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 Guide to
English Spelling Rules
Basics of British and American spelling with a
minimum of effort
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Page
Contents |
| Noun
Plural Formation |
Dropping
and Doubling of Letters |
Troublesome
Prefixes |
| Troublesome
Suffixes and Endings |
General
Observations |
One
Word or More?
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| Words
Commonly Confused |
Correct
Punctuation? |
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Noun Plural
Formation |
|
Spelling Rule |
Examples |
Exceptions |
To
form the plural
of most nouns,
simply add -s |
cat
> cats
dog > dogs
|
Surviving
Old English plural forms:
deer > deer; sheep > sheep;
ox > oxen;
man > men;
woman > women;
child > children;
brother (in a religious sense)
> brethren;
foot >
feet;
tooth > teeth. |
Some
compound nouns:
passer-by > passers-by;
mother-in-law > mothers-in-law. |
Plural
forms of not fully naturalized foreign words:
chateau >
chateaux;
crisis > crises; formula > formulae; index >
indices; stimulus >
stimuli |
Plural forms of metric
abbreviations:
100 km (kilometres)
60 g (grams)
2.5 l (litres)
Note that with non-metric measurements plural s
is optional: 60 lb or 60 lbs
|
To
form the plural of nouns ending in
s, sh,
ss, z, x or ch,
add
-es to facilitate pronunciation |
gas
> gases
dish > dishes
boss > bosses
box > boxes
watch > watches
|
|
To
form the plural of nouns ending in y
preceded
by a consonant,
change the y to an
i
and then add -es |
lady
> ladies
baby > babies
strawberry > strawberries
laboratory > laboratories
|
lay-by
> lay-bys (BrE);
stand-by >
stand-bys |
- Family
names:
- Mr.
& Mrs. Brady > The Bradys
|
To
form the plural of
a number of long established English nouns ending in
f or fe
(but not
ff or ffe!)
change the f
to a v
and then add -es |
half
> halves
leaf > leaves
life > lives
knife > knives
|
Most
other nouns ending in f or fe simply add -s as
usual, but there are some cases in which the -ves plural
formation is optional:
belief
> beliefs; chief > chiefs;
handkerchief > handkerchiefs
(but
note handkerchieves
is an option in British English);
safe > safes
Caution is advised and, if in doubt,
consult a dictionary. |
To
form the plural of imported nouns
ending in
o and long established in English, add -es |
cargo > cargoes
domino > dominoes
echo > echoes
embargo > embargoes
hero
> heroes
potato > potatoes
tomato > tomatoes
tornado > tornadoes
torpedo > torpedoes
veto > vetoes |
For
less naturalized nouns ending
in o, add -s only:
kilo
> kilos; piano > pianos;
kimono > kimonos;
radio > radios
|
In
a few cases the -es plural formation is optional. When in any
doubt, consult your dictionary!
archipelago > archipelagos/archipelagoes
fiasco > fiascos/fiascoes
halo > halos/haloes
mango > mangos/mangoes
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Dropping
and Doubling of Letters |
| Spelling
Rule |
Examples |
Exceptions |
A
final silent e
is usually dropped
before adding
a suffix
beginning
with a vowel |
-able
It is not so easy to predict when a final e
should be dropped before adding the
suffix -able.
Generally speaking, this is more common in
American English.
In some cases it is optional:
e.g. likable or likeable |
Words
ending in -ce and -ge usually keep their e to
clarify the pronunciation of a preceding consonantal sound:
noticeable,
peaceable, knowledgeable,
manageable |
The
final e is also retained for words ending in -ee:
agreeable, foreseeable |
| -age
store > storage
|
acreage
and mileage |
| Note
that linage and lineage are entirely different words. |
| -ed
clone > cloned
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|
| -est
cute > cutest
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| -ing
dive > diving
write > writing
|
You
must retain the e when it is needed to distinguish meaning
(cf. dying
& dyeing
or singing & singeing). |
| Sometimes
the e is kept to clarify pronunciation of a preceding consonantal
sound (e.g. ageing). American
English seems to be less particular about this (aging). |
The
final e is also kept for words ending in -ee, -oe,
or -ye:
fleeing, canoeing,
eyeing |
| -ous
fame > famous
pore > porous
|
Words
ending in -ge keep their e to clarify the pronunciation of
a preceding consonantal sound:
advantageous,
courageous |
For
words ending in -ce this final e becomes an i:
space
> spacious |
| -y
ice > icy
bone > bony
|
The
final e is not dropped before adding the suffix -y if the
preceding letter is u:
gluey
(but note gluier). |
| Note
also pricey and spacey. |
| Remember
that holy and holey are very different words! |
|
When a suffix
beginning with a vowel
is added to
a stressed
syllable
ending in a
single consonant preceded by
a single
vowel,
the consonant
is usually
doubled
|
-able
control > controllable
|
In British
English, a final letter l following a single vowel is doubled
even if the syllable is unstressed: travel > travelled.
