Spelling Rules to Remember

This section provides key guidelines for accuracy in spelling. Understanding and applying common spelling rules can significantly improve your spelling in GCSE English. There are a variety of rules that, once mastered, will make many words easier to spell. Here’s a breakdown of essential spelling rules, along with examples, to help you become more confident in your writing.

 ‘I’ Before ‘E’ Except After ‘C’

A popular rule that helps with many words is that the letter ‘i’ usually comes before ‘e’, except when it follows a ‘c’. This rule applies to words like believe, achieve, and retrieve, where the ‘i’ precedes the ‘e’.

Examples:

• Believe, Achieve, Retrieve (the ‘i’ comes before the ‘e’)
• Receive, Ceiling, Deceit (the ‘e’ comes before the ‘i’ after a ‘c’)

Be careful, though, as there are exceptions. For instance, the word weird does not follow the rule, as it’s one of the "weird" exceptions to the “i before e” rule!

Past Tense Verbs: Adding ‘-ed’

When changing a verb to the past tense, the general rule is to add ‘-ed’ to the base form of the verb. Most verbs follow this rule, but there are some important exceptions to watch out for.

Examples of regular past tense verbs:

• Walk → Walked
• Direct → Directed
• Inspect → Inspected
• Wish → Wished
• Discuss → Discussed

Doubling Consonants in Past Tense

When a verb ends with a consonant and is three letters long, you typically double the final consonant before adding ‘-ed’.

Examples:

• Hug → Hugged
• Tag → Tagged
• Pin → Pinned
• Nap → Napped
• Tip → Tipped

Irregular Past Tense Verbs

Some verbs don’t follow the regular pattern and form their past tense in an unpredictable way. These are called irregular verbs, and you'll need to memorise them. You might find it helpful to create mnemonics to remember these words.

Examples of irregular past tense verbs:

• Think → Thought
• Buy → Bought
• Run → Ran
• Go → Went
• Forget → Forgot

 ‘-ing’ Forms of Verbs

When forming the ‘-ing’ form of a verb (used for present continuous or gerunds), the rules are similar to those for past tense. You generally add ‘-ing’ to the base verb.

Examples of regular ‘-ing’ forms:

• Walk → Walking
• Direct → Directing
• Inspect → Inspecting
• Wish → Wishing
• Discuss → Discussing

Doubling Consonants for ‘-ing’ Forms

If the verb ends in a consonant and is three letters long, you generally double the consonant before adding ‘-ing’.

Examples:

• Hug → Hugging
• Tag → Tagging
• Pin → Pinning
• Nap → Napping
• Tip → Tipping

Dropping the ‘e’ When Adding ‘-ing’

If a verb ends in an ‘e’, you typically drop the ‘e’ when you add ‘-ing’ to form the present continuous or gerund.

Examples:

• Save → Saving
• Bake → Baking
• Waste → Wasting
• Race → Racing
• Reserve → Reserving

Silent Letters

Many English words contain silent letters that are not pronounced but affect the spelling. Being aware of silent letters can help avoid common spelling errors.

Examples of silent letters:

• Silent W: Wrong, Write, Wrap, Wrist
• Silent B: Climb, Comb, Thumb, Lamb
• Silent K: Knowledge, Knuckle, Knee, Knife
• Silent H: Ghost, Rhythm, Honour, Heir

Commonly Misspelled Words

Even if you follow all the rules, some words are often misspelled due to their irregularities or tricky combinations of letters. A helpful way to improve these is to create your own mnemonics or to regularly practise their spelling. Below is a list of commonly misspelled words, divided by the first letter. Identify any you find difficult and focus on practising those.

A-E

• Abandoning
• Acceptable
• Accommodation
• Appreciation
• Argument
• Assessment
• Atmosphere
• Beginning
• Believe
• Collectable
• Compromising
• Concentration
• Conclusion
• Confirming
• Contentment
• Daughter
• Development
• Evaluation
• Explanation

F-Z

• Fierce
• Foreign
• Independent
• Interesting
• Invincible
• Jealous
• Knowledge
• Liaison
• Listening
• Mischief
• Negligible
• Noticeable
• Permanent
• Proportion
• Receive
• Visible
• Weird

For example, to remember the spelling of necessary, you could use the mnemonic: "Never Eat Crisps, Eat Salad Sandwiches And Remember Everything's Really Yummy." This reminds you that necessary has one ‘c’ and two ‘s’s.

Mastering spelling rules can be incredibly useful when writing for GCSE English. By applying these general guidelines for ‘i’ before ‘e’, past tense formation, silent letters, and other strategies, you can confidently tackle tricky words and improve your overall writing accuracy. Regular practice and the creation of helpful mnemonics for irregular spellings will also ensure that you avoid common mistakes. Keep practising, and these rules will become second nature!