreviations use a few letters to
represent a larger word.
Mr. = Mister
1-1-1 Rule
When a one syllable word ends in
one vowel then one consonant,
double the last consonant before
adding a vowel suffix.
get, get-ting
2-1-1 Accent Rule
When a two syllable word ends in
one vowel then one consonant,
double the last consonant before
adding a vowel suffix IF the accent
is on the last syllable.
forget, for-get-ting
Silent Final E Words
Silent Final E words commonly
lose the need for the E when
adding a VOWEL suffix.
hope, hop-ing, hopeless
FF, LL, SS
We often double F, L, S after a single
vowel at the end of a base word (off,
all, con-fess). Occasionally, other
letters are doubled in this way (ebb,
odd, egg, inn, err, watt, jazz).
AY
A-Y usually says /A/ at the end of a base
word (may, pay, day). When a word ends
with an A, it says /ah/ (ma, pa, soda).
Exception: the word “a”
I&O
I and O may say /I/ and /O/
before two consonants.
bind, gold
XS
X is never directly before S.
boxes, excel
ALL and FULL are written with
one L when added to another
syllable.
almost, beautiful, fulfill
Plurals
To make a word plural, just add –S
unless the word ending hisses (rich,
bus, wish, box, buzz), changes
(wife/wives, fly/flies) or may end
with O (tomato/tomatoes). In these
cases, add –ES.
DGE
3 letter /j/ used only after a single
vowel that says /a-e-i-o-u/.
badge, edge, bridge, lodge, fudge
A Single Vowel Y
The single vowel Y (not -oy, -ey, -ay)
changes to I when adding ANY ending
(try/tried, beauty/ beautiful,
baby/babies) unless the ending begins
with an I (trying/babyish)
CK
2 letter /k/ used only after a
single vowel that says /a-e-i-o-u/.
back, peck, pick, pocket, truck
Capitalization
CAPITALIZE words that are the
individual names or titles of
persons, places, or things.
Z
Z, never S, is used to say /z/ at
the beginning of a base word.
zoo, zip, zero
ED
E-D, past-tense ending, forms
another syllable if the base word
ends with /d/ or /t/ (loaded, acted).
If not, E-D sounds like either /d/ or
/t/ (killed, picked).
Contractions
Contractions replace a letter (or
letters) with an apostrophe to
contract (or shorten) a phrase.
I am = I’m
she will = she’ll
Phonograms
phonograms listed first; sounds listed second
A
/a/ - /A/ - /ah/
B
/b/
C
/k/ - /s/
D
/d/
E
/e/ - /E/
F
/f/
G
/g/ - /j/
H
/h/
I
/i/ - /I/
J
/j/
K
/k/
L
/l/
M
/m/
N
/n/
O
/ah/ - /O/ - /OO/
P
/p/
QU
/kw/
R
/r/
S
/s/ - /z/
T
/t/
U
/u/ - /U/ - /oo/
V
/v/
W
/w/
X
/ks/
Y
/y/ - /i/ - /I/
Z
/z/
ai
/A/
ar
/ar/
au
/aw/
aw
/aw/
ay
/A/
ch
/ch/ - /k/ - /sh/
ci
/sh/
ck
/k/
dge
/j/
ea
/E/ - /e/ - /A/
ear
/er/
ed
/ed/ - /d/ - /t/
ee
/E/
ei
/A/ - /E/ - /i/
eigh
/A/
er
/er/
ew
/OO/ - /U/
ey
/A/ - /E/ - /i/
gn
/n/
ie
/E/ - /I/ - /i/
igh
/I/
ir
/er/
kn
/n/
ng
/ng/
oa
/O/
oe
/O/
oi
/oy/
oo
/OO/ - /oo-/O/
or
/or/
ou
/ow/ - /O/ - /OO/ - /u/
ough
/O/ - /OO/ - /uff/ /off/ - /aw/ - /ow/
ow
/ow/ - /O/
oy
/oy/
ph
/f/
sh
/sh/
si
/sh/ - /zh/
tch
/ch/
th
/th/ - /TH/
ti
/sh/
ui
/OO/
ur
/er/
wh
/hw/
wor
/er/
wr
/r/