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SPELLING TIPS
SUREFIRE STEPS FOR SPELLING SUCCESS
Look at the word carefully.
Say and spell the word aloud touching each letter with your finger as
you say it.
Write the word three times.
Cover the word.
Say and spell the word aloud without looking at it.
Uncover the word and check your spelling.
Cover the word one more time.
Write the word.
Uncover the word to check your written spelling, touching each letter as
you check it.
Repeat steps 1 through 9 as many times as needed to get the spelling
under your belt!
GENERAL SPELLING RULES TO HELP YOU IN A PINCH
Suffixes |
| Double the final consonant of your root word when you add a
suffix that begins with a vowel |
swim / swimming * permit / permitted
flat / flatten * let / letting
begin / beginner * sun / sunny |
| Drop the final "e" of your root word when you add
a suffix that begins with a vowel |
leave / leaving * have / having
give / giving * scene / scenery
sneeze / sneezed * weave / weaver |
| If you are adding a suffix to a word that ends in
"y" and the suffix does not begin with "i," change the "y"
to an "i" before adding the suffix |
cry / cried * fly / flier
try / tries * dry / drier * fry / fried |
When adding "ible" or "able" to a word
ending in "e," drop the "e"
before adding the suffix |
response / responsible
recognize / recognizable
excuse / excusable |
| Plurals |
| Most nouns form their plurals by adding an "s" |
horse / horses * car / cars
boat / boats * cat / cats
dog / dogs * word / words |
| Nouns that end in "ch," "s,"
"ss," "sh," "x," or "z" usually form their plurals
by adding "es" |
kiss / kisses * church / churches
wish / wishes * fox / foxes
arch / arches * marsh / marshes |
| Nouns that end in "y" often form their plurals by
changing the "y" to "i" before adding "es" |
candy / candies * fly / flies
puppy / puppies * sky / skies
legacy / legacies |
| Nouns that end in "f" or "fe" often
form their plurals by changing the "f" or "fe" to "v" before
adding "es" |
elf / elves * shelf / shelves
leaf /l eaves * wharf / wharves
knife / knives |
| Irregular Plural Forms |
| Some nouns don't follow the general rules for forming
plurals, and it's best to just memorize these irregular plural forms |
alumna / alumnae
antenna / antennae
child / children * crisis / crises
datum / data * die / dice
goose / geese * louse / lice
man / men * mouse / mice
nucleus / nuclei
parenthesis / parentheses phenomenon / phenomena
tooth / teeth * woman / women |
| "I" Before "E" |
One of the most familiar spelling rules is "i"
before "e" except after "c," or when sounded like "a" as in
"neighbor" and "weigh" |
It's a good rule that will help you with some tricky
spellings, such as... "ceilings," "believe," and "freight."
But beware that there are exceptions, for example... "weird,"
"foreign," "sovereign," "seize," and "protein." |
IN GENERAL
Sound it out: If you don't know how to spell a long word, divide it into syllables and
sound it out. In-du-bi-ta-bly, it will be easier than you think!
Use a dictionary: Buy a dictionary and use it when you don't know how to spell a
word. Mark words you look up with a check mark. Study the words using the ten
steps above and then write the words on index cards. Keep the marked dictionary and
the index cards as a record of your personal "spelling demons" and test yourself
on them from time to time.
READ
The best way to improve your spelling is by reading. The more
familiar you become with words, the easier it will be to recognize whether they are
spelled right or wrong.
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