Study Skills > Writing Elements > Spelling Tips
Another couple of words that are often misspelt are government and environment., the 'n' often being missed out in both cases. By breaking the words down into parts, the spelling becomes more logical.. Government is made up of the verb 'govern' and the suffix 'ment', which makes the verb into a noun. Remember that the Government govern over the land, they do not gover. Environs means surroundings, from which comes the word environment, again with a 'ment' suffix. Remember to take off the 's' from environs when forming environment though!
Useful Spelling Rules
There is a vast number of spelling rules, all with their own exceptions. A mere thirty or so are listed below. Most of the rules are concerned with prefixes and suffixes, as this is where many errors occur. Perhaps read through the rules, and try to identify and remember those that are most relevant and useful for you:
- Dividing a word up into syllables helps you to notice difficult sections and double letters (the word will be split between the double letters; e.g. ac/com/mo/da/tion).
- Look out for compound words (words that are made up two short words fused together); for example, overrate, handbag, etc. If you see the word as two, it will help you to remember not to miss out any letters, especially in words with double letters.
- Look out for words with disappearing sounds and log them in your memory; for example, conference, average, ridge.
- Watch out for silent letters at the start of words, particularly k,h,g.
- Be aware of the origins of words (particularly for words with silent letters) in order to identify a pattern. For example; Latin/Greek - island, scissors, debt French - heir, honest, honour Viking - knee, knife, know, gnaw Arabic - Alchemy, Chemistry, Mosque
- No English word can be spelt with a 'uv' combination; whenever you hear this sound it will be spelt 'ov'; e.g., uncover, discover.
- 'I' before 'e', except after 'c'. If a word has a long 'ee' sound, 'i' goes before the 'e'. If the long 'ee' sound comes after 'c', then it is 'ei'.
- Learn some useful spelling 'pictures', e.g. 'necessary' is spelt with 1 collar and two sleeves.
- Look out for families of meaning; e.g., vision, visor, visual.
- Seven words contain an 'all' sound at the start of the word, but they are all spelt with only one 'l': although; almighty; altogether; also; almost; already; always.
- When adding prefixes (e.g. un, non, dis, pre, mis), do not remove from, or add to, the base word e.g., unhappy, nonplussed, misrepresent.
- Words that begin 'ex', followed by a soft 's' sound are spelt 'exc'; e.g., excellent, excerpt.
- Most words that start with an 'ap' sound are spelt 'app' (with a syllable split between the letters). Exceptions are: apart; apartment; apostrophe; apologise; apology.
- 'Full' at the end of a word is always spelt 'ful', with only one 'l'; e.g., beautiful, grateful, helpful.
- For words ending in an 'ick' sound; if the word has one syllable, it will end 'ick'; if the word has two or more syllables, it will end in 'ic'; e.g., stick, trick, magic, logic.
- Words ending in 'chur' are almost always spelt 'ture'; e.g. picture, rapture.
- Drop the final 'e' when adding a vowel suffix or a 'y'; e.g., starve- starving; believe - believable. There are a few exceptions, such as 'manageable', peaceable, and 'changeable', as well as other words that contain a soft 'c' or 'g' sound. Keep the final 'e' when adding a consonant suffix; e.g., strange - strangely; name - namely. There are a few exceptions to this rule, for example, argue - argument, true - truth.
- Those words which have an 'l' ending, will have the ending 'lly', when the suffix 'ly' is added; e.g., historical - historically, oral - orally
- When you add a vowel suffix or a consonant suffix to a word with a consonant before the final 'y', change the 'y' to 'i' before adding the suffix. This works for all endings except 'ing', as 'ii' is not possible; e.g., happy - happily, worry - worried; but, hurry - hurrying.
- When you want to add a vowel suffix to a two syllable word ending in 'l', double the final 'l' before you add the vowel ending; e.g., marvel - marvellous, signal - signalled.
- If you add the vowel suffixes 'ity', 'ise', or 'ism', do not double the final 'l'; e.g., capital - capitalism, legal - legality, legalise.
- If you add a consonant suffix, do not double the final 'l'; e.g., enrol - enrolment, hopeful - hopefulness.
- The letters 'm', 'n', 'r', 'u', 'w', 'v' are usually followed by 'al', 'el', or 'il' at the end of a word; e.g., vowel, anvil, camel.
- When a base word has the letter 'l', 'n', 'r', or 's', followed by a soft sh'n ending, the suffix is usually spelt 'sion'; e.g., omission, expulsion, progression. 'Portion' and 'proportion' are two examples of exceptions to the rule.
- When hearing the sound zh'n at the end of a word, the word will have a 'sion' suffix; e.g., inclusion, conclusion.
- Words ending 'tion', 'sion', or 'cian' are often verbs or adjectives that have been converted to nouns; e.g., confuse - confusion, technical - technician.
- Look at the last consonant for a clue to the correct sh'n ending; e.g., congratulate - congratulations (the last 't' in the verb forms the start of the suffix of the noun), and confuse - confusion (the last 's' in the verb forms the start of the suffix of the noun).
- If there is a vowel before the final 'y' of a word, just add 's' to make it plural; e.g., ploy - ploys, weekday - weekdays.
- Change other 'y' endings to 'ies' when wanting to make plurals; e.g., army - armies, copy-copies.
Some general tips
- Try to break the word down into separate syllables, and sound the word out one syllable at a time.
- Note, however, that not every word is spelt exactly how it sounds.
- If in doubt, consult a dictionary (you will need to know at least the first few letters).
Make yourself a course, or module, glossary of useful words that you can consult time and time again. Use this for building your vocabulary, as well as for improving spelling. Get reading!! Familiarise yourself with difficult words, by reading a variety of texts and seeing the words repeatedly written down. You will soon learn what looks right and what does not when it comes to spelling the words yourself
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