i before e except after cMost people know the spelling rule about i before e except after c, as in the following words:-ie--ei-

achieveceiling

beliefconceit

believedeceit

chiefdeceive

pieceperceive

thiefreceipt

yieldreceive

The rule only applies when the sound represented is ee, though. It doesnt apply to words like science or efficient, in which the ie- combination does follow the letter c but isnt pronounced ee.There are a few exceptions to the general i before e rule, even when the sound is ee. Examples include seize, weird, and caffeine. Theres nothing for it but to learn how to spell these words, checking in a dictionary until you are sure about them.

Words containing the letter qIn the spelling of English words, the letter q is always followed by the vowel u, for example:queuequizacquaintancesquashfrequenttranquilNote that this rule does not apply to Arabic words such as niqab.

Comparative and superlative adjectivesThe comparative form of an adjective is used for comparing two people or things (e.g. he is taller than me), while the superlative is used for comparing one person or thing with every other member of their group (e.g. he was the tallest boy in the class). Adjectives make their comparative and superlative forms in different ways, depending on the base adjective itself. Heres a quick-reference guide to the spelling of comparative and superlative adjectives:Adjectives with one syllableIn general, if the adjective has one syllable, then the letters -er or -est are added:warm warmer warmestquickquicker quickesttall taller tallestAdjectives with one syllable ending in eIf the adjective has one syllable and ends in e, just add -r or -st:late later latestnice nicer nicestlarge larger largestAdjectives with two syllablesAdjectives with two syllables vary. Some add -er/-est or -r/-st:feeble feebler feeblestSome use the words more for the comparative and most for the superlative:famous more famous most famousMany can do either, like clever:clever cleverer/more clever cleverest/most cleverAdjectives with three syllables or moreIf the adjective has three syllables or more, then the words more and most are used:interesting more interesting most interestingattractive more attractive most attractive Adjectives that change their spelling Some adjectives change their spelling when forming the comparative and superlative: Some one-syllable adjectives that end with a single consonant (e.g. big, wet, sad, fat) double this consonant before adding -er or -est:big bigger biggestwet wetter wettestsad sadder saddest If the adjective ends in y (e.g. happy, greedy, or tidy), change the y to an i and add -er or -est:happy happier happiestgreedy greedier greediesttidy tidier tidiest Some common adjectives have irregular comparative and superlative forms that you just have to learn:bad worse worstgood better bestlittle (of a quantity) less least much more most

Forming adverbsMany adverbs are formed from adjectives and end in -ly. Here are some tips to help you form adverbs and spell them correctly: The basic rule is that -ly is added to the end of the adjective:adjectiveadverb

quickquickly

suddensuddenly

straightforwardstraightforwardly

If the adjective has two syllables and ends in -y, then you need to replace the final -y with -ily:adjectiveadverb

happyhappily

hungryhungrily

lazylazily

If the adjective ends with a consonant followed by -le, replace the final -e with -y on its own:adjectiveadverb

terribleterribly

comfortablecomfortably

incredibleincredibly

Adjectives that end in -ly, such as friendly or lively, cant be made into adverbs by adding -ly. You have to use a different form of words, e.g. in a friendly way or in a lively way instead

Adding -ful or -fullyThe suffix -ful can form nouns or adjectives, like plateful or cheerful. People sometimes make the mistake of spelling this type of word with a double l at the end. Note that its always spelled with just one -l:dreadful, faithful, skilful, powerfulcupful, mouthful, spoonfulsThe related ending fully forms adverbs. Remember that this suffix is always spelled with two ls:dreadfully, faithfully, skilfully, powerfully-ize, -ise, or -yse?Many verbs that end in -ize can also end in -ise: both endings are correct in British English, though you should stick to one or the other within a piece of writing. For example: finalize/finalise; organize/organise; realize/realise. This website spells these words with the -ize ending, but the main dictionary entries for the verbs show that the -ise spelling is also correct. But there are a small set of verbs that must always be spelled with -ise at the end and never with -ize. Here are the most common ones:advertisecompromiseexerciserevise

Advisedespiseimprovisesupervise

apprisedeviseincisesurmise

chastisedisguiseprise (meaning open)surprise

compriseexcisepromisetelevise

There are also a few verbs which always end in -yse in British English.analysecatalyseelectrolyseparalyse

breathalysedialysehydrolysepsychoanalyse

In American English, they are all spelled with the ending -yzeAdding endings to words that end in -ourIn British English, when you add the endings -ous, -ious, -ary, -ation, -ific, -ize, or -ise to a noun that ends in -our, you need to change the -our to -or. For example:humourhumorous

glamourglamorous

labourlaborious

But when you add other endings, the -our spelling stays the same:colourcolourful

favourfavourite

odourodourless

This rule doesnt apply to American English: see more information about the differences between British and American spelling.

