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Improving Your Spelling Why is good spelling important? Good spelling habits ie and ei –cede, –ceed, and –sede Prefixes Suffixes Plurals of nouns Review A Review B

Why is good spelling important? Misspelled words will distract your reader and keep you from communicating clearly. Poor spelling also sends the wrong message—about you.

This is so hard to read!

She must be pretty sloppy.

Good spelling habits Most of us are not “natural” spellers. But we can all improve if we

• pronounce words carefully • use a dictionary • spell words by syllables • proofread for careless errors • keep a spelling notebook

Good spelling habits Pronounce words carefully How do you pronounce athlete? If you say athelete instead of athlete, you might spell the word incorrectly. • Practice saying a word. • Study it. • Write it from memory.

Good spelling habits Use a dictionary Don’t guess. Even good spellers have to look up words. Spell words by syllables A syllable is a word part ear/ly early that is pronounced as one prob/a/bly probably uninterrupted sound. When you’re learning to pronounce and spell a new word, it’s easier to break it up into syllables.

Good spelling habits Proofread for careless errors Read your work. Dot your i’s. Cross your t’s. Is that a g or a q? Should that word be its or it’s? REMEMBER: Spellcheckers can help, but they cannot point out words that sound alike but are spelled differently (such as its and it’s).

Good spelling habits Keep a spelling notebook Correct Spelling

Syllables Trouble and Accents Spots

Comments

answer

′ answer

answer

Silent w

casually

′ casually

casually

casual + ly

Never enter a misspelled word.

Use a dictionary!

Which letters give you problems?

Anything that will help you remember [End of Section]

ie and ei Write ie when the sound is a long e. achieve

chief

niece

believe

yield

relief

When the long e comes after c, write ei. ceiling

receive

perceive

ie and ei Write ei when the sound is not a long e. height

weigh

heir

foreign

veil

counterfeit

kerchief

friend

leisure

mischief

seize

either

Exceptions

[End of Section]

–cede, –ceed, and –sede Only one English word ends in –sede.

 supersede Only three words end in –ceed.



exceed



proceed



succeed

Most other words with this sound end with –cede. precede

intercede

concede

secede

recede

accede

ie and ei –cede, –ceed, and –sede On Your Own

Correct any misspelled word in these sentences. If all the words are spelled correctly, write C. 1. Be careful whenever you lift wieghts. 2. My cousin Clyde plans to become a priest. 3. The color guard preceeded the marching band in the parade. 4. The new fire cheif will be Holly Whitehead. 5. Niether of the boys could acheive his goals. [End of Section]

Prefixes A prefix is a word part that is added before a base word or root. When you add a prefix to a word, don’t change the spelling of the original word. dis

+

honest

=

dishonest

un

+

selfish

=

unselfish

pre

+

view

=

preview [End of Section]

Suffixes A suffix is a word part that is added after a base word or root. dark

+

ness

=

darkness

pay

+

ment

=

payment

hope

+

ful

=

hopeful

sleep

+

ing

=

sleeping

Suffixes When you add the suffix –ly or –ness, do not change the spelling of the original word. suddenly

Exception

suddenness

For most words ending in y, change y to i before adding –ly or –ness. lazy

lazily

laziness

heavy

heavily

heaviness

Suffixes Drop a final silent e when you add a suffix that begins with a vowel. adore

adoring

adorable

write

written

writing

Keep a final silent e when you add a suffix that begins with a consonant. placement

careful

lovely

Suffixes When you add a suffix to a word that ends in y: • Change the y to i if there’s a consonant right before the y, unless the suffix begins with i. lonely

loneliest

carry

carrying

• If there’s a vowel right before the y, just add the suffix. enjoy

enjoyment

Suffixes Double the final consonant before adding –ing, –ed, –er, or –est if the word • has only one syllable and • ends with a single consonant preceded by a single vowel beg

+

ing

=

begging

clap

+

ed

=

clapped

Suffixes Do NOT double the final consonant before adding –ing, –ed, –er, or –est if the final consonant does not have a single vowel right before it. reap

+

ed

=

reaped

cold

+

er

=

colder

Prefixes and suffixes On Your Own

Provide the correct spelling of the word and the prefix or suffix in parentheses. 1. The judge will ______________ the lawyer’s objection. (over + rule) 2. Juno was the ___________ dog on the searchand-rescue team. (brave + est) 3. The children were ___________ their new swing set. (enjoy + ing) 4. Marta ________ for the movie tickets. (pay + ed) [End of Section]

Plurals of nouns The plurals of most nouns are formed by adding either s or es.

For most nouns, simply add s. Add es if the noun ends in s, x, z, ch, or sh.

Singular

Plural

girl

girls

banana

bananas

moss

mosses

itch

itches

bush

bushes

Plurals of nouns Nouns ending in y

If a noun ends in y preceded by a consonant, change y to i and add es. Don’t change the y to i in proper nouns.

Singular

Plural

story

stories

lady

ladies

hobby

hobbies

Curry

Currys

Kelly

Kellys

Plurals of nouns Nouns ending in y If a noun ends in y preceded by a vowel, just add s.

Singular

Plural

key

keys

turkey

turkeys

highway

highways

Plurals of nouns Nouns ending in f or fe For some nouns that end in f or fe, add s. For others, change the f to v before adding s or es.

Singular

Plural

sheriff

sheriffs

gulf

gulfs

knife

knives

thief

thieves

loaf

loaves

Plurals of nouns Nouns ending in o For nouns that end in o preceded by a vowel, add s.

If the final o is preceded by a consonant, add es.

Singular

Plural

rodeo

rodeos

igloo

igloos

veto

vetoes

hero

heroes

potato

potatoes

Plurals of nouns Nouns that have irregular plurals

Some nouns form their plurals in irregular ways.

Some nouns don’t change form at all.

Singular

Plural

woman

women

goose

geese

ox

oxen

child

children

deer

deer

aircraft

aircraft

Plurals of nouns On Your Own

Provide the correct plural of the noun in parentheses. 1. We passed several _________ on the way. (church) 2. Are all of the _________ healthy? (puppy) 3. Fireplaces and __________ must be cleaned regularly. (chimney) 4. Most of the rooms have _________. (patio) 5. The farmworkers had difficult _________. (life) 6. Jackie has five pet __________. (mouse) [End of Section]

Review A For each sentence, choose the correctly spelled word in parentheses. 1. Their wedding was a (joious, joyous) event. 2. All the (babies, babys) are asleep.

3. The little boy would never try to (deceive, decieve) his parents. 4. Tom was bothered by my (messyness, messiness). 5. The cast will hold your leg (immobile, imobile) until it heals. [End of Section]

Review B Correct each spelling error in the following sentences. 1. The frieght train ran off the tracks and crashed. 2. That argument sounds ilogical to me. 3. Max was sincerly sorry that he hurt my feellings. 4. I would happyly go to the play with you. 5. The horse faceing the fence is the one I like. 6. Do not excede the speed limit on these roades.

[End of Section]

The End