Spelling Rules and Patterns

Good spelling is essential for the CEM 11+ exam. While CEM papers are mostly multiple-choice, spelling is tested through choosing the correctly spelled word, spotting spelling errors, and cloze passages where you must recognise the right form of a word. This lesson covers the key spelling rules and patterns that will help you get these marks.

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Rule 1: "i Before e, Except After c"

This is one of the most famous spelling rules:

• i before e when the sound is "ee": believe, achieve, field, chief, thief
• except after c: receive, ceiling, deceive, receipt, conceive

Exceptions to know: weird, seize, protein, species, neither, either

Follows the rule	Exception
Believe	Weird
Receive	Seize
Achieve	Protein
Ceiling	Species

CEM Tip: The exam may show you four spellings of a word and ask you to choose the correct one. Knowing this rule helps you eliminate wrong options quickly.

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Rule 2: Dropping the Silent "e"

When adding a suffix that begins with a vowel (a, e, i, o, u), you usually drop the silent e:

Root word	+ Suffix	= New word
Hope	+ -ing	Hoping
Make	+ -ing	Making
Love	+ -able	Lovable
Fame	+ -ous	Famous
Write	+ -ing	Writing

When adding a suffix that begins with a consonant, you usually keep the e:

Root word	+ Suffix	= New word
Hope	+ -ful	Hopeful
Care	+ -less	Careless
Love	+ -ly	Lovely
Safe	+ -ty	Safety

Exceptions: truly (not truely), argument (not arguement), ninth (not nineth)

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Rule 3: Doubling the Final Consonant

When a short word ends in consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) and you add a suffix starting with a vowel, you double the final consonant:

Root	Pattern	+ Suffix	= Result
Hop	CVC	+ -ing	Hopping
Run	CVC	+ -ing	Running
Sit	CVC	+ -ing	Sitting
Big	CVC	+ -er	Bigger
Swim	CVC	+ -ing	Swimming

But if the word ends in two consonants or has a long vowel sound, do NOT double:

Root	Why no doubling	+ Suffix	= Result
Jump	Ends in two consonants	+ -ing	Jumping
Hope	Long vowel (silent e)	+ -ing	Hoping
Read	Long vowel sound	+ -ing	Reading

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Rule 4: Changing "y" to "i"

When a word ends in a consonant + y, change the y to i before adding most suffixes: