Spelling Patterns and Strategies

Spelling is a key part of the FSCE 11+ exam. In the writing section, poor spelling creates a negative impression, and in comprehension, you may need to spell words correctly when quoting from a passage. This lesson covers the most important spelling rules, the words children most commonly get wrong, and proven strategies to improve your spelling.

Key Spelling Rules

Rule 1: "i before e, except after c" (When the Sound is "ee")

This famous rule works most of the time when the letters make an "ee" sound:

i before e: believe, achieve, field, shield, chief, grief, piece, niece, thief, relief Except after c: receive, ceiling, deceive, conceive, receipt, perceive

Important exceptions to learn: weird, seize, protein, caffeine, neither, either (these break the rule)

When the sound is NOT "ee," the rule does not apply: eight, weight, neighbour, reign, vein, their, foreign — these all have "ei" but do not make an "ee" sound.

Rule 2: Doubling Consonants Before Adding a Suffix

When a short word ends in one vowel + one consonant, double the final consonant before adding a suffix that starts with a vowel (-ing, -ed, -er, -est):

Base Word	+ ing	+ ed	+ er
run	running	—	runner
sit	sitting	—	sitter
stop	stopping	stopped	stopper
swim	swimming	—	swimmer
hop	hopping	hopped	hopper
big	—	—	bigger
hot	—	—	hotter

Do NOT double if the word ends in two consonants (jump → jumping) or two vowels + one consonant (rain → raining).

Rule 3: Dropping the Silent "e" Before a Vowel Suffix

When a word ends in a silent "e," drop the "e" before adding a suffix that starts with a vowel:

Base Word	+ ing	+ ed	+ able
make	making	—	—
hope	hoping	hoped	—
love	loving	loved	lovable
write	writing	—	—
move	moving	moved	movable
excite	exciting	excited	excitable

Keep the "e" before a suffix that starts with a consonant: hopeful, lovely, movement, excitement.

Exceptions: noticeable, changeable, courageous (keep the "e" to keep the soft "c" or "g" sound).

Rule 4: Changing "y" to "i"

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

Base Word	+ es	+ ed	+ er	+ est	+ ly
happy	—	—	happier	happiest	happily
carry	carries	carried	carrier	—	—
beauty	beauties	—	—	—	beautifully
easy	—	—	easier	easiest	easily
tidy	tidies	tidied	tidier	tidiest	tidily

Exception: Do NOT change "y" to "i" before -ing: carrying, tidying, studying (because "iing" would look wrong).

Exception: If a vowel comes before the "y," keep the "y": played, enjoyed, staying, keys.

Rule 5: Adding -ful and -ly

-ful always has only ONE "l" (not "full"):

• beautiful, hopeful, careful, powerful, wonderful, grateful

-ly is added to adjectives to make adverbs:

• careful → carefully, hopeful → hopefully, beautiful → beautifully

When a word ends in "l" + ly, keep both l's:

• usual → usually, final → finally, occasional → occasionally

When a word ends in "le," change "le" to "ly":

• possible → possibly, terrible → terribly, comfortable → comfortably

Rule 6: Plurals

Most words: add -s (cats, dogs, trees) Words ending in s, sh, ch, x, z: add -es (buses, dishes, watches, boxes, buzzes) Words ending in consonant + y: change y to i, add -es (babies, cities, stories) Words ending in f or fe: change to -ves (leaf → leaves, knife → knives, wolf → wolves) Exceptions: roofs, chiefs, beliefs (just add -s)

graph TD
    A["Adding a suffix?"] --> B{"Does the suffix<br/>start with a vowel?"}
    B -- "Yes" --> C{"Does the base word<br/>end in silent 'e'?"}
    C -- "Yes" --> D["Drop the 'e'<br/>hope + ing = hoping"]
    C -- "No" --> E{"Short word ending<br/>1 vowel + 1 consonant?"}
    E -- "Yes" --> F["Double the consonant<br/>run + ing = running"]
    E -- "No" --> G["Just add the suffix<br/>rain + ing = raining"]
    B -- "No (starts with consonant)" --> H{"Does the word<br/>end in silent 'e'?"}
    H -- "Yes" --> I["Keep the 'e'<br/>hope + ful = hopeful"]
    H -- "No" --> J["Just add the suffix<br/>enjoy + ment = enjoyment"]

50 Commonly Misspelled Words

Learn these words — they are the ones children most often spell incorrectly in exams.