Adding endings to words that end in -yWhen adding endings to words that end with a consonant plus -y, change the final y to i (unless the ending in question, such as -ish, already begins with an i). For example: pretty: prettier, prettiest ready: readilybeauty: beautifuldry: dryishThis rule also applies when adding the -s, -ed, and -ing endings to verbs ending in -y:defy: defies, defying, defiedapply: applies, applying, applied

Adding endings to words that end in a double lYou need to drop the final l from words that end with a double l before adding endings that begin with a consonant (e.g. -ment, -ful, and -ly):install instalmentskill skilfulchill chillyThe ending -ness is an exception to this rule:small smallnessill illness

Verb tenses: adding -ed and -ingThe basic form of a verb is called the infinitive. It normally occurs with the word to as in I want to ask you a question. Verbs may change their spelling according to which tense is being used.The past tense refers to things that happened in the past. To make the past tense of regular verbs, the ending -ed is added to the infinitive ('I asked her a question'). The present participle refers to things that are still happening. To make the present participle, the ending -ing is added to the infinitive ('I am asking her a question').Often there's no need to make any other spelling changes when you add -ed and -ing to the infinitive but there are some cases when it's necessary to do so. Here are some rules to help you get it right: Verbs ending with a silent eIf the verb ends with an e that isnt pronounced (as in bake or smile), then you need to drop this final -e before adding -ed and -ing:verbpast tensepresent participle

bakebakedbaking

smilesmiledsmiling

A very few verbs keep the final -e when adding -ing to distinguish them from similar words. For example, singe becomes singeing rather than singing (which is the present participle of sing).Verbs ending with a vowel plus -lIf the verb ends with a vowel plus -l (as in travel or equal), then you need to double the l before adding -ed and -ing in British English:verbpast tensepresent participle

traveltravelledtravelling

distildistilleddistilling

equalequalledequalling

This rule doesnt apply in American English: see more information about the differences between British and American spellingVerbs ending with a single vowel plus a consonantIf the verb ends with a single vowel plus a consonant, and the stress is at the end of the word (e.g. refer), then you need to double the final consonant before adding -ed and ing:verbpast tensepresent participle

admitadmittedadmitting

commitcommittedcommitting

referreferredreferring

If the verb ends with a vowel plus a consonant and the stress is not at the end of the word, you dont need to double the final consonant when adding -ed and -ing:verbpast tensepresent participle

inheritinheritedinheriting

targettargetedtargeting

visitvisitedvisiting

If the verb has only one syllable and ends with a single vowel plus a consonant (e.g. stop), then you need to double the final consonant before adding -ed and -ing:verbpast tensepresent participle

stopstoppedstopping

taptappedtapping

sobsobbedsobbing

Verbs ending with two vowels plus a consonantIf the verb ends with two vowels plus a consonant, you should generally not double the final consonant:verbpast tensepresent participle

treattreatedtreating

wheelwheeledwheeling

pourpouredpouring

Verbs ending in -cIf the verb ends in -c (e.g. panic), you need to add a -k before adding -ed and -ing, and also -er. Verbpast tensepresent participlerelated noun

picnicpicnickedpicnickingpicnicker

mimicmimickedmimickingmimicker

traffictraffickedtraffickingtrafficker

Using capital lettersYou should always use a capital letter in the following situations:In the names of people, places, or related wordsUse a capital letter when you are writing the names of people, places, and words relating to them:Africa, AfricanBuddha, BuddhismShakespeare, ShakespeareanAt the beginning of a sentenceUse a capital letter at the beginning of a sentence:The museum has huge potential. It will be a great boost to the area and we are really excited about it.In the titles of books, films, organizations, etc.Use a capital letter in the titles of books and other publications, films, organizations, special days, etc. In such cases, you need a capital letter for all the main words but not for the connecting words such as a, an, the, or, and, etc.:Pride and PrejudiceChristmas Daythe Houses of Parliament.In abbreviationsIf youre using the first letter of the abbreviated words, every letter should be a capital, e.g.:BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation)USA (United States of America)MP (Member of Parliament)See more about writing abbreviations.People often dont use capital letters when theyre writing emails or other informal messages, but its important to use them in formal writing.

Common misspellingsHeres a quick-reference guide to the top misspellings according to the Oxford English Corpus an electronic collection of over 2 billion words of real English that helps us to see how people are using thelanguage and also shows us the mistakes that are most often made.The table gives the correct spelling of the word, handy tips on getting it right, and also the most common misspellings that weve found in our research, so you can check to see if any of the same mistakes have been tripping you up.Correct spellingSpelling adviceCommon misspelling

accommodate, accommodationtwo cs, two msaccomodate, accomodation

Achievei before eacheive

Acrossone caccross

aggressive, aggressiontwo gsagressive, agression

Apparently-ent not -antapparantly

Appearanceends with -anceappearence

Argumentno e after the uarguement

Assassinationtwo double ssassasination

Basicallyends with -allybasicly

Beginningdouble n before the -ingbegining

Believei before ebeleive, belive

Bizarreone z, double -rbizzare

businessbegins with busi-buisness

calendar-ar not -ercalender

Caribbeanone r, two bsCarribean

cemeteryends with -erycemetary

chauffeurends with -eurchauffer

colleague-ea- in the middlecollegue

comingone mcomming

committeedouble m, double t, double ecommitee

completelyends with -elycompletly

conscious-sc- in the middleconcious

curiosity-os- in the middlecuriousity

definitely-ite- not ate-definately

dilemma-mm- not -mn-dilemna

disappearone s, two psdissapear

disappointone s, two psdissapoint

ecstasyends with syecstacy

embarrasstwo rs, two ssembarass

environmentn before the menviroment

existenceends with -enceexistance

Fahrenheitbegins with Fahr-Farenheit

familiarends with -iarfamilar

finallytwo lsfinaly

fluorescentbegins with fluor-florescent

foreigne before iforiegn

foreseeablebegins with fore-forseeable

fortybegins with for-fourty

forwardbegins with for-foward

friendi before efreind

furtherbegins with fur-futher

gistbegins with g-jist

glamorous-mor- in the middleglamourous

governmentn before the mgoverment

guardbegins with gua-gaurd

happenedends with -enedhappend

harass, harassmentone r, two ssharrass, harrassment

honorary-nor- in the middlehonourary

humorous-mor- in the middlehumourous

idiosyncrasyends with -asyidiosyncracy

immediatelyends with -elyimmediatly

incidentallyends with -allyincidently

independentends with -entindependant

interrupttwo rsinterupt

irresistibleends with -ibleirresistable

knowledgeremember the dknowlege

liaise, liaisonremember the second i: liais-liase, liason

lollipopi in the middlelollypop

millennium, millenniadouble l, double nmillenium, millenia

Neanderthalends with -thalNeandertal

necessaryone c, two ssneccessary

noticeableremember the middle enoticable

occasiontwo cs, one socassion, occassion

occurred, occurringtwo cs, two rsoccured, occuring

occurrencetwo cs, two rs, -ence not -anceoccurance, occurence

pavilionone lpavillion

persistentends with -entpersistant

pharaohends with -aohpharoah

piecei before epeice

politicianends with -cianpolitican

Portugueseends with guesePortugese

possessiontwo ss in the middle and two at the endposession

preferred, preferringtwo rsprefered, prefering

propagandabegins with propa-propoganda

publiclyends with clypublically

reallytwo lsrealy

receivee before irecieve

referred, referringtwo rsrefered, refering

religiousends with -giousreligous

remember-mem- in the middlerember, remeber

resistanceends with -anceresistence

senseends with -sesence

separate-par- in the middleseperate

siegei before eseige

successfultwo cs, two sssuccesful

supersedeends with -sedesupercede

surprisebegins with sur-suprise

tattootwo ts, two ostatoo

tendencyends with -encytendancy

thereforeends with -foretherefor

thresholdone h in the middlethreshhold

tomorrowone m, two rstommorow, tommorrow

tonguebegins with ton-, ends with -guetounge

trulyno etruely

unforeseenremember the e after the runforseen

unfortunatelyends with -elyunfortunatly

untilone l at the enduntill

weirde before iwierd

whereverone e in the middlewhereever

whichbegins with wh-wich