Do you often struggle with spelling? It can be tricky to remember which words follow which rules. But don’t worry, with the right knowledge, you can improve your spelling in no time.
The phrase “I before e except after c” is one of the most popular spelling rules. It is just one of the 9 helpful spelling rules that will help you spell words correctly.
In this blog, we’ll explore these 9 rules and how you can use them to improve your spelling. So, let’s get started!
Contents
Examples of the rule in action
As a teacher and educator, it is my duty to help my students to understand and follow grammar rules in order to have a better knowledge of the . The rule “I before e except after c” is one of the most important exceptions to the phonics-based spelling system.
To understand it better, it is important to know some helpful spelling rules of the English . The rule “I before e except after c” explains that when a word has the sounds of “ee” or “ey”, we write the letter “i” before “e”, except after the letter “c”. For example, “believe” is spelled with an “ie”, but “receipt” is spelled with an “ei”.
“Weird” is also spelled with “ei”, instead of “ie”. To help explain this rule to my students, I give them examples of words they are likely to encounter in their day-to-day life.
Examples include “field”, “yield”, “friend”, “ceiling”, “neighbor”, “seize”, “grief”, and “weigh”. It is important to remember that an “ei” or “ie” can also appear between two consonants, such as in the word “weird”. To help my students to understand the rule of “I before e except after c”, I tell them to associate the proper sounds with the proper spelling.
When they memorize the rule, they become more familiar with the etymology of English and they can understand it better. With consistent practice and understanding, they will also gain better control over the English .
Exceptions to the rule
Learning English grammar, punctuation and spelling can be a difficult process for learners. One of the rules that many students of English have a hard time with is the ‘I before e except after c’ rule. Unfortunately, the rule can be tricky, even for native English speakers, and it should be noted that there are exceptions to this rule.
To help make sense of when it is appropriate to apply this rule, nine helpful spelling rules should be taken into account. The first of these is that when the “c sounds like an s” then the order of ‘i’ and ‘e’ can be switched.
Examples of this instance include words such as ‘science’ and ‘ancient’. When the consonant before the ‘e’ sound is not a ‘c’, or when the ‘e’ sound comes before the ‘i’ sound then the rule should not be applied.
Examples of this include words such as ‘weight’, ‘seize’ and ‘beginning’. In addition to the scenarios above, when the ‘c’ is followed by ‘e’ then the words should follow the rule. Examples of this include words such as ‘receipt’ and ‘relief’.
Furthermore, when the ‘c’ is followed by both ‘i’ and ‘e’ words should follow the rule. Words that demonstrate this, for instance, are ‘deceive’ and ‘receive’. Finally, it should be noted that when the ‘e’ is silent, not audible and comes after the ‘i’ then the rule should not be applied.
Examples here are words such as ‘neither’, ‘foreign’ and ‘height’. Understanding the nine helpful spelling rules related to ‘I before e except after c’ will aid English learners in correctly applying the rule.
Although there are many exceptions to this rule, it remains a useful rule of thumb to help students remember how to spell words correctly. Following these helpful spelling rules will be beneficial for English learners, as well as native English speakers, in understanding which words should follow the rule.
Mnemonic devices to help remember the rule
:Learning to remember the rule, ‘I before e except after c’, can be a challenge for many struggling spellers. It’s a complicated and confusing concept that many students struggle to grasp. Fortunately, there are a variety of ways to help struggling students effectively learn this rule and master it.
Mnemonic devices are an excellent way to teach and make these complicated rules easier to understand. Mnemonic devices are techniques that are used to help remember difficult or complicated information.
Commonly used in educational settings, they help learners decode and store difficult concepts into their long-term memory. Utilizing them for the spelling rule of ‘I before e except after c’ can be highly beneficial.
Here are 9 helpful mnemonic devices learners can utilize to help remember the spelling rule: ‘I before e, except for science and weird ‘ This is a particularly easy to remember and humorous saying that is actually quite effective. It states that the rule for ‘I before e except for ‘c’ does in fact hold true without any exceptions, unless in scientific words or those that are oddly spelled.
‘When I spell, neighbor and weigh (as in to weigh something on a scale), I will know to put the ‘e before the ‘i’ ’ This is a fairly standard mnemonic that provides a few examples to help remember the rule.
It allows the learner to create a mental image of the spelled words and create a quicker, easier understanding of the rule. ‘I’ll take e’s lead and put it before i’s’.
This mnemonic is a bit more creative and allows the learner to visually see the alphabet and associate it with the rule. This can be a fun way for learners to remember the rule and to understand that the letter ‘e’ always goes before the letter ‘I’ in this context. ‘I think it gets tricky when the ei follows the c’ This is an excellent exemplary mnemonic for those struggling to remember the rule. It reinforces that the rule ‘I before e except after c’ is when the ‘e’ and ‘i’ come after a ‘c’. The learner is then able to associate a specific example easily with this concept. These are just a few of the many creative mnemonics available to aid struggling learners. Mnemonic devices work by providing easy to remember cues that allow learners to store and retrieve the rules more quickly. When they are used in conjunction with other educational techniques, they can be highly effective in aiding learners in their comprehension and mastery of a difficult concept. It is important to remember that mnemonics won’t work for everyone, but they can be an effective tool in helping learners of any age to master this difficult spelling rule.