American English not only adheres to the usual rule requiring the final
syllable to be stressed before doubling, it doubles the final l in
all forms of the verb, thereby eliminating this particular
spelling headache altogether:
AmE enroll > enrolled
and fulfill > fulfilled;
BrE enrol > enrolled
and fulfil > fulfilled. |
| -ed
stop > stopped
admit > admitted
In the following cases the stress
in the final
syllable is secondary:
kidnap > kidnapped
program > programmed |
Consult a
dictionary before doubling a final s to form noun plurals, especially
in monosyllabic words: gas > gases;
bus >
buses (but AmE busses).
A
final z is always doubled:
fez > fezzes;
quiz > quizzes.
In words of more
than one syllable, both British and American English follow
the usual stress rule when adding -es to form the third person singular
of the present tense:
focus > focuses;
nonplus > nonplusses.
In British English (as in the case involving a final
l above), a stressed syllable is not a
prerequisite for doubling the s before -ed and -ing to
form past tenses and gerunds.
So BrE grants you the option of either focussed
or focused
and focussing or
focusing.
AmE, on the other hand, prefers the latter variants (focused
and focusing), which follow the
general rule about stress. |
Instead
of doubling a final consonant c, which only occurs in unstressed
syllables, it becomes ck before the addition of a suffix: traffic
> trafficking;
frolic > frolicking.
The
consonants h, w, x and y are never doubled
(e.g. affix > affixing), and neither are silent consonants found
in words of foreign origin:
crochet > crocheting;
ricochet > ricocheting.
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| -er
big > bigger |
| -ing
begin > beginning
refer > referring
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| -ish
red > reddish |
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Troublesome Prefixes |
|
Spelling Rule |
Examples |
Exceptions |
- ante-
or
anti- ?
- Choose the prefix
ante- if your word has connotations of before
or ahead,
and anti-
if it means opposite or against
|
ante-
does not usually have to be followed by a hyphen:
antecedent,
antedate,
antenatal, anteroom |
|
Even
with anti- most words
require no hyphenation:
antibiotic,
anticlockwise, anticyclone,
antidepressant, antifreeze
anti- is always followed bya hyphen before
an i
or a capital letter:
anti-inflammatory
anti-French |
There
are, however, many other anti- words that are hyphenated by
convention, according to personal preference, or to avoid a vowel clash:
anti-aircraft fire,
anti-establishment,
anti-government, anti-gravity,
anti-personnel mines, etc. Whenever
you're in doubt, please consult a good dictionary! |
|
fore-
or for- ?
Choose
the prefix
fore- if your word
has the meaning of before or
ahead; otherwise you need for-
|
forefather,
foresight, forecast,
forerunner, foreshadow,
forestall, foretaste,
foretell, forewarn,
etc.
forbid, forfeit,
forget, forgive,
forgo, forlorn,
forsake, forswear,
etc. |
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Troublesome Suffixes
and Endings |
|
Spelling Rule |
Examples |
Exceptions |
- -able
or -ible ?
- The suffix -able
is far more
common
than -ible
|
Most
roots, including all modern ones, add -able:
drink
> undrinkable
read
> readable
wash > washable |
You'll
find -ible only in a few old words that are derived directly from
(or modeled on) Latin:
flex > flexible
comprehend > comprehensible
respond > responsible
Lat. edere (to eat)
> edible |
- -ance
or -ence
&
-ant or -ent ?
- Here we present a few useful rules for when to add
the suffixes
-ance or -ence and
-ant or
-ent.
However, because
these rules are not 100% reliable, it's safest to consult a
dictionary!
|
-ance
is always added
to a hard c or g:
elegance,
significance.
