Basic English | Spelling mistakes
Rules for better spelling
Have you ever seen this word? Ghoti
Here are some clues to figure it out.
- Pronounce the gh as in tough,
- The o as in women
- The ti as in nation.
Blend these sounds and you get… fish!
This joke was made by George Bernard Shaw to prove a point. English spelling is confusing 
Actually, English spelling does follow specific rules; therefore, ghoti cannot be pronounced as fish because gh never represents the sound of f at the beginning of an English word and ti never represents the sound of sh at the end of an English word.
Knowing some basic rules of English spelling can eliminate many common errors even though there are usually exceptions.
Basic Rules
- Remember this poem to decide if a word should be
spelled ie or ei.Put i before e except after c, or when it sounds like aAs in neighbor or neigh.
| Examples for line 1: | mischief | believe | field | |
| Examples for line 2: | receiver | conceited | ||
| Examples for line 3: | eight | weigh | freight | |
| Some Exceptions: | friend | neither | leisure | foreign |
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Just a few extras for those of you who are still reading 
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1. I, u, and v never come at the end of English words.
2. “I” before “e” except after “c” or when saying “A” as in neighbor or weigh.
3. “S-h” is used to say “sh” at the beginning of a word or end of a syllable, but not at the beginning of a syllable after the first one. “Ti”, “si” and “ci” are used then. (shoe or dish but… lotion, tension, and social)
4. “E”, “i” or “y” may make a “c” or “g” soft. Put an “e” at the end of a word when you want the “c” or “g” at the end to be soft. (rice or change) Keep the “e” there when adding suffixes that begin with “a” or “o”. (changeable, noticeable)
5. All syllables must have a vowel. That is why we have an “e” at the end of apple, bottle, table, etc.
6. At the end of a one syllable word that has a single vowel, “f”, “l”, and “s” are usually doubled.
7. All, full, and till are written with only one “l” when combined with another syllable. (almost, wonderful, until)
8. Single vowel “y” at the end of a word changes to “i” when a suffix is added, except for suffixes that begin with “i.” (cry…cries….but crying. Double vowels do not follow this rule: boys)
9. “X” is never followed by “s”. (excellent, excited, boxes.)
10. When a word ends in a silent e, remove the e before you add a suffix that begins with a vowel, but keep the e when you add a suffix that begins with a consonant.
Tags: Basic spelling