Other helpful spelling rules
Spelling is one of the biggest bugbears of learners. It can be difficult to learn the myriad of rules, exceptions and anomalies associated with spelling in the English . One helpful mnemonic rule that can be used to remember the spelling of many words is “i before e except after c”.
However, this is only one of many rules that are important to internalize when learning to correctly spell words. This article will provide nine helpful spelling rules to help with this task.
The first of these useful rules is that where a word is spelt with a double letter, like the word ‘address’, this is nearly always present after a stressed syllable. Therefore, a rule of thumb here is that words are often doubled after a stressed syllable.
For example, ’digging’, ‘running’ and ‘muffin’. On the other hand, words are usually not doubled after an unstressed syllable. For example, ‘accompanied’, ‘beginning’, and ‘realize’.
The second rule to remember when spelling words is that ‘-cian’ words are always spelt with a ‘-t’. For example, the words ‘electrician’, ‘magician’, and ‘mechanic’ are all spelt with a ‘-t’ instead of a ‘-c’.
The third rule deals with the ending of many nouns and verbs. Words that finish with ‘-ce’ nearly always take a ‘-s’ in the third person singular. The most classic example of this is a verb such as ‘to dance’.
In the third person singular we use the form ‘dances’ not ‘dance’. The fourth rule of thumb that can help when spelling words is that when a word ends with a consonant followed by a ‘y’, the ‘y’ changes to ‘i’ when adding an ending such as ‘-ous’ or ‘-able’. Examples of words that use this rule are the words ‘humorous’, ‘futile’ and ‘powerful’. The fifth useful rule when it comes to spelling words is that when adding a suffix to a word which ends with a ‘-y’, the ‘y’ is usually kept. Examples of words that use this rule are ‘loyalty’, ‘enjoyable’, and ‘curious’. The sixth spelling rule is related to changing the vowel before ‘-ed’ when adding a suffix. The vowel in the root of the word is usually retained before the ‘-ed’ ending. For example, the words ‘swimmed’, ‘dreamed’ and ‘believed’ all retain the original root vowel ‘e’ before the ‘-ed’ ending. The seventh spelling rule is that words that finished with ‘-l’ take ‘-ll’ when adding an ending. Examples of this are ‘willing’, ‘ruffling’, and ‘strolling’. The eighth useful rule deals with words ending with ‘-ence’ and ‘-ance’. In this case the ‘-e’ is usually dropped when adding an ending. Examples of this are ‘confidence’, ‘insolence’ and ‘inference’. The ninth and final rule is that when using words with ‘-ible’ and ‘-able’, they are often spelt with ‘-ble’. Examples of words that use this are ‘possible’, ‘amiable’, and ‘incredible’. In conclusion, there are many helpful rules to help with spelling in English. Of course, there will always be exceptions to the rules that need to be committed to memory. However, using the above rules as a starting point will help enormously when it comes to spelling most words. Furthermore, the ‘i before e except after c’ mnemonic is an incredibly powerful tool that should not be forgotten. With patience and a lot of practice, over time these rules will allow English learners to become more confident and accurate spellers.
Our video recommendation
Bottom Line
This article provides nine helpful spelling rules to remember the tricky rule “I before e except after c”. It includes examples to help readers understand and remember this rule, as well as helpful tips to remember the exceptions.
With these nine rules, readers can easily remember the “I before e except after c” rule and apply it to their own writing.
FAQ
What other exceptions are there to the ‘I before e’ rule?
The other exceptions to the ‘I before e’ rule include: ‘ceiling’, ‘weird’, ‘deity’, ‘height’, ‘veil’, ‘feign’, ‘heir’, ‘neighbor’, ‘seize’, ‘protein’, ‘rein’, ‘vein’, ‘foreign’, ‘leisure’, ‘weigh’, and ‘either’.
What other words follow the ‘I before e’ rule?
The other words that follow the ‘I before e’ rule are: achieve, believe, ceiling, deceive, freight, friend, grieve, niece, piece, receive, shield, thief, and yield.
What is the origin of the ‘I before e’ rule?
The ‘I before e’ rule is a traditional spelling rule in English. It states that the letter “i” should always come before the letter “e” in words, except after the letter “c”. The origin of this rule is unclear, but it is believed to have originated in the early 19th century.
Are there any other mnemonic devices to help remember the ‘I before e’ rule?
Yes, there are other mnemonic devices to help remember the ‘I before e’ rule. One example is “I before e, except after c, or when sounding like ‘a’ as in ‘neighbor’ and ‘weigh.'” Another example is “I before e, except after c, or when sounded like ‘ay’ as in ‘vein’ and ‘neigh.'”
Are there any other spelling rules that are similar to the ‘I before e’ rule?
Yes, there are other spelling rules that are similar to the ‘I before e’ rule. These include the ‘e before i’ rule, which states that the letter ‘e’ should come before the letter ‘i’ when the two letters are next to each other in a word; the ‘double consonant’ rule, which states that when two consonants are next to each other in a word, they should both be doubled; and the ‘silent e’ rule, which states that the letter ‘e’ at the end of a word is usually silent.
Are there any other words that break the ‘I before e’ rule?
Yes, there are other words that break the ‘I before e’ rule, such as “weird,” “height,” “neighbor,” “seize,” “veil,” “protein,” “caffeine,” and “either.”
