You will be given sentences and asked to identify which of the words is spelled incorrectly. There are a large number of spelling rules to know, so it’s impossible to go over every single one. However, there are some important ones you should be aware of prior to going into the exam:
- Know that “U” comes after “Q.” Examples include quest, quiet, quick, and quote.
- -ck follows a short vowel sound. For example, deck, snack, brick, hack, and sock. If it’s a long vowel sound, it will usually finish in -k or -ke. For example, cake, hike, seek, and broke.
- Know the “I after E” rule. This rule states that “I” comes before “E” except after “C” and other special words with a long “A”, or “I” vowel sound (i.e. Neigbor, Weigh, Height). Examples of this rule and some of its exceptions include friend, receive, ceiling, glacier, efficient.
- There are several words with exceptions that revert to Old English roots. These include words with a long “E” vowel sound like Seize, Weird, and Protein.
- Every syllable should include a vowel. So even if you don’t hear the vowel, it should have one. Examples include Subtle, Able, Poker, and Create.
- S never follows X. Instead, there should always be a vowel to separate it. Examples include boxes, axis, taxes, and mixes.
- The Final Y Rule when adding letters. This is one of the trickiest rules that students get wrong. Keep the y in a word that has a vowel before it and then add on a plural. For example delays, surveys, and portrays. Change the y to an i when there’s a consonant before that y. Examples include copies, babies, and replies.
- Important note: When adding -ing, keep the “y” in the word even if a consonant comes before it. Examples include copying, burying, and lying.
- When adding -est to a word that ends with, it should follow the same rule as that following a plural. So look if the letter before the y is a vowel or consonant. For example, pretty (consonant before y) becomes prettiest. Gray (vowel before y) becomes grayest.
- The ending with “an” or “en” rule: End a word with “ance”, “ancy”, or “ant” if the root before has a hard /c/ or /g/ sound (urgency, arrogance) or if the root ends with “ear” or “ure” (clearance, insurance). End a word with “ence”, “ency”, or “ent” if the root before has a soft /c/ or /g/ sound (magnificent, emergency), after “id” (residence), or if the root ends with “ere” (reverence).
Example 1
There are many more rules, but know these and you should be good going into an exam. Here are some sample questions. See if you can find the misspelled word in each group:
1. Hack, Sake, Creeck, Pack
2. Marrys, Partying, Gloriest, Embodies
3. Perceive, Believe, Greive, Sleigh
4. Maxs, Torque, Squabble, Locks
5. Elegent, Assurance, Submergence, Convergence
Answers:
1–Creek is spelled wrong. These have a long /e/ sound; therefore, it should end in -ek. Only soft-sounding vowels get a -ck (i.e. Pack, hack).
2–Marrys is spelled wrong. Per the rules, this should have an -ies attached to it and changed to marries. If a consonant comes before the -y in a plural, change the word to ending in -ies (i.e. embodies).
3–Greive is spelled wrong and should be “Grieve.” This follows the basic i before e rule. This doesn’t meet any of the exceptions like Perceive and Sleigh do in these options.
4–Maxs is spelled wrong. Remember the rule “No S after X.” U is supposed to come after Q and all syllables should have a vowel, making the other words spelled correctly.
5–”Elegent” should end in -ant and be Elegant because it has a hard /g/ sound before the ending.