Rules for basic spellings

Spellings!

Do you fear the English language?

Do you make lots of mistakes while writing in English?

 

If yes, then there can be a few probable reasons which are as follows:

  1. The problem could be you do not follow the grammar rules properly.

  2. The problem could be you do not use punctuations properly.

  3. The problem could be you are not good at spellings.

  4. or any other problem.

In this blog let us cater to the problem of spellings.

Yes, you heard it right spellings.

 

There are a few rules which we need to follow for getting better at basic spellings.

  1. Every word always consists of at least one vowel.

  2. Every syllable (a word or part of a word) consists of one vowel.

  3. C has two sounds /k/ or /s/. C has the sound of /s/ if c comes before an e, i, or y (for eg – centurycitiescycle). C has the sound of /k/ everywhere else (for eg – catclip).

  4. G has two sounds /g/ or /j/. G has the sound of /j/ if g comes before an e, i, or y (for eg – gemsgingymnast). C has the sound of /g/ before everything else (for eg – guard, glue).

  5. Q has a sound where q is always followed by a u (for eg – quit).

  6. We need to double the consonants f, l and s at the end of a one-syllable word that consists of one vowel (for eg – sniffspellingpassed).

  7. For the spelling of the sound of /k/ at the end of a word, we use ck or k. We need to use CK after a short vowel (for eg – kick). At all other places, use a k (for eg – milk).

  8. S is never followed by X whereas we use c to achieve the desired sound(for eg – excise).

  9. We should capitalize the names.

 

Few other rules which need to be taken care of are as follows:

  1. A, e, o, and u are generally usually with the same sound as the alphabet, if used in the end or in the beginning (for eg – aboutme, sounity).

  2. If we have v or j at the end of the words then we add a silent e at the end of the word (for eg – have).

  3. We use contractions to replace letter(s) with an apostrophe so that the phrase can be shortened (for eg -I don’t represent I do not).

  4. We should capitalize the names of places (for eg- India).

 

Some more advanced rules of spellings are as follows:

  • Adding a suffix to the words that end with Y.

When we add a suffix that starts with E like -ed, -er, -est to a word that ends with Y, then Y changes to an I.

For eg – Baby will be Babies

When we add a suffix that has two consonants before the Y like -ly, then change the Y to I.

For eg – Happy will be Happily

Y does not change to I like – ing

For eg – cry will be crying

 

But some exceptions can be there to this rule.

  • At many places, there is the usage of silent E.

Generally, if E is there at the end after a consonant it is silent in the word and it makes the sound of the word long

For eg – Kite, cute

When adding a suffix like -ed, -er, or -est then silent E is generally dropped.

For eg – bared, bluest

Spellings are not difficult it is just that we need to know few rules and then when we practice the same on regular basis it helps us to be better at spelling and English. One more thing to remember here is that there can be exceptions but in general cases, the above-mentioned rules can be of real help.

 

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About the Author: Anju Jindal

Anju is a trainer, entrepreneur, and career growth specialist who helps students, working professionals, women, and Job seekers to reach out to their goals by implementing a Career Growth plan

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