If
the preceding c or g is soft choose -ence:
innocence, intelligence. |
Note
the unique spellings of allegiance
and vengeance |
If
other forms of the word end in an a-suffix, then your choice is
likely to be -ance/-ant:
dominate > dominance
ignoramus > ignorant
vigilante > vigilance
|
violate
> violence |
Verbs ending in -ear, -ure and
-y
have noun forms ending in
-ance:
appear > appearance
endure > endurance
defy > defiance
|
|
Verbs ending in -ere will have noun-forms
ending in -ence:
interfere >
interference
|
persevere
> perseverance
|
The core syllables -cid-, -fid-,
-sid-, -vid-, -flu-, -qu- and
-sist- are usually
followed by -ence:
incidence,
confidence, subsidence,
evidence, influence,
consequence, insistence
|
assistance,
resistance |
To form nouns from verbs
ending in a stressed
-er or -ur,
add -ence:
confer > conference
concur > concurrence
(Note here the typical doubling
of the r in a stressed syllable before the addition of a
suffix beginning with a vowel.)
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|
To form nouns from verbs ending
in an unstressed
-er,
add -ance:
utter >
utterance
hinder >
hindrance
|
differ
> difference |
- -ce
or -se ?
- During centuries of separation from the
motherland,
American English
retained the original
-se ending in
certain words borrowed from French.
British English
modified it to -ce
|
AmE:
defense, license
(noun & verb), offense,
pretense, vise
(tool)
BrE:
defence, licence (noun
form only [cf. to license]), offence,
pretence, vice
|
Note
that even in British English any related adjectives have to be spelt
with an s:
defensive,
offensive |
Note
from the example of licence/license above that British English,
perhaps under the influence of advice (n.)
and to advise, sometimes
utilizes -ce/-se to help distinguish between a noun and a verb:
BrE:
practice (n.)
> practise (v.)
|
American
English, which tends to prioritize simpler orthography, often loses out
on the ability to make such subtle distinctions:
AmE:
license (n.) > license (v.)
practice (n.) > practice (v.) |
-cede
or -ceed ?
The ending -cede
is
far more
common
than -ceed
|
concede,
precede, recede |
You'll
find -ceed only in exceed, proceed
and succeed.
Note the unique spelling of
supersede.
|
-ch
or -tch ?
Choose -ch
if
it is
to be preceded by
either
a
consonant
or two vowels.
If
it is to be preceded
by a single vowel,
you need -tch
|
filch,
bench, church |
|
| approach,
touch, coach |
One
exception to this rule, namely the letter h:
aitch |
| catch,
fetch, watch |
A
handful of very common words are exceptions to this rule and so you should
try to memorize them: attach,
detach, enrich,
much, rich,
sandwich, spinach,
such, which |
- -ction
or -xion ?
- The ending -ction
is
far more
common
than -xion
|
reaction,
reduction, etc. |
-xion
is only found in a few words like complexion,
crucifixion, effluxion,
flexion, fluxion,
prefixion, retroflexion
and transfixion |
| connection,
deflection, inflection,
reflection |
In
BrE only, you may come across the following variants:
connexion,
deflexion,
inflexion
and reflexion. |
- -er
or -or ?
- The ending -er
is
far more
common
than -or
|
-er is added to most
verbs
(and certainly all modern ones)
for someone or something that performs an activity:
player, baker,
singer,etc.
A few -er nouns are created from nouns
or adjectives:
law > lawyer
prison > prisoner
foreign > foreigner |
|
| Note
the following words: adapter (a person
who adapts); adviser;
caster, conjurer
and conveyer;
and resister (a
person who resists). |
Especially
in British English,
an adaptor
is a device to make
two pieces of (usually electrical) equipment
compatible, as well as being an accepted variant of adapter
(someone who adapts something);
the
variant advisor is not uncommon but
is still rather controversial; the variants castor, conjuror
and conveyer are
quite correct; and a resistor is an
electronic component. |
-or
is found in words of French or classical origin: mayor,
donor. Many end in -ator, -itor,
-ctor, -essor
and -utor:
curator, auditor,
director, professor, tutor |
|
- -ise
or -ize ?
- The verbal suffix -ize
is
far more
common
than -ise
|
criticize,
demoralize, realize,
vandalize |
In
BrE, under the influence of neighboring French, the -ise ending is a
widespread alternative, but if chosen it should be used consistently: criticise,
demoralise, realise,
vandalise, etc. |
| Note
these common verbs, which are always spelt with -ise: advertise,
chastise, despise,
disguise, franchise,
merchandise and surmise |
Note,
too, all verbs ending in
-cise, -prise and -vise:
exercise, surprise,
advise |
-or
or -our ?
