Spelling Rules *Note: The rules that Mrs. Branscum thinks are critical for you to know are in red. These are the rules we have practiced A LOT!! Rule 1: u always follows q to make the phonogram ‘qu’ Rule 2: When c is followed by e, i, or y, it says its second sound (ssssss) Ex.: city, fancy, nice Rule 3: when g is followed by e, i, or y, it says its second sound (j) Ex.: page, giant, gym Rule 4: Vowels a, e, o, and u usually say their long sound at the end of an open syllable. Ex.: na vy, me, o pen, mu sic Rule 5: Vowels i and y may say I (eye) at the end of a syllable, but usually say the long e sound. Ex.: Si lent ly Rule 6: We use y, not i, at the end of English words. (Names don’t count) Ex.: clay, apply Rule 7: There are five jobs of silent final e: time - vce pattern – the silent e makes the vowel say its name love, true - In English, we don’t end words with u or v. dance, large - See rules 2 and 3 apple – in final stable syllables such as ble, cle, fle, gle, ple, and more. house – in a word with a vowel pair, the final consonant is usually followed by an e. Rule 8: The letters or may say er when they follow a w. Ex.: work, worm, work Rule 9: The CVC rule: when a one syllable word ends in one vowel followed by one consonant, double the final consonant before adding a suffix that begins with a vowel. Ex.: run n ing = running hop p ed = hopped skip p er = skipper Rule 10: Still the CVC rule, just coming at the END of a word: when a TWO syllable word ends in one vowel followed by one consonant, double the final consonant before adding a suffix that begins with a vowel, if the accent is on the last syllable. Ex.: forgot = forgot t en = forgotten Rule 11: Silent final e words – drop the silent e when adding a suffix that begins with a vowel. Ex.: have = hav ing =having bake = bak ed = baked Rule 12: We use ei after c if we say /a/ (long a), and in some exceptions. Note from Mrs. Branscum: Here’s how I learned this rule: i before e except after c and when it says /a/ as in neighbor and weigh or in really weird words like weird Ex.: receive, veil Rule 13: The phonogram sh is used at the beginning of a word (she) and at the end of a word (dish) and in the suffix –ship. Ex.: friendship, sheep, wash Rule 14: The phonograms ti, si, and ci are used to say /sh/ at the beginning of any syllable after the first one. (-tion, -cial, -sion) Ex.: nation, session, facial Rule 15: The phonogram si says /sh/ when the syllable before it ends with an s (ses- sion = session) and when the base word has an s where the word changes (manse – mansion) Rule 16: The phonogram si can also say /zh/ Ex.: vi-sion = vision Rule 17: In a one syllable word with a single vowel, We often double the final l, f, s, and z. Ex.: full, stuff, grass, buzz Rule 18: Base words do not end with the letter a saying long a. The phonogram ay is used most often. Ex.: pay, may, play Rule 19: Vowels i and o may say their long sound when followed by two consonants. Ex.: bind, gold Rule 20: The letter s NEVER follows the letter x to make a plural. Ex.: box = boxes flex = flexes Rule 21: When added to another syllable, the prefix all is written with one l Ex.: all, almost, always Rule 22: When added to another syllable, the suffixes till and full are written with one l. Ex.: until, wonderful, beautiful Rule 23: The phonogram dge may be used only after a single vowel which says its short sound. Ex.: badge, ledge, ridge, lodge, budge Rule 24: When a word ends with a consonant followed by a y, change the y to an i before adding a suffix (try=tried), unless the suffix is –ing (trying) Ex.: fly = flies or flying baby = babies or babying Rule 25: The phonogram ck may be used only after a single vowel that says its short sound. Ex.: back, deck, sick, sock, duck Rule 26: Capitalize words which are the specific names or titles of persons, places or things. (proper nouns) Ex.: Mom, Mary, Mr. Waldrop, Dr. Purdy, Wal-Mart, AT&T Rule 27: S can’t say its second sound /z/ at the beginning of a word Ex.: zoo, zero Rule 28: We use –ed to make a verb past tense. Ex.: jump = jumped, like = liked, act = acted Rule 29: In multi-syllable words, double consonants should be sounded for spelling but not for reading. Ex.: oc cur = occur bub ble = bubble .