Improving Your Spelling

Why is good spelling important?

Good spelling habits
ie and ei
cede, ceed, and sede
Prefixes
Suffixes
Plurals of nouns
Review A
Review B

Why is good spelling important?

Misspelled words will distract your reader and keep
you from communicating clearly. Poor spelling also
sends the wrong messageabout you.

This is so
hard to read!

She must be
pretty sloppy.

Good spelling habits

Most of us are not natural spellers. But we can all
improve if we
pronounce words carefully
use a dictionary
spell words by syllables
proofread for careless errors
keep a spelling notebook

Good spelling habits

Pronounce words carefully
How do you pronounce athlete?
If you say athelete instead of
athlete, you might spell the word
incorrectly.
Practice saying a word.
Study it.
Write it from memory.

Good spelling habits

Use a dictionary
Dont guess.
Even good spellers have to
look up words.
Spell words by syllables
A syllable is a word part
ear/ly
early
that is pronounced as one
prob/a/bly
probably
uninterrupted sound.
When youre learning to pronounce and spell a new
word, its easier to break it up into syllables.

Good spelling habits

Proofread for careless errors
Read your work. Dot your is. Cross your ts. Is that
a g or a q? Should that word be its or its?
REMEMBER: Spellcheckers can
help, but they cannot point out
words that sound alike but are
spelled differently (such as its
and its).

Good spelling habits

Keep a spelling notebook
Correct
Spelling

Syllables
Trouble
and Accents Spots

Comments

answer

answer

answer

Silent w

casually

casually

casually

casual + ly

Never enter a
misspelled
word.

Use a
dictionary!

Which letters
give you
problems?

Anything that
will help you
remember
[End of Section]

ie and ei
Write ie when the sound is a long e.
achieve

chief

niece

believe

yield

relief

When the long e comes after c, write ei.

ceiling

receive

perceive

ie and ei
Write ei when the sound is not a long e.
height

weigh

heir

foreign

veil

counterfeit

kerchief

friend

leisure

mischief

seize

either

Exceptions

[End of Section]

cede, ceed, and sede

Only one English word ends in sede.

supersede
Only three words end in ceed.

exceed

proceed

succeed

Most other words with this sound end with cede.

precede

intercede

concede

secede

recede

accede

ie and ei
cede, ceed, and sede
On Your Own

Correct any misspelled word in these sentences. If all

the words are spelled correctly, write C.
1. Be careful whenever you lift wieghts.
2. My cousin Clyde plans to become a priest.
3. The color guard preceeded the marching band in
the parade.
4. The new fire cheif will be Holly Whitehead.
5. Niether of the boys could acheive his goals.
[End of Section]

Prefixes
A prefix is a word part that is added before a base
word or root.
When you add a prefix to a word, dont change
the spelling of the original word.
dis

honest

dishonest

un

selfish

unselfish

pre

view

preview
[End of Section]

Suffixes
A suffix is a word part that is added after a base
word or root.
dark

ness

darkness

pay

ment

payment

hope

ful

hopeful

sleep

ing

sleeping

Suffixes
When you add the suffix ly or ness, do not
change the spelling of the original word.
suddenly

Exception

suddenness

For most words ending in y, change

y to i before adding ly or ness.
lazy

lazily

laziness

heavy

heavily

heaviness

Suffixes
Drop a final silent e when you add a suffix that
begins with a vowel.
adore

adoring

adorable

write

written

writing

Keep a final silent e when you add a suffix that

begins with a consonant.
placement

careful

lovely

Suffixes
When you add a suffix to a word that ends in y:
Change the y to i if theres a consonant right
before the y, unless the suffix begins with i.
lonely

loneliest

carry

carrying

If theres a vowel right before the y, just add

the suffix.
enjoy

enjoyment

Suffixes
Double the final consonant before adding ing,
ed, er, or est if the word
has only one syllable and
ends with a single consonant preceded by
a single vowel
beg

ing

begging

clap

ed

clapped

Suffixes
Do NOT double the final consonant before adding
ing, ed, er, or est if the final consonant
does not have a single vowel right before it.

reap

ed

reaped

cold

er

colder

Prefixes and suffixes

On Your Own

Provide the correct spelling of the word and the prefix

or suffix in parentheses.
1. The judge will ______________ the lawyers
objection. (over + rule)
2. Juno was the ___________ dog on the searchand-rescue team. (brave + est)
3. The children were ___________ their new swing
set. (enjoy + ing)
4. Marta ________ for the movie tickets. (pay + ed)
[End of Section]

Plurals of nouns
The plurals of most nouns are formed by adding
either s or es.

For most nouns,

simply add s.
Add es if the noun
ends in s, x, z, ch, or
sh.

Singular

Plural

girl

girls

banana

bananas

moss

mosses

itch

itches

bush

bushes

Plurals of nouns
Nouns ending in y
If a noun ends in y
preceded by a
consonant, change y
to i and add es.
Dont change the y
to i in proper nouns.

Singular

Plural

story

stories

lady

ladies

hobby

hobbies

Curry

Currys

Kelly

Kellys

Plurals of nouns
Nouns ending in y
If a noun ends in y
preceded by a vowel,
just add s.

Singular

Plural

key

keys

turkey

turkeys

highway

highways

Plurals of nouns
Nouns ending in f
or fe
For some nouns that
end in f or fe, add s.
For others, change
the f to v before
adding s or es.

Singular

Plural

sheriff

sheriffs

gulf

gulfs

knife

knives

thief

thieves

loaf

loaves

Plurals of nouns
Nouns ending in o
For nouns that end in
o preceded by a
vowel, add s.
If the final o is
preceded by a
consonant, add es.

Singular

Plural

rodeo

rodeos

igloo

igloos

veto

vetoes

hero

heroes

potato

potatoes

Plurals of nouns
Nouns that have
irregular plurals
Some nouns form
their plurals in
irregular ways.

Some nouns dont

change form at all.

Singular

Plural

woman

women

goose

geese

ox

oxen

child

children

deer

deer

aircraft

aircraft

Plurals of nouns
On Your Own

Provide the correct plural of the noun in parentheses.

1. We passed several _________ on the way.
(church)
2. Are all of the _________ healthy? (puppy)
3. Fireplaces and __________ must be cleaned
regularly. (chimney)
4. Most of the rooms have _________. (patio)
5. The farmworkers had difficult _________. (life)
6. Jackie has five pet __________. (mouse)
[End of Section]

Review A
For each sentence, choose the correctly spelled word in
parentheses.
1. Their wedding was a (joious, joyous) event.
2. All the (babies, babys) are asleep.
3. The little boy would never try to (deceive, decieve)
his parents.
4. Tom was bothered by my (messyness, messiness).
5. The cast will hold your leg (immobile, imobile) until
it heals.
[End of Section]

Review B
Correct each spelling error in the following sentences.
1. The frieght train ran off the tracks and crashed.
2. That argument sounds ilogical to me.
3. Max was sincerly sorry that he hurt my feellings.
4. I would happyly go to the play with you.
5. The horse faceing the fence is the one I like.
6. Do not excede the speed limit on these roades.

[End of Section]

The End