Words of primarily French origin ending in -our
in British English
end in -or
in American English
|
BrE:
colour, favour,
honour
AmE: color, favor,
honor
|
British
English also often uses -or: error,
terror, stupor |
Note
that even British
English drops the u before the addition of a suffix to
certain words:
vapour > vaporize;
honour > honorific/honorary
Please refer to a dictionary! |
-re
or -er ?
While
British English retains the -re
ending
in words of French origin,
American
English generally
prefers -er
|
BrE:
centre, metre,
theatre
AmE: center,
meter,
theater
|
Even
in American English -re is found in some words, especially if the
stem ends in the letter c:
acre,
massacre, mediocre;
but note also cadre
and ogre. |
-yse
or
-yze ?
The verbal suffix
-yse
is British and
-yze is American
|
BrE:
analyse,
paralyse
AmE:
analyze, paralyze
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General
Observations |
|
Spelling Rule |
Examples |
Exceptions |
-ae/oe
or -e ?
ae and
oe
in words
of Greek or
Latin origin are retained
in
British English
and replaced
with a simple e
in American English
|
BrE:
archaeology, gynaecology,
haemoglobin, diarrhoea,
foetus, oesophagus
AmE:
archeology, gynecology,
hemoglobin, diarrhea,
fetus, esophagus
|
Even
in British English there is a slow trend toward simplification: For
example, the form encyclopedia
is now much more common than encyclopaedia. |
- -ie-
or -ei- ?
- In the case of
'ee' /i:/ sounds
i goes before e
except after c
|
believe,
chief, siege
ceiling, receive,
deceit
|
Beware
of words
that have varied pronunciation:
either, neither, heinous |
Some
common names:
Keith, Sheila, Neil, Madeira |
| Latin
words like species |
| Others:
caffeine, protein, inveigle, seize, weird |
q_?
q is almost invariably followed by
u
|
quack,
quality, queen,
question, quiz,
quote |
Acronyms
& non-English words:
Qantas
(Australian Airline),
Al Qaeda (Islamist terror franchise), Qatar
(Gulf state),
etc. |
|
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One
Word or More? |
| alright
/ all right |
all
right is widely regarded as the correct form |
|
already
/ all ready
|
Are you all ready to leave? It's already
8 o'clock. |
| altogether
/ all together |
There
are altogether two occasions per year when the family are
all
together. |
| anyone
/ any one |
Anyone
can use the library and borrow any one of 10,000 books. |
| cannot
/ can not |
cannot
is the correct form in British English, while can not is
generally preferred in American English. Note that even BrE
sometimes allows you to use can not for emphasis: She can
not only speak French but German too! |
| ever
/ -ever |
ever
is only separated from a wh-word for the sake of emphasis:
"You
can go wherever you like and do whatever you want!"
but "Where ever have you been and what ever
have you been up to?". |
| everyone
/ every one |
Everyone
is the same as 'everybody' and applies to people only.
Every one
means 'each single one' and applies to both people and things:
Everyone went to the restaurant and every one of them chose
spaghetti. |
| inasmuch as /
in as much as |
Both
forms are correct but inasmuch as now seems to be the more common
variant:
He
is responsible for the accident inasmuch
as he failed to prevent
it. |
| insofar
as / in so far as |
Both
forms are correct but in so far as now seems to be more common
variant: She
appreciated him in so far as he was always very positive. |
| into
/ in to |
These
forms mean slightly different things and are sometimes confused in
modern English. Into is a preposition: They got into
their car. With in to we have the adverb in followed
by the preposition to:
She accompanied her friend in to
dinner. |
|
maybe / may be |
He
may be moving to Chicago, but maybe he'll stay in
LA a while longer. |
|
no-one / no one |
Nowadays
both forms are considered correct, but purists would make this fine
distinction: No-one
(= nobody) has so far been charged with causing the accident
because no one person (= no particular individual) is to
blame. |
|
onto / on to |
It
seems that onto does not enjoy the same dominant status as into
above. In modern-day English, onto and on to are both
regarded as correct prepositional forms. In cases where the on is
an adverb, however, on to must be used: He got up onto
the stage, smiled and then went on to
talk about his amazing experience. |
|
sometime / some time |
She'll
do it sometime when she gets some time. |
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- This page last updated 2009-07-16
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