Basic Grammar Skills

Lesson 2: Spelling

Spelling Rules and Word Division

In this section, you will learn about spelling rules and word division.

Part One - Spelling Rules

I and E Rules

The basic spelling rule about i and e is the following: i before e except after c or as sounding as a in neighbor and weigh.

This is a real easy rule to follow. If you think about this rule when you are writing words that use i and e, then you shouldn't have any trouble spelling those words.

Here is a list of words for you to think about.

1. weigh

2. neighbor

3. chief

4. thief

5. brief

Think about the above list. Do these words follow the rules above?

The answer is no. Not all of the words listed above follow the i and e rule.

Here is a list of words that you need to be aware of:

1. weird

2. being

3. heir

4. neither

5. protein

Exercises

Look at the following words and see which ones are spelled correctly.

1. concieve -

2. recieve -

3. wieght -

4. reindeer -

5. tie -

6. retreive -

7. vien -

8. cheif -

9. conceit -

10. frieght -

11. believe -

12. pie -

13. unweildy -

14. reciept -

15. cieling -

This exercise is for your own use.

The material for this section came from the book, "Scholastic Guides Checking Your Grammar" by Marvin Terban.

I highly recommend this book for a reference book. It is easy to read and understand. Even though it is geared to children, adults who have been struggling with grammar, will find this a valuable resource. It is not required for the course.

Part Two - Word Division

Word division is an important aspect to learn. So many people aren't sure when to divide words. Here are a few rules for you to remember.

One Syllable Words

The important point to remember about one syllable words is to not divide these words. Here are some examples of one syllable words.

1. brush

2. mashed

3. point

4. cough

5. vibes

Words Beginning With Single Letters

When you have words that begin with single letters, you never divide the word before or after the single letter such as in anemia = a-nemia or anemi-a

Here are some examples of words that have single letters.

1. able

2. utopia

3. icy

4. above

5. unit

Words With Internal Single Vowels

Words that have internal single vowels should never be divided after the vowel. Here are some examples of words with internal vowels.

1. visitation

2. oxygen

3. maximum

Suffixes ending in able or ible

Words with these endings are divided before the vowel and not after it. For example: accountable = account-able Here are some other words.

1. answerable

2. probable

3. collapsible

4. divisible

All of these words can be divided before the ending. However, there are a few exceptions to this rule.

For example: charitable = char-i-ta-ble, capable = ca-pa-ble

These words don't have the single letter standing alone and need to be divided after the vowel.

For other information about word division, you can look in just about any grammar book. The one I used for this information is "The Vest-Pocket Writer's Guide." It's an excellent little guide book on different aspects of grammar and writing. It is not required for the course.

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