BASIC-GRAMMAR-2-Spelling-rules

Appendix 2

Spelling rules

1. Plural nouns

Add -s to most nouns.

	dog ⇒ dogs
	desk ⇒ desks
	house ⇒ houses

Add -es to nouns ending in -ch, -o, -s, -ss, -sh, and -x.

	sandwich ⇒ sandwiches	class ⇒ classes
	tomato ⇒ tomatoes	dish ⇒ dishes
	bus ⇒ buses	box ⇒ boxes

Change nouns ending in -y (after a consonant) to -i.

	country ⇒ countries
	story ⇒ stories
	city ⇒ cities

TIP

Don’t change the -y to -i after a vowel: holidays, keys

Some nouns are irregular. For example:

	man ⇒ men
	child ⇒ children
	woman ⇒ women
	person ⇒ people

2. Present simple third person (he/she/it) verbs

Add -s to most verbs in the present simple third person form.

	live ⇒ lives
	start ⇒ starts
	work ⇒ works

Add -es to verbs ending in -ch, -o, -s, -ss, -sh and -x.

	watch ⇒ watches	finish ⇒ finishes
	go ⇒ goes	relax ⇒ relaxes
	pass ⇒ passes

Change verbs ending in -y (after a consonant) to -i.

	study ⇒ studies
	fly ⇒ flies

TIP

Don’t change the -y to -i after a vowel: plays, buys

A few verbs have irregular forms.

	have ⇒ has
	be ⇒ is

3. Comparative and superlative adjectives

Add -er to short adjectives to form the comparative .

Add -est to short adjectives to form the superlative.

	young ⇒ younger ⇒ youngest
	cheap ⇒ cheaper ⇒ cheapest

Add -es to verbs ending in -ch, -o, -s, -ss, -sh and -x.

	watch ⇒ watches	finish ⇒ finishes
	go ⇒ goes	relax ⇒ relaxes
	pass ⇒ passes

TIP

When the adjective ends in -e, add -r/-st: large ⇒ larger/largest

Change adjectives ending in -y (after a consonant) to -i.

	happy ⇒ happier ⇒ happiest
	angry ⇒ angrier ⇒ angriest

Double the final consonant on some adjectives ending with a vowel and a consonant.

	hot ⇒ hotter ⇒ hottest
	big ⇒ bigger ⇒ biggest

TIP

Don’t double the consonant with adjectives ending in -w or -y: slow ⇒ slower/slowest.

4. Adverbs ending in -ly

You often add -ly to an adjective to form an adverb.

	quick ⇒ quickly
	slow ⇒ slowly

Note these differences:

Adjectives ending in -I: beautiful ⇒ beautifully
Adjectives ending in -y: happy ⇒ happily
Adjectives ending in -ble: horrible ⇒ horribly

5. Past simple regular verbs (-ed endings)

Add -ed to verbs ending in a consonant.

	watch ⇒ watched
	visit ⇒ visited

Add -d to verbs ending in -e.

	dance ⇒ danced
	arrive ⇒ arrived

Double the final consonant on some verbs ending with a vowel and a consonant..

	stop ⇒ stopped
	jog ⇒ jogged

6. Present participles (-ing endings)

With verbs ending in -e, delete the -e before adding -ing.

	dance ⇒ dancing
	live ⇒ living

Double the final consonant on some verbs ending with a vowel and a consonant..

	stop ⇒ stopping
	run ⇒ running
	swim ⇒ swimming
	jog ⇒ jogging

Change nouns ending in -y (after a consonant) to -i.

	country ⇒ countries
	story ⇒ stories
	city ⇒ cities

7. British and American spelling

There are a few differences.

Words ending in -re often end in -er: centre (Br Eng) – center (Am Eng).

Words with -our often delete the -u: colour (Br Eng) – color (Am Eng), favourite (Br Eng) – favorite (Am Eng).

Verbs ending with a vowel and a consonant don’t double the final consonant: travelling (Br Eng) – traveling (Am Eng).

Verbs ending with -ise or -ize are always -ize: memorise (Br Eng) – memorize (Am Eng).

Check your spelling!⇒