More Spelling Rules

I before E except after C

‘I’ before ‘e’ except after ‘c’ is a common misconception. You have to remember that there are plenty of exceptions:

1. The rule of ‘i’ before ‘e’ in the digraph ‘ie’ works when it makes an ‘ee’ sound, such as ‘piece’ and ‘shield.’

2. The rule of ‘i’ before ‘e’ except after ‘c’ such as in the words ‘receive’ and ‘ceiling’ (but there are still exceptions)

3. The rule of ‘e’ before i’ in the digraph ‘ei’ works when it makes a long ‘a’ sound, such as ‘reign’ and ‘vein.’

4. Other words such as ‘weird’ and‘height’ have no specific rules but just need learning!

1. thief	16. receipt
2. grief	17. deceit
3. piece	18. foreign
4. view	19. freight
5. science	20. neither
6. receive	21. handkerchief
7. ceiling	22. glacier
8. reign	23. medieval
9. weight	24. obedient
10. their	25. sufficient
11. shield	26. conceited
12. shriek	27. perceived
13. patient	28. neighbour
14. friend	29. sovereign
15. science	30. protein

'tion', 'sion', 'tian', 'cian', 'sian'

There are many forms of the ‘shun’ sound- some more common than others.

tion
- if the verb ends in ‘t,’ just add ‘–ion’
- remove a final ‘e’ before adding ‘-tion’
- sometimes you must add or remove a vowel before adding ‘-tion’ (add – addition; register – registration)
- other versions: evolve – evolution

sion
- if the root word ends in –se, take off ‘e’ and add ‘–ion’
- if root word ends in ‘d’ or ‘de’, change the 'd’ to ‘s’, drop the ‘e’ and add ‘-ion’ (erode – erosion; pretend –
pretension)

cian

Tends to be used where the word ends in ‘c’. Usually in occupations with ‘cian’ translating to ‘one who can.’

sian
‘Sian’ is not a suffix! See below.

tian
Words ending in ‘sian’ and ‘tian’ that have the ‘shun’ sound tend to be proper nouns- this means that they need capital letters.

Practise/Practice

Practice - is a noun (a name of a thing)

Practise - is a verb (an action/doing word)

Using the definitions above, which of the two words go into the following sentences? For answers, scroll down to the bottom of the page. Have a go before you think about cheating...!

1. The children were asked to line up at the door ready for Singing ______________ .

2. When the children were sat in the hall, they were asked to _______________ their singing.

3. After school, there was an opportunity for the children to ______________ their shooting skills.

4. _______________ makes perfect.

5. To prepare for the Olympics, the boy had to attend Gymnastics _____________ each week.

Answers: 1. Practice; 2. Practise; 3. Practise; 4. Practice; 5. Practice

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